General Library strategy

The Radcliffe Science Library, the University’s primary science library, is also one of the great science libraries of the world. Since 1927, it has served as the science department of the Bodleian Library and keeps copies of every scientific volume in perpetuity.

The Radcliffe Science Library, on Parks Road, has recently undergone a major redevelopment and is now an integrated lending and reference science collection. This modern, centralised library service is supported by an enhanced electronic journals database.

The improvements added include a new lift giving access to all floors in both wings for the first time, a fully-glazed linking structure housing a new staircase, affording magnificent views of the University Museum of Natural History and of Rhodes House, an access control system, a new enquiry and issue desk and a lounge area with comfortable seating. Below ground, the former staff-only stack area on level three has become a public area for text-book collections, and in the former Hooke Library space, a 30-computer training room has been created, with an adjacent refreshment area. 

‘Our Foundation has long sought to support centres of excellence. A decade ago we assisted the restoration of Oxford’s Old Bodleian Library. Today we have a chance to help transform the New Bodleian Library, which we hope will become a home to inspiring world-class collections for future generations.’
Garfield Weston Foundation, May 2008

The New Bodleian Library – to be renamed the Weston Library in recognition of a £25 million gift from the Garfield Weston Foundation – was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and built between 1937 and 1940 on the corner of Broad Street when space at the Bodleian had been exhausted. Sixty per cent of its book stack is underground, connected to the Old Bodleian by a tunnel beneath Broad Street.

Today, the library houses many of the University’s finest treasures, including the Special Collections, which include millions of manuscripts and rare books. Among the highlights are four original copies of the Magna Carta (one quarter of the surviving originals), Shakespeare’s First Folio, the Gutenberg Bible, the manuscript of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and more recently, Alan Bennett’s archive. The University is transforming it into a modern special collections library and research centre. In addition to improving its services as a major research library, the ground floor of the New Bodleian will be opened up to the public, with the creation of exhibition galleries and learning spaces.

Redeveloping the New Bodleian Library to modern standards has been among the University’s top priorities in recent years. The central stack will be replaced by three floors of secure storage below ground level. Additional reading rooms will be provided, and dedicated floors for curation and conservation created. The new public access to the ground floor will mean Oxford residents and visitors can view some of the University’s greatest possessions and gain insights into research activities at Oxford.

The Library can now progress its plans to provide innovative services for readers and better preserve its heritage collections.

A new book storage facility will provide for the University’s current shortfall and accommodate the Oxford collection’s anticipated growth. It will house up to eight million volumes and fulfil approximately 200,000 requests per year, with cutting-edge security protection and environmental controls.

In March 2009, the University bought a 15-acre site 28 miles from Oxford, close to Swindon, for the construction of a high-density book storage facility for the Bodleian Library to store infrequently used materials from its printed collection.

With the acquisition of this land, the Library can now progress its plans to provide innovative services for readers and better preserve its heritage collections.

The new book storage facility will employ a Harvard-style storage system (Very Narrow Aisle), which is most commonly used in large research libraries. A regular van connection service will transport books from the book storage facility to the primary libraries in Oxford.

The Radcliffe Camera, built in Oxford’s centre in the mid-eighteenth century to house the University’s science volumes, is one of the most iconic pieces of architecture in Oxford and the earliest example of a circular library in England.

Currently housing resources for the study of History, Theology and English, the library strategy advocates that the Radcliffe Camera’s use is retained, with reading rooms fully preserved. In the summer of 2008, the library embarked on a three-year project, which sees the windows of the Radcliffe Camera restored for the first time since the building was opened in 1749. The project involves replacing the existing windows with temporary ones, while the original windows are refurbished before being reinstalled. The temporary windows are exact replicas of the originals.