Featured - Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers
Currently on display in the collection presentation: Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers
Articles
News and articles about the Boekentoren
Featured - The incunabulum of 'On the Consolation of Philosophy' by Boëthius
Currently on display in the collection presentation: the incunabulum of the 'Consolation of Philosophy' by Boëthius.
Featured - Book of Hours Alexandre Petau
Currently on display in the collection presentation: the Book of Hours by Alexandre Petau.
Permanent exhibition
The new permanent exhibition in the Boekentoren offers a unique insight into the history, workings and vast collections of the University Library. Through a display featuring visual flipbooks, a scale model and heritage artefacts in the display cases, you can discover the story behind this iconic building, as well as the library’s operations and heritage..
Offside - Football in the city
Bruikleen - Voetbal doet harten sneller slaan, maakt mensen tot helden en rivalen, smeedt nieuwe families, brengt de stad in vervoering. In Gent al zo'n 150 jaar. De doe-expo 'Buitenspel - Voetbal in de stad' neemt je mee in die geschiedenis.
Book talk: The Belgian Friendship Building: From the New York World’s Fair to a Virginia HBCU
This book talk on the 25th of Februari explores the complex journey of the Belgian Friendship Building from its origins at the 1939 New York World’s Fair to its eventual home at Virginia Union University, an HBCU in Richmond. The discussion bridges the gap between the structure's colonialist beginnings and its significance in African American history, offering a multifaceted look at modern architecture, heritage, and restoration.
Found: programma
Expo Found: programma
Gandavensia expanded: donation of Michiel Hendryckx collection
The donated photo archive of photographer Michiel Hendryckx, including physical and future digital collections, is preserved by the Book Tower and systematically made available online under an open licence (CC-BY-SA) for research purposes.
'Taadscapsuules' in Ghent dialect to be archived for ten years
Vier 'Taadscapsuules' met Gents dialect gaan tijdens de Week van het Gents voor tien jaar vier verschillende Gentse archieven in.
Found
In februari 2026 opent de expo Found, gecureerd door Tine Hens. De expo brengt hedendaagse kunst samen met zorgvuldig geselecteerde stukken uit de bibliotheekcollectie.
Lost
On Sunday 30 November, Lost inaugurates the triptych Lost and Found – Caring for What Is (about to Disappear) with a ritual procession from De Krook to the Boekentoren, followed by a contemplative performance within the study landscape.
From Restoration to Heritage: Robbrecht and Daem Architects’ Archive Moves to the Boekentoren
Robbrecht and Daem Architects entrust their archive to Ghent’s iconic Boekentoren.
Project ‘Glashelder’: how AI assists in metadating 62.000 photographic plates
Glashelder is een onderzoeksproject dat kunstmatige intelligentie (AI) gebruikt om 61.000 gedigitaliseerde glasplaten te beschrijven en te ontsluiten voor het publiek. Het project onderzoekt hoe AI-technieken effectief kunnen worden ingezet in een erfgoedcontext, waarbij de samenwerking tussen mens en machine centraal staat.
Read, browse, and search through digitized newspapers at hetarchief.be.
Recently, hetarchief.be has made newspapers available online, including the Gazette van Gent and the war newspapers from the Boekentoren. Digitisation and smart text recognition make the newspapers fully searchable. This makes them an indispensable source for research and education, and preserves the newspapers for the future.
Foorwonder
On loan - From 20 June 2025 you can visit Huis van Alijn in Ghent for an exhibition entitled ‘FOORWONDER’. This expo about fairs also include several loans from the Boekentoren.
Heritage in motion - The HILO 16mm collection in the Boekentoren
This documentary tells the story of the archive (1960-1990) of the laboratory of human movement decomposition. In 2024, the Boekentoren collection was enriched with some 900 16mm films and the accompanying theses from the Institute of Physical Education of Ghent University. The archive offers a unique insight into the scientific study of sport in Ghent.
Ghent sports history in the Boekentoren collection
Heritage Day took place at 2025 on Sunday 27 April. This year the theme was sports and games. We made a selection from our various heritage collections documenting Ghent's diverse sports history. You can find a reference of the presented collection here.
The Liber Floridus
The most famous masterpiece in the collection is the Liber Floridus.
Heritage Day - Moving with the past!
On 27 April, the Boekentoren partakes in Heritage Day and is inviting you to a day of activities around the Higher Institute of Physical Education's special collection and the Book Tower's heritage collection.
Long-term loans
Every year, the Boekentoren gives many objects on loan to museums in Belgium and far beyond. This brings works that are otherwise kept in the depot to the attention of the public. You can find an overview of our long-term loans here.
7 mansucripts added to the Masterpieceslist of the Flemish Governement
Seven manuscripts of the Boekentoren have recently been recognized as Flemish masterpieces. These precious, illuminated manuscripts are invaluable to the Flemish cultural heritage. With this new recognition, the Book Tower now has a total of 59 recognized masterpieces.
World Digital Preservation Day 2024
World Digital Preservation Day serves to highlight the importance of digital preservation. As a university library, we are strongly committed to digital preservation.
A temporary home for the busts from the Aula
Due to the renovation of the Aula, there is a need to house a collection of busts, which now find a temporary home in the Boekentoren.
iPRES-congres on its way to Flanders
Het Facilitair Bedrijf (Digitaal Archief Vlaanderen), meemoo, Vlaams instituut voor het archief and VRT, together with UGent, will be organizing iPRES, the major international conference on digital preservation in 2024.
At home in the Boekentoren
On Sunday 21 April, it was time for Heritage Day, this time dedicated to 'Home'. But what makes a place a (real) home?
In the spotlight: Virginie Lovelings' war diary
O1 December 2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Virginie Loveling (1936-1923), one of Flanders' greatest writers, at the age of 87. The perfect moment to showcase one of our masterpieces: her war diary.
A world at war: Lovelings war diary 1914-1918
Virginie Loveling was 78 when World War I broke out. From day one, she kept a diary as a curious, opinionated witness. After her death, the manuscript, along with other ego documents, was deposited in the Ghent University Library. The war diary was recognised as a Flemish Masterpiece and is one of the 52 masterpieces in our heritage collection.
A digital war diary: 4,000 images for the future
Virginie Loveling's 1914-1918 war diary was digitised in 2023. The complex composition of the manuscript consisting of different types of leaves, bookmarks, wrappers, newspaper articles, fold-out pieces of text... eventually led to 4,000 images that can now be studied and used for inspiration.
Letters from the war
Donation of 22 letters from Henry van de Velde to Leon Deprez
#thestoryofFlanders
Tom Waes, together with historians, archeologists and other experts takes us back to our past in the documentary 'Het verhaal van Vlaanderen'. Episode three focuses on the dark Middle Ages and brings one of the masterpieces of our collection into the spotlight.
820 unique Medieval manuscripts reunited
With the launch of mmmonk.be, a digital platform, we provide access to 820 Medieval manuscripts from the abbey of Sint-Baafs, Sint-Pieters (Ghent), Ten Duinen (Koksijde) and Ter Doest (Lissewege).
The magic of photographic plates
The Boekentoren chose to participate in an unique project: the digitization of more than 170.000 glass plates, safeguarded at different heritage organisations in Flanders.
The Boekentoren is filling up with books again
The tower is being filled again.
Boekentoren shortlisted for Ghent Architecture Prize 2021
Boekentoren shortlisted for Ghent Architecture Prize 2021
Towers of Books
Torens van boeken