Bodleian Libraries

Bodleian Libraries Inspiring collections and breath-taking libraries. Facilitating world class research at the University
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The Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford form the largest university library system in the UK and include the world famous Bodleian Library. Explore our stories, collections, exhibitions and more at https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/

Find out about how to use our libraries at https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/

The Bodleian Libraries include the principal University library—the Bodleian Libra

ry—which has been a library of legal deposit for 400 years; major research libraries; and libraries attached to faculties, departments and other institutions of the University. The combined library collections number more than 11 million printed items, in addition to 30,000 e-journals and vast quantities of materials in other formats.

Looking for a cool library space?If you are looking for a cool library space during the hot weather, here are some tips ...
23/06/2026

Looking for a cool library space?

If you are looking for a cool library space during the hot weather, here are some tips of where you can go.

Please note, the Gladstone Link and Radcliffe Camera are closed until 2pm on 24 June.

You can get local information about cooler spaces at any of our libraries from staff when you arrive.

https://bit.ly/4g2NKfR

23/06/2026

Tomorrow (Wednesday 24 June) the University's Encaenia ceremony will take place in and around some of our library buildings.

The Old Bodleian Library, Gladstone Link and Radcliffe Camera will be closed until 2pm tomorrow to accommodate this. We apologise for any inconvenience.

18/06/2026

To celebrate 2026 we are looking into past examples of expressions of LGBTQ+ love, sometimes in unexpected places and times. Nicholas Kontovas, Bodleian Curator for Central Asia, puts the spotlight on the poetic works of Sultan Husayn Bayqara, who - over 500 years ago - ruled the Timurid Empire with its capital in Herat, in modern Afghanistan.
Source: Bodleian Library MS. S. Digby Or. 210

17/06/2026

On Wednesday 24 June the University's Encaenia ceremony will take place in and around some of our library buildings.

The Old Bodleian Library, Gladstone Link and Radcliffe Camera will be closed until 2pm on the day to accommodate this. We apologise for any inconvenience.

🐦 For bird-lovers!Tomorrow (12 June), Prof Andrew Gosler will give the talk 'From Ornithology to Ethno-ornithology' at t...
11/06/2026

🐦 For bird-lovers!
Tomorrow (12 June), Prof Andrew Gosler will give the talk 'From Ornithology to Ethno-ornithology' at the Weston Library and online.

13.00–14.15 (UK time)
£5, booking required

About the event:
No group of animals or plants attracts as much public attention as birds. A great benefit of this is that thousands of expert observers monitor bird populations, distributions, migrations and even health. This is vital to conservation and understanding the threats to nature, and ourselves, that human activities impose.

Being fascinated by birds from an early age led speaker Andrew Gosler to ask, why? It also led to a discovery of an extraordinary history of bird-human interaction expressed through stories and the names we give to different bird species. In this talk, Andrew explores both that journey and the worlds of ornithology and ethno-ornithology.

Find out more and book here: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/a-guided-walk-from-ornithology-to-ethno-ornithology

📚 📝 Today we celebrate International Archives Day 2026. Our Bodleian archives preserve stories of extraordinary and ever...
09/06/2026

📚 📝 Today we celebrate International Archives Day 2026. Our Bodleian archives preserve stories of extraordinary and everyday lives from the UK and beyond - surviving through both chance and deliberate care.

They include letters, diaries, films, business records, protest posters, and now digital content like emails, PowerPoints, smartphone photos, websites, and social posts.

These records show how people lived, worked, governed, loved, grieved, and imagined the world. Archives are rich, complex evidence - emotive and open to interpretation.

So here’s to archives and archivists - thank you and keep up the good work! 🎉

For , here's a 'sneak beak' at our upcoming talks on birds - all part of our 'Wonder of Birds' exhibition currently sho...
05/06/2026

For , here's a 'sneak beak' at our upcoming talks on birds - all part of our 'Wonder of Birds' exhibition currently showing at Weston Library.

All talks are available in person and online via Zoom.
Entry fee: £5.

🪶 From Ornithology to Ethno-ornithology (Andrew Gosler)
Friday 12 June, 13.00 – 14.15
Explore the extraordinary history of bird-human interaction and the worlds of ornithology and ethno-ornithology.

🪽 A Celebration of Swifts (Chris Jarvis)
Friday 3 July, 12.30 – 13.30
To celebrate National Swift Awareness Week, discover how this most enigmatic and aerially evolved of birds has adapted to spend its life on the wing.

🐦🐦🐦The Symphony of Flocks: Collective Behaviour in Birds (Steve Portugal)
Friday 4 September, 13.00 – 14.00
Why do birds gather in groups? How do they behave when they do? What advantages do they gain from this behaviour? Learn more about the 'symphony of flocks' in this talk.

🦅 Wondering with Birds (Felice Sea Wyndham)
Thursday 24 September, 13.00 – 14.00
This talk tells the stories of how we think about the world with birds—how we fly with them in our imaginations and see them as omens of the future.

🦜 Birds in a Cage (Derek Niemann)
Friday 16 October, 13.00 – 14.00
Author Derek Niemann discusses his book 'Birds in a Cage'.

Sign up to the talks from the Event listings on our Bodleian Visit website: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/events-exhibitions
More about the exhibition: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/wonder-of-birds

We’re marking LGBTQ+ Pride Month 2026 by remembering the history of the fight for le***an and gay rights led by OutRage!...
03/06/2026

We’re marking LGBTQ+ Pride Month 2026 by remembering the history of the fight for le***an and gay rights led by OutRage!, an organisation set up in May 1990 after the murder of gay actor Michael Boothe.

For 21 years, it ran non-violent direct action and used civil disobedience as a tool to force political and religious elites of the day to accept equality between sexual orientations.

It often used intentionally obscene and insulting language to expose the hypocrisy of the elites and the institutions of the day. The Bodleian holds a collection of OutRage! materials donated by Peter Tatchell, one of its founders, in 2023.

Archive info: https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/15368
Copyright https://outrage.org.uk/category/gallery/

To celebrate , we want to give a massive THANK YOU to all of our volunteers who👋 welcome visitors in our spaces 📚 help ...
01/06/2026

To celebrate , we want to give a massive THANK YOU to all of our volunteers who

👋 welcome visitors in our spaces
📚 help look after our collections
🧠 share their time, knowledge and even printing skills with us

We couldn’t do it without you!

For anyone visiting Weston Library this week, look out for our wonderful volunteers at our Space for Reading, sharing the history of our resident printing press, and giving talks on the Sheldon Tapestry Map of Oxfordshire (10am, Wed & Sat).

Photo by Ian Wallman

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