On 24 June 2009, a critical agreement was reached, which will ensure that one of the largest classical studies libraries in the world will continue to exist as a single collection.
The agreement was made between the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, and the University of London, whose Institute of Classical Studies (a member institute of the School of Advanced Study) is the home of the library. It ends years of uncertainty over the future of the library that could have resulted in the collection being split apart. This new agreement provides for the whole library to be accommodated in dedicated space within the University’s Senate House.
The classics library combines the collections of the Societies, which together comprise 65% of the library, with the University’s collection, and grew out of the library of the oldest classical society in the world (the Hellenic Society was founded in 1879, with the Roman Society following in 1910). The library currently totals more than 125,000 volumes, which puts it, in terms of size, in the top four of its kind in the world (after the Sackler Library in Oxford, the Carl Blegen Library in Cincinnati, and the library of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome). The collection grows each year as the University purchases new research materials and the Societies contribute the books they receive for review. One of the collection’s great strengths is the number of donations that it continues to attract of old and new material. It is probably the best classics library in the UK with regard to current acquisitions and obtains more unique material than anywhere else.
The agreement to maintain and protect the combined collections as a single library means that the Institute of Classical Studies at the School of Advanced Study continues to be a powerful centre for classics in the UK. The Societies have been connected with the Institute since its foundation in 1953. There are three other similarly independent bodies also with offices located within the Institute: the British School at Athens; the Classical Association; and the Joint Association of Classical Teachers.
Professor Mike Edwards, Director of the Institute of Classical Studies, welcomes the security this agreement provides for the collection: “It finally ends several years of heated conflict over the library. The collection is certainly one of the finest and most prestigious classics libraries in the world, and attracts visitors from around the globe. This agreement means that the Institute will continue to be one of the major centres for the study of classics in the world, thus contributing significantly to the reputation of the School of Advanced Study which receives special funding from the HEFCE as the national centre for the promotion and facilitation of research in the humanities and social sciences”.
For more information, please contact the Dean’s Office, School of Advanced Study on 020 7862 8659 or by email 
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The School of Advanced Study 
at the University of London is a unique scholarly community in the heart of London. It brings together the specialised scholarship and resources of ten prestigious postgraduate research Institutes to offer academic opportunities across a wide range of subject fields in the humanities and social sciences. The School is the only institution in the UK nationally funded to facilitate and promote research in the humanities and social sciences.
The Institute of Classical Studies , founded in 1953, is a national and international research centre for the study of the languages, literature, history, art, archaeology and philosophy of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. It provides an internationally renowned research library available to scholars from universities throughout the world, in association with the Hellenic and Roman Societies, and is the meeting place of the main Classics organisations in the UK.