Senate House Library and the future 2

I was prompted by the blatant inaccuracies in John Sabapathy's letter "Senate House Library in peril" to seek to put the record straight.

The University of London board of trustees on 13 May endorsed a recommendation from the university's collegiate council (the council of the heads of the federal colleges) that the university should adopt a refocused, strategic plan for the Senate House Library. This strategy retains the resources as a coherent and modern library service that will be accessible to staff and students of the federal university, the users of the libraries of the ten institutes that make up the School of Advanced Study and other local, regional, national and international users.

It is quite wrong for Sabapathy to state that there is to be "a package of deep and serious cuts" or "uncertainty for a raft of nationally significant institutes".

Senate House Library certainly does not stand finally on the brink. It is my judgment - one reflected in the decisions of the board of trustees and the collegiate council - that Senate House Library has a positive and effective future as a major academic resource.

Sir Graeme Davies, Vice-chancellor, University of London.