In April 2023, following a University Board decision, College elected to dename the Berkeley Library. The announcement further stated that the former Berkeley Library was to be referred to as simply ‘the Library’ with the building to be renamed within the academic year. However, after a year and a half, and over an academic year later, the Library is still without a new name.
The origins of the controversy surrounding the library can be traced back as far as 2020 when College made a statement claiming that while conversations were being had surrounding the name of the library, there were then no plans to rename it. However, following the swift removal of Erwin Schrödinger’s name from a lecture hall by the School of Physics, in response to discoveries that he sexually abused young girls, many expressed confusion and outrage that Berkeley’s name remained on the library, particularly given that his slave ownership and pro-enslavement activism are not new revelations.
Following accusations that College was dragging its feet in relation to the Berkeley Library Question, a petition was started in February 2022, quickly gathering over 300 signatures which compelled TCDSU to vote in favour of lobbying College to rename the library. Consequently, in August of the same year, the TCDSU began referring to the former Berkeley Library as the “X” Library. The Union declared that, as part of its ongoing campaign to see the library denamed, this label would be used in all future communications until College issued a comprehensive plan for the building’s renaming.
In response, Trinity’s Legacies Review Working Group (TLRWG), consisting of Trinity students as well as professional and academic staff and external members, began an evidence-based review of the issues surrounding the library. By January 2023, 93 written submissions had been received about Bishop George Berkeley from a variety of individuals, including alumni and international experts on Berkeley. Of these submissions, only 16 supported the retention of Berkeley’s name on the library.
This, of course, begs the question why, after many years of continuous campaigning by the TCDSU, a public submissions process and a promise by College to find a solution to this issue, there appears to be no clear end in sight?
In the interim, plenty of names have been put forward for consideration by students, staff and others, including Theobald Wolfe-Tone, Oscar Wilde and Mary McAleese. Most notably, in order to further encourage public debate on the Library’s renaming, the Hist hosted a ten speaker debate in February this year. Five students, alongside five guest speakers, Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, Professor James Smyth, Mary McAuliffe, Brian Lennon, and Reverend Gordon Linney, made compelling arguments as to why each of their selected figures should be chosen as the new name for the former Berkeley Library. Even with this heightened involvement by the student body, College has made no effort to offer reassurances that discussions are ongoing, and it has failed to make available a public timeline for the renaming of the library.
While there is an evident lack of clarity about the future of the X Library at present, one thing is certain: a solution must be found, and quickly. There is no shortage of passion from students, alumni, staff, past and present, or even independent members of society, for a verdict to be reached on this question so that College can continue to move on from the past.
