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The University Library

The University Library

The UvA spent years building a new University Library in the city centre, which opened in September 2025.

Ontwerp en bouw

MSVA Architecten heeft van de UvA de opdracht gekregen om de nieuwe universiteitsbiblotheek te tekenen. In zijn ontwerp koos het architectenbureau voor een ingang aan het Agora en een overkoepeling van het gebied tussen BG-13 en BG-14. Bovendien wordt de Oude Snijzaal in zijn oude pracht hersteld.

Twee jaar na het besluit ging in september 2019 de eerste paal van de nieuwe Universiteitsbibliotheek de grond in.

Oudemanhuispoort of BG-terrein?

Eén van de beloftes na de bezetting van het Maagdenhuis was een raadgevend referendum over de toekomst van de Universiteitsbibliotheek. Begin 2017 konden alle studenten en medewerkers zich uitspreken: moest de bieb in de Oudemanhuispoort komen, of in BG-13 & BG-14? Het universiteitsbestuur koos na het adviserende referendum voor een bieb op het Binnengasthuisterrein. ‘Het is een goed ontwerp, dat een modern academisch gebouw beoogt in het hart van de toekomstige campus, met duidelijke functies.’

tijdlijn

Heavy doors and lots of stairs: the University Library is not sufficiently accessible says report

16 juni 2026 - 11:23

Heavy doors and lots of stairs: the University Library is not sufficiently accessible says report

The new University Library (UB) appears to remain largely inaccessible to visitors with physical disabilities. Following a tour of the building, the University Diversity Sounding Board (UDSB) has drawn up a list of issues and practical recommendations to make the building more accessible.

University Library wins prestigious architecture prize

11 juni 2026 - 09:56

The new University Library with the glass canopy

The University Library (UB) of the UvA has won the Amsterdam Architecture Prize 2026. The jury describes the building as “a powerful and necessary statement.”

Those wishing to study in the UB have to search for a seat at the crack of dawn

29 januari 2026 - 08:00

Finding a study space in the new UB is proving to be a challenge

Students are finding it difficult to secure a study space in the new University Library (UB). They complain about a lack of space and about seats being occupied for long periods without anyone actually using them. “It’s just like being on holiday, with people putting down their towels to reserve...

UvA: incorporate public values into your property strategy!

19 januari 2026 - 07:30

UvA: incorporate public values into your property strategy!

In his speech during the Dies Natalis, Peter Paul Verbeek advocated academic citizenship as a means of narrowing the gap between science and society. But if you look at how the UvA organises its campuses, what you see is mainly a distant and closed institution, argues Bor van Zeeland.

Does the UvA feel no responsibility for the old University Library?

11 december 2025 - 08:00

Does the UvA feel no responsibility for the old University Library?

The UvA wants to sell the old University Library building. Rogier Noyon cannot understand this and wants a discussion about the future of the building. “The UvA is apparently unable to think about the future of the building without dollar signs in its eyes.”

UvA starts sale of old University Library building on Singel

4 december 2025 - 15:46

The former building of the University Library at Singel.

Now that the UvA has a new University Library on Vendelstraat, the old University Library building at Singel 421 is being sold permanently. It no longer fits in with the UvA’s campus concept. The UvA expects to receive “perhaps more than 100 million Euro’s” for it.

New University Library honours ‘forgotten’ women of the former hospital with room names

20 november 2025 - 13:33

Prof Dr H. Treur with his female assistants. From left to right: Jeanne Knoop, Heleen Robert, sister van de Wal, Rosalie Wijnberg

Nine meeting rooms in the new University Library – once the Binnengasthuis Hospital – have been named after pioneering women in medical science. The project aims to bring these ‘forgotten’ women out of the shadows.

New University Library fits perfectly into Amsterdam city centre in terms of function, space and architecture

19 november 2025 - 12:43

The new UB on the BG-terrein.

In his column last week, Nikola Edelsztejn argued that the new University Library is a disfigured and meaningless monstrosity of restored old buildings. Nothing could be further from the truth, writes historian Hanco Jürgens. “Edelszteijn has fallen victim to a romantic dream.”

Nikola Edelsztejn | The new university library is a deformed and meaningless monstrosity

12 november 2025 - 12:00

The new UB

People who call the new university library an “architectural masterpiece” don’t make any sense to columnist Nikola Edelsztejn. “The new UB is the result of a brainstorming session by drunk architects on a team-building trip to Vlieland.”

