Library collections
Ramon Llull University currently has 13 specialised libraries, the majority located in the northern part of Barcelona. The group of libraries has 1,418 reading points and is the depository of a bibliographic collection of 900,704 documents (data for the 2023-2024 academic year). In addition, the different libraries subscribe to a large number of online resources adapted to each centre鈥檚 academic, teaching and research needs.
Nearly half of URL鈥檚 library resources has been digitalised and can be consulted through the URL catalogue and other group catalogues such as the (Cat脿leg Col路lectiu de les Biblioteques de Catalunya) and (Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias-CRUE) which our libraries joined at the start of 2011. The part of the which still hasn鈥檛 been catalogued corresponds to special and rare book collections which are still being added
Special and rare book collections
The origins of today鈥檚 library can be found in Tortosa. In October 1864, the Society of Jesus was able to install itself within an old Franciscan monastery located in Jes煤s (Tortosa-Roquetes). At that time, the Bishop of Tortosa ceded this space to the Jesuits and donated approximately 4,000 books. That was the start of the library. It was also where the Jesuits opened a Centre for Superior Studies which would serve as the seed for the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology. At the end of the 19th century, the Borja Library received several more important collections through donations, exchanges and the return of the books the Jesuits had lost with their expulsion from Spain in 1767.
Today, the library鈥檚 collection includes 270,000 texts including 600 manuscripts including those in Hebrew from a synagogue once found in Tortosa. There are other texts in other languages such as Catalan, Latin, Malaysian, Tamil, Coptic and Ge鈥檈z (the ancient Ethiopian language). The collection includes parchments, 42 rolls, 41 incunabula, 1,127 rare and valuable books, and approximately 21,000 volumes of documents dating from the 16th to 18th centuries as well as other unique items of great historical value.
The Ebro Observatory University Institute鈥檚 library dates back to a change within the Society of Jesus at the end of the 19th century when it decided to incorporate Natural Sciences into the curriculum at its Col路legi M脿xim. This is how the Ebro Observatory was inaugurated in 1904 next to the Faculty of Philosophy, specialising in 鈥淓arth and Space Sciences鈥. From the outset, its library was conceived as a fundamental resource to be able to carry out research at the Observatory dedicated to promoting science. It also began establishing links with other scientific institutions around the world.
The library currently has approximately 11,000 volumes of which 1,400 date from before the 20th century. Its documentary collection is dedicated fundamentally to the History of Science, including an incunabulum on Astronomy, approximately 50 texts from the 16th to 18th centuries, the historical collection of the magazine, 滨产茅谤颈肠补, as well as the following special collections: the legacy of the Naturalist, J. J. Landerer, and the donation of 鈥檚 technical books.
This library began to take shape based on the manuscripts prepared by the monastery鈥檚 own scriptorium from its very foundation in the 11th century and, as well, thanks to orders, donations and acquisitions. Its collection suffered some losses, however, during the Napoleonic Wars when, in 1811, the monastery was destroyed. At the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th, it would once more begin to grow tremendously. The collection was saved during the Spanish Civil War and, after the latter鈥檚 end, doubling the number of items until reaching today鈥檚 figure of 350,000 books, with 6,800 periodicals, 1,400 manuscripts, 400 incunabula, 18,000 engravings and 500 ancient maps. The library specialises in Human Sciences and Theology.
The library鈥檚 mission is to support reading and research for the Benedictine Monastery as well as support its study centres and Montserrat鈥檚 cultural activities. The library is also open to researchers and readers interested in History, Human Sciences and Theology. In addition, it aims to collaborate to make its collection available via new media to create spaces for dialogue and exchange with the contemporary world.
Cooperative projects and collections
Cooperative collection and network of digitalised PhD theses presented at universities in Catalonia and other Autonomous Communities in Spain. Users can access theses freely, and the network allows searching entire texts, by author, thesis director, title, subject matter, university and department, year presented, etc.
Click to consult the list of URL PhD theses.
Open access archive of complete articles in scientific, cultural and erudite Catalan journals. RACO鈥檚 objective is to increase the visibility and consultation of the journals in the archive and spread the scientific and academic output published in Catalan journals.
To consult the URL journals included in RACO, click .
The Montserrat Library is one of the four Catalan libraries which, under the Library of Catalonia鈥檚 coordination, participate in Google Books by digitalising a part of their collections. The books included in the website (28,300 titles) are free of royalties, in numerous languages and come from around the world. Visitors can search and consult the complete text of the majority of works as well as download them free of charge.
Iniciativa de la Universitat d'Alacant per a la digitalitzaci贸 de documents d'alt valor bibliogr脿fic i patrimonial pertanyents al fons de la BC i d鈥檃ltres biblioteques catalanes. La Biblioteca de Montserrat (URL) hi participa des de l'any 2004 mitjan莽ant la digitalizaci贸 d'unes 50 obres que formen part d'alguns dels seus fons m茅s emblem脿tics aix铆 com de la revista . Podeu consultar la relaci贸 d'obres disponibles.
Portal obert que dona acc茅s a publicacions peri貌diques tancades que han estat representatives dins la cultura i la societat catalana. 脡s un repositori cooperatiu impulsat per la Biblioteca de Catalunya amb el suport del Consorci de Biblioteques Universit脿ries de Catalunya (CBUC). La biblioteca de l'Observatori de l'Ebre-URL hi participa a trav茅s de la digitalitzaci贸, al desembre de 2012, de la revista .
La hi participa a trav茅s de la recent digitalitzaci贸, al 2023, de la revista .