SOAS granted funding from the Foyle Foundation to support the creation a digitisation hub and a ...

20 August 2020

£100,000 has been granted to SOAS University of London by the Foyle Foundation, an independent grantmaking trust that distributes grants to UK charities.

The funding will help support the establishment of a digitisation hub and a collection care unit at the SOAS library. The physical creation from current space and co-location of these facilities will transform access to the world-class collections at SOAS today, enable deeper research collaborations and ensure our collections are preserved for future generations. The funding will help to create an ecosystem of teaching, research, outreach and collaboration, taking the Library ‘out of the walls’ and into the world.

The SOAS Library is the UK's National Research Library for Asia, Middle East and Africa and is one of the world’s most important academic libraries for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It attracts scholars from all over the world to consult its holdings and further their research. It is the custodian of unique, priceless and extraordinary collections.

Oliver Urquhart Irvine, Director of Library and Learning services said:

"We are hugely grateful for the long-term support enjoyed by SOAS from the Foyle Foundation, and at this grant of £100,000 towards the transformation of access to the unique, rich and incredibly diverse collections in our care for the benefit of the world. SOAS Library's Special Collections are internationally significant, and the grant from the Foyle Foundation will materially help us on our journey not just to make these collections freely available to researchers, students and the general public around the globe, but to enhancement their physical care for the benefit of generations to come."