The development of a modern concept of higher education can, in much of Europe, be traced back to the Enlightenment, and the British Isles are no exception. The foundation of new universities and colleges in the early nineteenth century was a result of the growing awareness of the need to open up the world of the mind (including the natural world in all its manifestations) to a wider audience. The establishment later in the century of the colleges which developed into the civic universities took up the same theme, adding a new element, the practical and technical application of thought. Newer foundations in the twentieth century followed the same path, with refinements being added when expansion was fostered by government first in the 1960s, following the Robbins Report of 1963, then in a much greater degree towards the end of the century.

University and college libraries in this country are integral parts of their institutions (not, as in some countries, a parallel but separate state-supported system). As such, they inevitably reflect the same philosophies, and to a large extent the fortunes, of their parent bodies. While state funding has become a fundamental part of university financing (and so of library budgeting), it was for long felt that they should be left to manage their own affairs without much state interference, and while this has changed drastically in recent years the principle of semi-independence affected the ways libraries were treated in different institutions. The statement of the University Grants Committee that the library was ‘the power-house of the university’ became a touchstone for librarians and others pressing their claims for resources.