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The University Library Amsterdam (UBA), also known as the Library of the University of Amsterdam, is the university library of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Academisch Medisch Centrum (AMC). The central Library is in the town centre at Singel, close to the Heiligeweg and Koningsplein. The department of the Special Collections, where most of the library exhibitions take place, is at Oude Turfmarkt. The Library also has a large book depot in the grounds of the AMC, with over 40.5 kilometers of books and other materials. The foundation Friends of the Library of the University of Amsterdam regularly donates special manuscripts or rare editions to the library collection.

History
The origins of the library can be traced to 1578, after the Alteratie (Alteration), when books and manuscripts from Roman-Catholic institutions in Amsterdam were gathered into a library open to one and all. This “municipal library” was first housed in the Nieuwe Kerk, to be moved in 1632 to the attics of the Agnietenkapel at the founding of the Athenaeum Illustre. In the 19th century, the collection had become so large (and the Agnietenkapel so derelict) that the books were housed at several other locations, until 1881 when the library moved to the Handboogdoelen at Singel 421, the former home of the Long-bow militia. During restoration works in 1968, much of the original 16th-century building reappeared and it turned out that the UBA probably contains some of the oldest masonry and the only late medieval fireplace with mantelpiece in town. At the ground floor is the Doelen, which can be used for lectures, meetings, graduation ceremonies and receptions. The buildings at Handboogstraat 16 and 18 were added to the library in 1919, and during the Second World Wa also the building at Singel 423, which has a façade from 1609 by Hendrick de Keyser. This building was originally the former town arsenal and later served as the royal stables. Queen Wilhelmina, who had fled to London at the outbreak of war, gave her written permission to add the building to the Library.

The present main building at Singel 425 is from the 1960s. At this spot were originally the premises of the Arbalest Militia, and later the 19th-century Catholic St Catherine’s church. In 1939 the church was demolished and the plot left vacant until the second half of the Sixties, when the new building by architect J. Leupen was built. This modern building is considered a typical example of 1960s architecture. The Special Collections are at Oude Turfmarkt, in a building from 1642 designed by Philips Vingboons and in the former St Bernardus mental home from 1842-1843 next to it. The restoration work on the buildings started in 2004, and they were opened in May 2007 by Queen Beatrix. In 2008 the collections of the UvA departments of Media Studies, Theatre Studies and Philosophy were moved to the UBA main building at Singel by flat-bottomed boats.