History
Harvard's library system grew from a bequest in 1638 by John Harvard of 400 books.
Over the next century the library grew to become the largest in America, but in 1764 a major fire destroyed almost all of Harvard's books and scientific instruments. Books and donations were offered by friends of the college to replace its collections. An eccentric Englishman, Thomas Hollis V of Lincoln's Inn, London, (great-nephew of one of the University's early benefactors), began shipping thousands of specially chosen volumes to the University Library. Hollis continued to send books regularly until his death in 1774 and he also bequeathed £500 for a fund to continue buying books. This became Harvard's first endowed book fund, and is still actively increasing the collections every year. HOLLIS, the bacronym for Harvard Library's online catalog, "Harvard On-Line Library Information System", is named after him.
Some of the books have been digitized within the Google Books Library Project. which was begun as a project developed with leadership and oversight by former Director Sidney Verba.
Read more about this topic: Harvard University Library
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