The Bodleian Libraries form the largest university library system in the United Kingdom. They include the Bodleian Library—which has been a library of legal deposit for 400 years—as well as major research libraries; and libraries attached to colleges, faculties, departments and other institutions of the University.
The combined library collections number more than 11 million printed items, in addition to more than 30,000 e-journals and vast quantities of materials in other formats. The libraries aim to provide services that anticipate and respond to the needs of 21st-century scholars across subject disciplines.
You may wish to visit the Bodleian Libraries website for further information on their facilities and holdings available.
The Bodleian Libraries’ academic strategy is to continually increase the speed of access to information.
This is being achieved by providing direct access to high-demand print collections, and by increasing online access to materials with an emphasis on electronic delivery and providing access to resources beyond our vast collections. The Libraries have invested heavily in increased digital access and continue to do so by actively developing electronic provision of information, and taking a lead in the digitisation of manuscripts and other material. Academic subject librarians provide research assistance and assist in accessing the rich resources available.
Oxford’s wide range of libraries offers a choice of study spaces, from quiet study areas to meeting rooms for group discussion work. The Bodleian Libraries includes iconic reading rooms in historic buildings, such as the Old Bodleian, the Radcliffe Camera, the Radcliffe Science Library and the Taylor Institute Library, as well as newly-developed study areas such as the Knowledge Centre for medical sciences and the Bodleian Social Science Library.
