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IALS@70
HISTORY
After many years of discussion and encouragement by senior legal figures in government, academia and the profession, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) opened its doors at 25 Russell Square in 1947 as a national and international centre for the advanced study of law. From the start IALS was based within the University of London, but it was always nationally-funded to provide a free national legal research collection for all postgraduates, researchers and academics based at the law faculties across the UK and overseas. On opening, IALS Library started with 11,000 volumes and a focus on collecting foreign, international and comparative legal research materials. By the end of 1947 it had attracted 112 library members.
On closer inspection of the photograph of the interior of 25 Russell Square (figure 1, below) you might just notice the square ashtrays sitting on the library desks. This was no accident as it is interesting to note that smoking was perfectly acceptable in research libraries in the 1950s and early 1960s. Indeed a few of our older bound journal volumes still have slight nicotine tanning on the edge of the paper to add further proof of this point.
Figure 1.
Exterior and interior of 25 Russell Square.
[Figure Omitted; See PDF]The IALS Library collections and membership grew rapidly and IALS expanded into 26 Russell Square in 1954. By the early 1960s it was clear that a larger, more modern space was needed to house our growing collections and to meet the research and seating needs of our expanding readership. Land was subsequently acquired by the University of London along Bedford Way and the north side of Russell Square in the late 1960s and IALS moved into Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square on 1st April 1976. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother officially opened the new modern building which was designed by Sir Denys Lasdun in the favoured 'brutalist' style of the time. The IALS Library was allocated five purposely-designed floors in the new building.
Figure 2.
The official opening of the new building in 1976.
[Figure Omitted; See PDF]Figure 3.
The exterior of 17 Russell Square.
[Figure Omitted; See PDF]Even in the last few years additional space was required, and extra...