Cambridge University Library is home to more than eight million books and volumes and is one of a small number of "legal deposit" libraries in Britain and Ireland. Legal deposit libraries are entitled to a free copy of every book, journal, map and music published in the UK.

The library has two million volumes on open shelves and is believed to contain the largest open-access collection in Europe. Special collections include the papers of Isaac Newton, an archive of Charles Darwin's correspondence and a copy of the Gutenberg Bible from 1455.

Ms Jarvis is a graduate in history of Trinity College Dublin. Her library career includes posts in FAS, Coopers and Lybrand, DCU and TCD before she moved to Cambridge.

She is "excited by the promotion" as Cambridge is "one of the world's great research libraries". (Source: Irish Times)