La Biblioteca de la Universidad de Oviedo (BUO) es un servicio que agrupa todos los fondos bibliográficos, documentales y audiovisuales de la Universidad de Oviedo y cuyo personal especializado se encarga de facilitar el acceso a la información científica necesaria para el desarrollo de la investigación, de contribuir a la realización de la actividad docente y de favorecer la práctica del estudio de la comunidad universitaria.
La BUO está formada por los servicios centrales de la Biblioteca y las bibliotecas repartidas por los diferentes Campus de la Universidad.
The origin of the University Library goes back to the beginning of the academic activity at the University of Oviedo in 1608. Since those remote times, the teaching centre must have counted on the necessary books and documents to develop its activities. Little is known of the Library at that time, though; we may assume that it was a modest institution. Library’s first age of splendour started by the second half of the 18th century. Campomanes, Charles III Minister, was the one to make greater efforts to provide the University with a rich and modern library. He reached this target thanks to Lorenzo Solis legacy (a brigadier from Oviedo) formerly allocated to the Jesuits of Oviedo and which was enlarged with contributions by the House of Representatives of the Principality of Asturias and by the University.
The War of Independence and the subsequent absolutist movement hit the University and the Library hard. The university bibliographic centre was just recovered from the Confiscation period onwards and it meant the incorporation of remarkable collections from different monasteries of Asturias. From 1838, the University Library also became Regional Library. The last quarter of the 19th century meant a new age of splendour distinguished by great efforts to modernize and provide the Library with bibliographic resources. From this age, we may highlight the foundation of the rich and special the Library of the Faculty of Law, pursuant to a decree of 1877 and a Popular Section in 1918. This way, by 1930’s, the Library had become one of the first university bibliographic centres nationwide.
This extraordinary Library was completely destroyed by the revolution which broke out in Asturias in October 1934. Library’s reconstruction started just after this date. University Alumni and Friends Association played a very important role in such reconstruction. Great donations were collected and important purchases were made. This reconstruction, ended by the middle of 1940’s, coincided with a spreading of bibliographic collections by the end of the following decade which followed the foundation of new university centres. Nowadays such stage has been overtaken in order to centralize University library services.
