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Bodleian Library (Old Library & Radcliffe Camera): Introduction

Bodleian Library

Bodleian Library Old Schools Quadrangle

Bodleian Library: http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley

The Bodleian Library is the central research library for the Humanities and the main University Library for the University of Oxford. It is one of approximately 30 libraries that form the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University’s library service.

Founded in 1602, the Bodleian Library has been a Legal Deposit Library since 1610. This means a copy of all print material published in the UK should be deposited in the Bodleian Libraries. This has enabled the Bodleian Libraries to develop large and varied collections, holding over 13 million items. The Bodleian Library is also a national and international centre for research, supporting scholars from across the world with its collections.

The Bodleian Library is reference-only. This means none of its material can be borrowed and so items should always be available to readers. The only exception to this is the Personal Development Collection, a small collection of material donated to the Bodleian Library specifically as a lending collection. This material can be borrowed by University members through the staff desk in Lower Camera Reading Room and is shelved in the Gladstone Link.

Drawing of the Bodleian Library site (side view)

Opening Hours

Opening hours change between term and vacation, and may be different for different reading rooms:*

Term:       Monday to Friday     9 am - 10 pm
                Saturday                  10 am - 4 pm
                Sunday                    12 am - 6 pm
Vacation: Monday to Friday     9 am - 7 pm
                Saturday                  10 am - 4 pm

Please check: http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/library/hours for the current opening times of the areas you wish to use.
 

* Please note:

  • access to the Gladstone Link reading space ceases 45 minutes before closure of the rest of the complex, and must be fully vacated 30 minutes before the closure of the complex.
  • Duke Humfrey's Library closes at 7pm during the week all year round and is not open on Sundays.

Introductory Sessions and Further Help

Library staff in the Bodleian Library are happy to provide introductory sessions for new Library users. The session can be an orientation tour of the Bodleian Library and its humanities collections, or an introduction to finding and accessing print and electronic resources using our main Resource Discovery Tool, SOLO (Search Oxford Libraries Online) and other tools.

To arrange a session or find out more:

Bodleian Reader Common Room

A Reader Common Room is open to Library members and staff, accessed from the stairs behind the South Proscholium entrance. The Reader Common Room is available for readers to consume their own food and drinks. 

 

 
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