Lancaster University Library is to celebrate the opening of its new £11 million extension with an exciting two-day festival of events.

The festival, open to the public, will also mark the launch of the five new Lancaster Digital Collections.

The light and airy three-storey extension provides 450 additional study spaces, research and digital laboratories together with an impressively-equipped exhibition and events area - all of which blend with the existing library space.

The fun-packed festival, on September 10 and 11 September, includes a host of events, exhibitions, talks, activities and entertainment, with participants able to choose whether they attend in person or join online. All sessions must be booked in advance.

Lancaster University Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Schofield will officially open the new extension on the Friday afternoon.

Two exhibitions will tell the story of the library past, present and future and showcase the new publicly-available digital collections and the research behind them.

Visitors are invited to explore these multimedia collections which include a unique collection of Edwardian postcards (the social media of the era), an intriguing glimpse into the cinema stars of the silver screen and a study of Lancaster's role in the Transatlantic slave trade.

The Lancaster Digital Collections will be officially opened by Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global, Digital and Sustainability Professor Simon Guy and followed by presentations from the research teams who have partnered with the Library to establish the digital collections.

Visitors can also enjoy talks and take part in activities across a variety themes, including local and regional history and heritage, citizen science, health and wellbeing, and sustainability.

On both Friday and Saturday, participants can enjoy an evening of live music and conversation hosted by Professor Guy and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Engagement Professor Dame Sue Black.

Joining Professors Guy and Black will be guests Anna Cockman (Head of Estate Development, project delivery), Professor Jo Knight (Chair in Applied Data Science), Professor Jess Davies (Professor of Sustainability) and Professor Paty Murrieta-Flores (Department of History)

Director of Library Services at Lancaster University Andrew Barker said: “We are delighted to welcome our communities to join us for a festival of activities to celebrate the opening of our library extension and launch of Lancaster Digital Collections.

“These exciting new physical and digital spaces were created through partnership and will support the University’s strategic plan and our own ambitious Library vision.”

See our festival programme for further details https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/library/events/library-festival/