Seven things you (probably) didn’t know about Oxford’s libraries
In the early 1400s, Oxford University’s entire library could probably have fitted into a single chest. Today, we can 3D-print a bird sternum for you.
1. It would take the keenest reader more than 600 lifetimes to get through all the books in the Bodleian (at the rate of one per day)
A more average reader, getting through about 300 books in a lifetime, would need 39,999 more lifetimes to finish.
(You can check the working on this in Charles Chu’s essay on how many books you can read in a lifetime).
2. When you join the Bodleian Library as a reader, you swear — in your native language — never to set fire to it
You can also buy the oath on a (probably flammable) tea towel in the gift shop.
3. The Bodleian’s collection includes a book made of cheese
According to the Bodleian, these are the answers to the questions you probably have right now:
1. yes it does, faintly
2. in the conservation fridge
3. enough for our accounts department to query the invoice because we didn’t use their ‘preferred cheese supplier’.
The book in question, 20 Slices by artist Ben Denzer, can also be found in other university libraries around the world.
It’s not the only unusual item in their collection, or even the only one you could eat (emphasis on could — remember your oath here). Other unusual acquisitions include one of the world’s smallest books and books made of sweet potato, living mushrooms, and vegetable papyrus.
4. The number of readers in the Bodleian Libraries is nearly 100 times higher today than in 1945
In 1602, the Bodleian had 248 readers. There were 700 in 1945, and by 2014 there were 64,242.
5. The gate in the new Weston Library is inscribed with the phrase ‘Si bonus es intres, si nequam ne quaquam’ (‘If you are good, enter. If wicked, by no means’)
This ornamental Ascott Gate was salvaged from the Dorner family estate, destroyed by fire in 1662.
6. The Divinity School in the Bodleian Library is the oldest room in the University
This medieval building was built in the 1400s to house lectures, oral examinations and discussions on theology — and we’ll just drop in right here that this also makes it the oldest surviving purpose-built part of any university.
Bonus fact!
You might recognise the distinctive fan vaulting or floor-to-ceiling windows from the Harry Potter films, X-Men, The Golden Compass or The History Boys — amongst others.
7. The underground Gladstone Link library was named after a British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, who designed the shelves
William Gladstone, an Oxford graduate himself, came up with the idea for the original rolling shelves and the refurbished link was named in his honour.
#loveyourlibrary
The University has over 100 libraries and collections — ancient ones and brand new ones, enormous ones and tiny specialist ones — with a huge role to play in Oxford’s world-class support to its students and staff. Start your exploration on the Bodleian Libraries website, Twitter or Facebook.
Additional sources for this article: Oxford Today and the Bodleian Libraries on Instagram and Twitter.
