Plans to modernise the Bodleian are unveiled

The Bodleian Library has unveiled its plans to update its buildings for the 21st century. It has opened a public exhibition, which sets out its plans for a new Depository at Osney Mead and for the redevelopment of the New Bodleian.

The exhibition shows artists’ impressions of the planned new Depository, which is being constructed to hold the Bodleian’s expanding collections – growing by an extra three miles of shelving a year. The Depository will be able to hold eight million books, enough for 20 years of growth. It will be a high-tech facility with a semi-automated retrieval system, which involves robots taking the books out of bins. It also has state-of-the-art protection against fire, and the latest temperature and humidity controls.

The Depository has been designed to fit in with the local environment with an undulating roof that will blend in with the famous Oxford skyline. The exhibition also explains how the building has been designed both to be safe against flooding and to improve flood defences locally.

The Exhibition also sets out plans for the development of the New Bodleian, which will be converted into a modern centre for archive research with an exhibition space allowing greater public access to the Bodleian’s treasures.

Dr Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s Librarian and Director of Oxford University Library Services, said: ‘The Bodleian is one of the world’s great libraries and a key part of Oxford’s heritage. It contains a vast collection of truly priceless treasures, including 10,000 medieval manuscripts, the papers of six Prime Ministers and the manuscripts of literary classics such as The Wind in the Willows. Our plans will both keep this collection safe into the future and provide new opportunities for the public to see our books and manuscripts.’

University staff, library readers and members of the public are invited to the exhibition at the Proscholium, at the entrance to the Old Bodleian Library, which will run from 20-28 September from 9am-7pm.