history

1877 Foundation of the University of Tokyo, composed of four faculties: Law, Science, Letters and Medicine.
1923 Most of the university library and its collection were destroyed by fire in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake.
The League of Nations adopts a resolution supporting the recovery of the library collection.
1924 The Rockefeller Foundation donates 4 million yen to the reconstruction of the library.
1928 The building currently housing the General Library is completed.
1961 The University Librarian , Prof . Kishimoto Hideo presents a plan to reform the University of Tokyo's library system. The project is supported by an 84 million yen grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Work begins on the compilation of a union catalog of all university library holdings.
1962 The first issue of Toshokan no Mado, the University of Tokyo Library bulletin, is published.
1982 University Librarian, Prof. Urata Takeo presents a new plan to reform the General Library.
1986 Library computerized system is launched.
Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) service starts.
1987 Start of the first project to retrospectively convert catalog records of Western materials into digital format.
1992 The University of Tokyo joins NACSIS-ILL, an online Interlibrary Loan System set up by the National Center for Science Information Systems.
1993 OPAC becomes accessible via the university's computer network (UTnet).
1995 Start of a 10-year retrospective conversion project of outstanding library holdings.
The University of Tokyo Library System homepage becomes available online.
1997 Work starts on the digitization of the Katei Collection (Edo period works of fiction) as part of the Digital Library Project.
1999 Establishment of the Information Technology Center, to which a portion of the University of Tokyo Library System is attached.
OPAC becomes accessible via any ordinary Web browser.
2000 Electronic journal services launched on a trial basis.
2002 Inauguration of the Komaba Library.
2004 Establishment of the University of Tokyo Library System's Basic Principles , underlining the system's management as a unit.
2005 Inauguration of the Kashiwa library.
e-DDS service (Electronic Document Delivery System & Services) starts.
2006 UT Repository launched.
2007 UT Article Search and UT Article Link services introduced.
2008 Ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the reconstruction of the General Library was held.
2011 MyOPAC service launched.
2013 Start of the preparatory work for the new library construction.
“Documents Relating to history of the University of Tokyo” is designated as an important cultural property.
2014 Establishment of the Uehiro Project for the Asian Research Library (U-PARL).
2017 Inauguration of the General Library Annex (Library Plaza) .
2020 Asian Research Library Open
General Library Grand Open