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One of the most spectacular buildings in all of Oxford is the Bodleian Library. This magnificent building is named after Sir Thomas Bodley, and was opened on 8 November 1602.
The photograph above was taken at the other end of Broad Street, looking towards Cornmarket. The building at the front of this picture is the Clarendon Building, located on the corner of Broad and Catte Street. The Clarendon Building is now used by University administrators, but was previously home to the Oxford University Press.
The central group of Libraries consists of the Old Library, the Radcliffe Camera, the New Library, and the Clarendon Building.
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The Old Bodleian Library, affectionately called "the Bod," is located on Catte Street, just behind the Clarendon Building. Its spires can be seen in the photograph on the left. Only current students and administrators are allowed into the Bodleian Library, but visitors can check the gift shop for lovely writing paper, pens, and other Oxford nick-nacks.
Sir Thomas Bodley collected or bought the original manuscripts and texts stored in the Library until 1610. In that year, the Library was entitled to a copy of every book registered at Stationer's Hall, and later, was given the right to claim one copy of every book and periodical published in the United Kingdom.
The library now owns approximately 6 million volumes and 1 million maps. Many are kept in the Old Bodleian Library, but most are housed in various libraries throughout Oxford according to subject. The rest are stored in bookstacks that extend underground beneath Broad Street and Radcliffe Square.
If a book is located in the bookstacks, it must be ordered. It can take anywhere from a day to a week for the book to be brought up from the stacks.
Once a book is ordered, it is delivered to a certain reading room in one of the libraries. In most cases, it must stay in this room. Bags are searched at the entrances to most Libraries. |
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The advantages of this system are obvious: every book ever written is either in a library in Oxford or can be acquired somehow. Students have every resource available to them throughout the city.
But it's not a perfect system, either. It can take awhile to figure out what library has the particular book you need, and sometimes students have to apply in advance to use the books in that library. Also, since books must be ordered in advance, and it can take days to get a book, last minute reading is almost impossible. And since most books cannot leave their particular library, sometimes their particular reading room, most work has to be done in the library itself, not back at the dorm over the computer. Which can be a good thing, too...
The Old Bodleian Library encloses the Old Schools Quad, where the photograph on the right was taken. I know it's a little crooked. I had just spent about five hours reading about Dylan Thomas before I took it. What do you expect? Anyway, this building in this picture faces Catte Street. Above each of the three entrances to the Library from this quad are written the Latin names for the different faculties.
Like the rest of Oxford, the Bodleian has strict rules. Before they are given permission to use any of the libraries in Oxford, students must swear to never remove books from the library and to never kindle a flame in the library. There is an actual oath that is taken before an official. And if you don't seem sincere about it, you just might not get your library card!
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Like most students at Oxford, I spent quite a bit of time in one Library or another. I took the oath with a straight face, I got my library card, I often succeeded in finding my books, sometimes relatively easily. And I must say that it was quite inspirational to read Shakespeare in the upper reading room of the Radcliffe Camera, the building in the photograph on the right. The ceiling is painted with figures and angels, the floors are wooden, there is a small, rickety spiral staircase leading up to a quiet, private reading area. Unfortunately, the library frowns on students taking photographs inside the library. And yes, I know this picture is crooked too. Too much inspiration in the upper reading room, I guess.
The Radcliffe Camera is located in Radcliffe Square, further on down Catte Street . It's surrounded by Brasenose and All Soul's Colleges. Peek through the gates at their quads. Pretty, huh? Radcliffe Square is really pretty and quiet. Surrounded by the Libraries and Colleges, it feels intelligent. It's cobbled with bricks and really hard round stones that really can hurt your feet. Watch out for those cobbles; they get slippery when it rains. You don't look so intelligent if you slip and fall on the cobbles. Trust me. I know.
Here's another gem of wisdom that I picked up along the way as a student who visited nearly all of Oxford's libraries at least once. When going into a library that is unfamiliar to you, wear shoes with rubber soles. Trust me on this one, kids. Those old libraries have quite an echo. It's really embarrassing to click your way around the bookshelves, looking for a book. And after you've learned this lesson, pass it on to all those annoying people who click their way around you while you're trying to read about Determinism. Let's continue down Catte Street to High Street.
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