CUSU has passed an emergency motion describing the University Library’s 600th anniversary celebrations as “triggering”, Varsity can reveal.

The motion, which was passed at an extraordinary meeting of CUSU Council on Thursday, urges the UL's head librarian, Anne Jarvis, to soften the tone of the Library’s anniversary celebrations out of consideration for students about to sit exams.

The UL is currently marking its 600th anniversary by celebrating its “incredible role in the evolution of human thought”.

CUSU claims that the “discoveries that changed the world” commemorated in exhibitions like “Lines of Thought” are adding “unnecessary pressure” to students who are already stressed at the prospect of their end-of-year exams.

It was noted within the motion, which was proposed by the CUSU executive, that “having easy access to excellent scholarship often has the effect of making students question the quality and value of their own work, which can be extremely demoralising”.

“The current library structure, in which students are surrounded by heavily-researched and well-respected academic texts, reinforces the pernicious notion that university should primarily be about learning,” the motion argues.

“We can’t all write Principia Mathematica,” complained one attendee. “These books are held up as something we ought to aspire to, but realistically most of us will fall short of that standard.”

In response, the creation of a space inside the library “entirely free of any books” was suggested, to provide a safe area where students can spend time away from the “stressful pressure” of the UL’s collections.

Speakers also criticised the tone of the celebrations for focusing too much on the library’s history. This was coupled with allegations that the library, which is entitled to a copy of every book published in the UK, “does not embrace a broad enough intellectual scope”.

“The eurocentrism embodied in the UL’s collection should be challenged, not celebrated,” argued one speaker.

"The anniversary celebrations commemorate ‘4,000 years of recorded thought’,” they continued, “in blatant and very problematic erasure of pre-recorded thought.”

An amendment was proposed to raise concerns about the UL’s opening hours, which some of those present worried could perpetuate a “heliocentric” world-view.

“We have to consider,” said the proposer, “that not all students base their conception of ‘daytime’ around when the sun is visible. There are numerous students who are in fact lunar-oriented.”

Some of those present at the meeting also called for the installation of an echo chamber in the UL, complete with state-of-the-art acoustics designed to reaffirm its occupants’ beliefs. The proposed chamber would be sound-proofed to prevent any outside noise getting in.

A University Library spokesperson told Varsity that the plans were “impractical”.