The purpose-built library for CLW, later renamed the Thomas Parry Library (TPL), was a central part of the CLW (and DILS and DIS) experience. It was not only the library for the students and staff, but also a teaching library, experimenting with technical developments as they became available, and with extenstive international and specialist collections.
The TPL was also later also used by the agricultural students who were studying at the Welsh Agricultural College and also the further education college students (Coleg Ceredigion).
The library was renamed the Thomas Parry Library in 1995, after the former librarian at the National Library of Wales, Sir Thomas Parry. It was closed in 2018 and the department and library transferred to the main Penglais campus.
Exterior views of the Thomas Parry Library through the ages
Here are some exterior views of the Thomas Parry Library, from when it was first built in the early 1970s and through the 1980s up to 2006.
The idea of an open verandah caused consternation. Students might pass i.e. drop books out of the Library without legitimately borrowing them? But these students are going to be Librarians.