Modern records centre undergoes £1.2 million revamp

The Modern Records Centre is to double the access to its 13 km of records to the general public.

The £1.2 million scheme will mean the material relating to the Midlands and national history will be accessible by many more people.

The amount of public space available will be doubled and public storage will grow from 13km to 17km.

Anne Bell, the University’s Librarian and Director of the Modern Records Centre, said, “The project will transform the Centre and how users will be able to relate to these unique resources.

“The new facilities will enable us to engage with members of the public in ways that have never been possible before.”

The project has raised £872,000 in funding, including a grant of £200,000 from the Wolfson Foundation.

The Modern Records Centre is one of the largest academic archives in the UK and holds a vast collection of material.

It contains the papers of Labour cabinet minister Richard Crossman Member of Parliament for East Coventry and the papers of Maurice Edelman MP a Coventry North West MP.

Also included are documents from the National Union of Vehicle Builders (Coventry branch) and a Coventry Women’s Liberation Newsletter from 1976.

The MRC also contains archive papers from many great car makers Austin, Morris, Rover and Triumph, as well as local employers and trade union branches.

Rodney Bickerstaffe, former General Secretary of UNISON, said: “The Centre contains world-leading records on British industrial relations unlike anywhere else in the UK.

“It is an astonishingly rich and topical resource.”