Rankin hails £60m revamp of university's main library

Published on Thursday 10 September 2009 22:11

CRIME writer Ian Rankin yesterday returned to his alma mater to open the first phase of Edinburgh University's £60 million redevelopment.

The best-selling author has been a high-profile supporter of the university and has previously backed fundraising campaigns for less wealthy students.

He was at the university's main library yesterday, where he was a regular visitor while a postgraduate student writing his first two novels. The award-winning Inspector Rebus author studied English language and literature at Edinburgh from 1978 to 1985.

Rankin spoke at a celebratory event to mark the transformation of three floors in the Grade-A listed building in George Square – part of the 60m redevelopment by architects Lewis & Hickey.

The aim of project is to preserve Sir Basil Spence's iconic 1960s building while introducing contemporary features to create a more open, flexible study space.

Library visitors can now use study "pods" – areas where groups may work together and share ideas – contemplative "cool zones" for solo study and a caf, which is open to the public. Redevelopment of the remaining three floors is scheduled to finish in 2012.

Rankin toured the ground floor's new study facilities and the Centre for Research Collections, which is home to the university's archive of historical artefacts on the top two floors.

He said: "I spent seven crucially formative years of my life at the University of Edinburgh, and hardly a day went past when I wasn't a visitor to the library.

"Then, as now, books were expensive, meaning the library was a godsend. But it also stored material crucial to my own research and unavailable elsewhere.

"When I wrote my first couple of novels, the library was also my first stop – so I could photocopy them."

In 2006, the writer took part in a marketing campaign to encourage alumni to donate to the Edinburgh Fund, which gives scholarships and bursaries to gifted students who may otherwise not be able to attend university.