The Gibraltar Garrison Library was established in 1793 as a private subscription Library for the Officers of the Garrison. In 2011 it was passed to the Government of Gibraltar for the benefit of the community, and today the Library is home to a historical collection of 45,000 books, including many rare volumes as well as Gibraltar’s newsprint collection. However, the majority of this collection is in hard copy, and the Library is almost entirely dependent on footfall access.
Our grant of just under £265,000 will enable the Library to purchase scanners to create a digitisation studio and fully climatized repository area, which will preserve the collection for future generations and enable people all over the world to access its resources online.
Dr Jennifer Ballantine, Director of the Gibraltar Garrison Library, commented: “Timing, as the saying goes, is everything, especially when we consider that this generous grant from the Kusuma Trust for our digitisation project has coincided with the Gibraltar Garrison Library’s 230th anniversary. We find ourselves, therefore, in the wonderful position to be able to commemorate our historic trajectory whilst also thanking the Kusuma Trust for being instrumental in equipping the Gibraltar Garrison Library with the means to achieve greater relevance and sustainability in this digital age.”