Oxford Union Society Library

Oxford Union Society Library Website: https://oxford-union.org/the-library/
Email: [email protected]

The Library and Archives of the Oxford Union Society. 'Like' or follow to keep up with events, opening times, and info on our collections, buildings and Union history.

A reminder that we are now in our summer closed period, reopening on 1st September. We hope all of our members have a lo...
12/08/2026

A reminder that we are now in our summer closed period, reopening on 1st September. We hope all of our members have a lovely vacation and look forward to seeing you in the library in the autumn!

Spot the Wombat: Round 2! Tell us when you have found him, but remember to keep his location a secret... ...
15/07/2026

Spot the Wombat: Round 2! Tell us when you have found him, but remember to keep his location a secret...

Let's play "spot the wombat!" Can you see our library mascot Top anywhere in this photo of the Old Library? ...
10/07/2026

Let's play "spot the wombat!" Can you see our library mascot Top anywhere in this photo of the Old Library?

A reminder that we are open to visitors for most of this summer! You can come and see our beautiful library and debating...
07/07/2026

A reminder that we are open to visitors for most of this summer! You can come and see our beautiful library and debating chamber whether you are a member or not. Please check our pinned post for our closed days.

The Library will be closed at several points this summer to allow for some events and our closed period: 8th, 15th, 22nd...
30/06/2026

The Library will be closed at several points this summer to allow for some events and our closed period: 8th, 15th, 22nd, 28th July; 4th, 10th, 11th, 13th August. Our usual summer closed period will be from 15th - 31st August, reopening on 1st September.

This Sunday, the library will move back to vacation hours for the summer: 21st June-11th October, 09:30-17:00 Monday-Fri...
20/06/2026

This Sunday, the library will move back to vacation hours for the summer: 21st June-11th October, 09:30-17:00 Monday-Friday, with weekends closed. Our usual short summer closed period will also occur over the vacation, with dates to be confirmed. We wish all of our members a restful and productive vac!

We are excited to have loads of new postcards for sale in the library reception! Our twenty-one new designs of postcard ...
04/06/2026

We are excited to have loads of new postcards for sale in the library reception! Our twenty-one new designs of postcard include ultra high-quality details of the Pre-Raphaelite murals and ceiling (courtesy of the V&A Museum), as well as historical photographs and architectural designs of the Union buildings and rooms. Postcards remain 50p each with one free for every ten purchased.

The things one finds in the library! This beautiful unsigned watercolour of the Old Library was discovered left on one o...
19/05/2026

The things one finds in the library! This beautiful unsigned watercolour of the Old Library was discovered left on one of the desks. If this was by you, please let us know!

‘Oh! How the family affections combat / Within this heart; and each hour flings a bomb at / My burning soul; neither fro...
12/05/2026

‘Oh! How the family affections combat / Within this heart; and each hour flings a bomb at / My burning soul; neither from owl nor from bat / Can peace be gained, until I clasp my wombat!’ – Dante Gabriel Rossetti

We are pleased to introduce our new colleague, Top the Wombat, who is already hard at work welcoming visitors to the Library. The library has a bizarre connection to wombats: Dante Rossetti, one of the painters of our Pre-Raphaelite murals, was obsessed with the animals, and procured one as a pet in 1869. He named it ‘Top’ after his nickname for William Morris: ‘Topsy’. Rossetti’s interest was known to the other Pre-Raphaelite painters when they were painting the Old Library in 1857, with Valentine Prinsep remarking that ‘to us...wombats were the most beautiful of God’s creatures’.

The library has accrued some wombat apocrypha: that the painters amused themselves by painting wombats into their murals before covering them over, and that historically service dogs were allowed into the room only under the pretence that they were ‘large wombats’!

The sun is out - as are the deck chairs! Which means that you can now relax in the shadow of our majestic library... ...
30/04/2026

The sun is out - as are the deck chairs! Which means that you can now relax in the shadow of our majestic library...

Address

Oxford Union Society Library, Frewin Court
Oxford
OX13JB

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5pm
Thursday 9:30am - 5pm
Friday 9:30am - 5pm

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