university, together with the British Library and Durham Cathedral, purchased Europe's oldest intact book, the St Cuthbert Gospel, for the nation for £9 million. It is displayed equally in London and Durham, being shown at the university's Palace Green Library for the first time as part of the Lindisfarne Gospels Durham exhibition in 2013.
In addition to the central library system, many colleges maintain their own libraries, such as the Bettenson, Brewis, Williams and Fenton Libraries of St Chad's College, which contain over 38,000 volumes. Durham staff and students can also access the libraries of Durham Cathedral and Ushaw College. Some departments, such as classics and ancient history, also have their own libraries.
In February 2017, the university announced a £2 million investment to establish the first residential research library at a UK university in collaboration with Ushaw College and Durham Cathedral and offering access to the collections of all three institutions.
=== Museums ===
The university's Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions manages three museums open to the public, all accredited by Arts Council England through the UK Museum Accreditation Scheme, as well as two non-public collections. Total holdings are over 100,000 pieces.
Built in the 1960s, the Durham University Oriental Museum grew predominantly from the acquisitions of the university's former School of Oriental Studies. The collection contains over 30,000 objects from Asian art to antiquities, covering the Orient and Levant to the Far East and the Indian Sub-continent, with over a third of the collection relating to China. The Chinese collection and the Egyptian collection were granted Designated Status as collections of national importance by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in 2008.
The Durham University Museum of Archaeology, housed in Palace Green Library, originally opened in 1833 and was the second university museum in England to allow admittance to the general public. It focuses on the heritage of North East England and …
