Day 7: A very Harry Potter Day: Oxford, the Bodleian and Christ Church Libraries

The Bodleian Library

Day 7 and we took the train from London to Paddington Station, then connected with a train to Oxford. What a beautiful place, so rich in history and many things to see and places to hang out.
We started our tour to the Bodleian Library. The Bodleian Library was founded by Sir Bodley in 1602.

The Duke Humfrey's Library is preserved almost intact. We were not allowed to take pictures, so I have uploaded one under CC commons license 3.0
Image Credit: Diliff CC BY-SA 3.0  via Wikimedia Commons

This photo is of the convocation room where we sat to listen to the beginning of the tour. Some scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed around the Bodleian Library and the Christ Church buildings. Many Potter fans flock in so is a somewhat busy destination.

It is a tradition that all readers must sign the following declaration:

‘I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, or to mark, deface, or
injure in any way, any volume, document, or other object belonging to it or in
its custody; not to bring into the Library or kindle therein any fire or flame, and
not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library.’

From Oxford Libguides: Accessing the Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera.

The Christ Church College Library and Archives

After a visit at the Bodleian Library,  we proceeded to visit the Christ Church Library and Archives. We were greeted the by the librarian in charge, Steven. Christ Church was founded in 1562 by Thomas Wolsey, a very wealthy man who served as diplomat. When he retired he donated his entire collection and all of his wealth  to Oxford. After the Bodleian, the Christ he librarian He greeted us and guided us towards the upper library room. The building is at least 500 years old. You can see the original bookshelves and the original floor tiles.

We saw rare books such as a Greek Psalm book from the year 1,030 with gold illuminated pages.

We also saw a table music score, and  the personal bible that belonged to Queen Elizabeth I. The early stages of libraries were not yet with the concept of free access to everyone. Early books were very expensive. Considering the labor intensive process and how exquisitely these were made, it is probable that these were made only for an elite.  The librarian gives us some details of Queen Elizabeth's Bible:

We wrapped up our day visiting  his office at the   Christ Church College Library. You have to be a member to use the library. Some information about Christ College Library:

• They serve about 450 undergraduate students so the acqusitions are only for undergraduates students
• They have a budget of about 85,000 pounds a year reserved for monographs
• They have 4,000 new volumes
• It is a small library but very busy.
• Each faculty has a more specialized library 
• Students can use the Bodleian collection of foreign publications which is a mix of old and new. There are items that are at least 300 years old.

 What a fantastic place! He guided us to his office. At the end of our interview, we learned that this was the office of Lewis Carrol. Through the window, you could see a courtyard, which it is said he met Alice there. We saw the very first edition of his book, Alice in Wonderland, autographed by him. 

Interviewing the Librarian: 

One of the hightlights of the interview to the librarian were:

• He has three years on the job and his previous colleague worked there until he died for 35 years.
• What I found  most interesting was how did he landed this coveted job and most importantly, the changes that he has seen since he started his job. He has a degree in Celtic and Anglo Saxon Languages
• He told us that one of the main changes has been the library used a physical catalog unil just three years ago (yes...we all gasped!).   
• One of the challenges was the automation of the acquisition of books. It used to be tracked on an Excel spreadsheet. Currently it is in the process of being embedded into the library system so everybody can see the status of a particular book in real time.  The library still uses card catalogs.
• His goal is to assist students that need help with resources for ther weekly reading assignments and tutorials.Since his appointment as Librarian in charge, he makes sure that the services that the library offers are focused on the students needs. For example, he mentioned he acquires books and resources from amazon or from any vendor online with credit cards something that was never done. In the past, resources were purchased only from one vendor locally at BlackWell's. It was refreshing to learn from a librarian who is concerned about going with the times to provide the best service to its users. I think Steven embodies the librarian of the 21 first century.  

 Digitization projects 

The library now has an electronic catalog and is building a repository of early printed books and manuscripts since these are not available for circulation (see digital library site). 
The library has an in house studio with special cameras and a staff of two people. Through a representative sample about 120 early manuscripts have been digitized.  They recently published a catalog of Western manuscripts in Hebrew, Bizantyne and Latin.

References:
History of the Bodleian Library. Bodleian Library and Radclife Camera. University of Oxford. Retrieved from https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/about-us/history
About the Humfre'ys Library Reading Room special hours. https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/using-this-library/rooms/dh
Accessing the LIbrary. Bodleian and Radcliffe Camera. Library Regulations Libguide. Retrieved from https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/c.php?g=422829&p=2887338