Builders, administrators, library types and local residents celebrate opening of new University Library

1 oktober 2025 - 08:00

Hundreds of people present at the opening ceremony of the new University Library.

With vocals, bubbles and speeches, the new University Library in the University Quarter of the UvA was festively opened on Tuesday afternoon. It was a coming and going of important library types from past and present. “This building is by and for all of us.”

Director of new University Library: “Libraries are less about books”

1 september 2025 - 08:00

Carlos Reijnen

Today, after years of (neighbourhood) disputes, discussion, design and construction, the UvA is finally opening its new University Library on the Binnengasthuis site. It features a gigantic atrium, hundreds of study spaces and fewer books than the Singel location. We spoke with the equally new direc...

Kirsty McHenry | Ultimately I always came back to Singel Library

26 juni 2025 - 08:00

The almost defunct UB on Singel, which is closing its doors this week.

This week the revolving doors of Singel Library will stop turning and the library will reach its end: the building will close. “The Singel library was one of the only spaces on campus where students from all walks of academic life came together,” writes our columnist Kirsty McHenry.

Well-known UvA alumni demand that P.C. Hoofthuis library remains

20 mei 2025 - 12:30

The PC Hoofthuis in Spuistraat.

The petition launched earlier this month to prevent the closure of the humanities library in the P.C. Hoofthuis has reached its target of 1,000 signatures. Among them are many well-known UvA alumni from the arts, culture and science.

UvA students launch petition to save the P.C. Hoofthuis Library

14 mei 2025 - 10:57

UvA students launch petition to save the P.C. Hoofthuis Library

UvA students have started a petition against the closure of the P.C. Hoofthuis Library on 16 June. Besides students, various alumni, lecturers and professors have signed the petition. The tally now stands at 650.

The Singel University Library and P.C. Hoofthuis Library will close for good at the end of June

26 maart 2025 - 13:51

The Singel University Library and P.C. Hoofthuis Library will close for good at the end of June

The Singel University Library will close its doors for good on 30 June, while the P.C. Hoofthuis library will close two weeks earlier. This will be the start of a major move to the brand-new University Library on the BG site, now called the University Quarter. On Monday 1 September, the new Universi...

Video | After at least a quarter of a century, the new University Library is finally nearing completion

27 januari 2025 - 08:00

Video | After at least a quarter of a century, the new University Library is finally nearing completion

After years of delays and escalating costs, the new University Library is finally nearing completion. This exceptional project, featuring a complex roof structure and a basement built beneath a historic monument, will accommodate over a thousand students starting the new academic year. “Projec...

31 januari 2024 - 13:35

31 januari 2024 - 13:34

21 april 2022 - 11:44

22 maart 2022 - 09:33

New University Library to cost 19 million euros more; completion in the first quarter of 2024

17 maart 2022 - 12:05

New University Library to cost 19 million euros more; completion in the first quarter of 2024

The cost of building the new University Library (UB) on the Binnengasthuis site has risen yet again: the new UB will cost 128 million euros, 19 million euros more than stated in the previous budget, which had already been revised upwards. Construction will also take nine months longer. According to ...

6 mei 2021 - 15:58

12 maart 2021 - 10:01

10 februari 2021 - 07:00

8 februari 2021 - 13:01

11 januari 2021 - 13:00

7 november 2019 - 14:33

28 oktober 2019 - 16:31

17 september 2019 - 11:25

13 augustus 2019 - 10:10

8 augustus 2019 - 09:58

25 juli 2019 - 13:22

19 juli 2019 - 09:36

Towards a new University Library (1): The Handboogdoelen

11 juli 2019 - 09:23

The Handboogdoelen housed the University Library for almost a century

In a few years’ time, the University Library will be moving to the University Quarter, where construction and renovation work on the library's new home is in full swing. This summer, thanks to recently digitised photographs from the Allard Pierson Museum, we look back and ahead. Today, part 1: the...

19 juni 2019 - 06:00

14 mei 2019 - 09:33

11 april 2018 - 10:23

29 maart 2018 - 15:14

13 februari 2018 - 17:04

27 juli 2017 - 12:18

17 juli 2017 - 16:26

14 juni 2017 - 16:28

23 mei 2017 - 17:01

12 april 2017 - 14:12

17 maart 2017 - 09:34

1 maart 2017 - 16:14

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