The Rt Hon Lord Hurd of Westwell officially opened the South West Corner extension at the University Library in Cambridge on Wednesday 26 November 2003.

The extension is a further step towards the completion of the building development that started in 1993, meeting the needs of the Library's readers, staff and collections. Housed in one of the most striking landmarks on the city skyline, Cambridge University Library, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott is internationally famous for the promotion of teaching and learning. What started as a small collection of books stored in the tower of Great St Mary's Church in the mid-fourteenth century has evolved into more than 100 miles of shelving.

Lord Hurd served as Foreign Secretary from 1989-1995. He was Minister of State in the Foreign Office and the Home Office and served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1984-85 and as Home Secretary from 1985-89. He was MP for Mid-Oxfordshire (later Witney) from 1974 to 1997 and was created a Life Peer in 1997.

Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, Douglas Hurd has written a number of fictional and non-fictional books. He was a member of the fund-raising committee for the University Library.

Speaking at the opening, Lord Hurd commented that he has used various libraries for his writings and had very fond memories of using the Cambridge University Library. He described it as

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