Renovations

Advance Notice!

The final phase of the Bodleian Law Library’s Roof Project begins on Monday 16^th March 2020.  During this phase there will be three areas of activity:

1. Dismantling and removal of the internal scaffolding from the Law Library’s Reading Room.
2. Electrical cabling works and decorating works in the Law Library.
3. Dismantling and removal of the external scaffold, hoist, and the contractors compound.

During this time access to the Law Library will be from a temporary entrance located on the ground floor of the St Cross Building, facing New College Recreation Ground/Weston Buildings. (The same as was in use Monday 12 August to Saturday 14 September 2019.)

To enable the temporary entrance to be set up the Law Library will be closed to all readers during the morning of Monday 16^th March 2020.  The temporary entrance will open at 1pm on the 16^th March.  We will then be open as usual during Easter vacation.

Whilst this work is on-going, readers will not be able to access floors 2 and 3 of the library but library staff will offer a book fetching service from those floors.  The ground floor and the first floor will remain accessible to readers.

Inevitably there will be some building noise during this phase of the project.

All being well, the Law Library will be fully open to readers by 9am on Friday 17^th April.  (Exact date to be confirmed nearer the time.)

 

Eighth Progress Report:  Thursday  13 February 2020

Some very good news – the Bodleian Law Library now has a watertight roof!

Work has begun on dismantling the temporary roof. The scaffolding structure is being reconfigured to enable the cleaning and repair of the brick parapet wall to take place. Inside the library, above the false ceiling, the carpentry team are fitting and decorating new wooden panels.

From Monday 16th March, we will be handing the main entrance to the Bodleian Law Library over to the control of Beard, the contractors. Access to the Law Library will be from a temporary entrance on the ground floor – details about the temporary entrance and access to the Law Library will be confirmed by the end of next week.

From 16th March to 14th April, Beard will be working on levels 2 and 3 (reading room level and gallery) removing the false ceiling and internal scaffolding to reveal the new skylight. There will also be various electrical works taking place to ensure that the new louvres and thermostatic controls work correctly.

Seventh Progress Report: Thursday 23 January 2020

There have been a couple of developments with the roof project which mean that the Bodleian Law Library may be a little nosier than we would like.

First, there are a team of contractors working on the crash deck, the false ceiling that covers the centre of the reading room. They are creating and replacing the panels underneath the skylight; there are over 500 to do. The contractors are working in very cramped conditions, as you will appreciate there’s not much space between the roof structure and the crash deck. Additionally the panelling materials are being taken up to the roof and passed down to them through the skylight area. The team know that the Law Library is open and they are doing their best to be quiet but inevitably there is some noise coming through the crash deck. It sounds a bit like having noisy neighbours living upstairs. This panelling work is essential to ensure that the project finishes on time on 9th April.

Secondly, on Thursday 23rd, Friday 24th, Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th January, there will be occasional drilling noise between 9:00-11:00 and 13:00-15:00. This drilling is necessary as they need to fix the roof insulation to the external wall. They had hoped to use glue to do this work but have been told that this would invalidate the guarantee for the roof insulation. There is every possibility that the drilling work may be complete before the 28th January – keep an eye on our Twitter feed (@thelawbod) and library noticeboard for updates.

Please remember that we have complimentary ear plugs available at the Enquiry Desk for all our readers – please just help yourself from the dispenser.  The lower two floors of the library are quieter than levels 2 and 3. From about 3:30pm building work ceases for that day. There will be no Saturday working until 21st March, when Full Term will have ended.

Overall the project is progressing really well and the new roof is looking so much better than it did previously. The Reading Room false ceiling certainly helped to keep the Law Library nicely warm during the recent cold snap!

Sixth Progress Report: Wednesday 11 December 2019

The old roof covering and skylights have been stripped away.  There are now three teams working on the roof – a team of carpenters working on the timber roofworks; a team of roofers laying insulation and a waterproof membrane; and a third team installing the aluminium skylight frames & glazing.

Electrical wiring work is ongoing – this is needed for the operation of the new louvres which will be installed early next year.

Underneath the roof area, new panels are being cut and installed to replace damaged ones.  As this work progresses the scaffolding housed between the roof area and the Law Library’s false ceiling will be dismantled.

At some point over Christmas vacation there will be some drilling noise as they need to drill in to the plaster to allow the new smoke detector cabling to be installed; this will happen inside the Law Library, just above the false ceiling.  We will let you know when we have the date confirmed for this work.

As we are in vacation there will be work taking place on the roof on Saturday 14^th December and Saturday 11^th January.  The contractors finish for Christmas on Friday 20^th December and work will fully resume on Monday 6^th January.
In sum, the work seems to be progressing well: the project end date is Thursday 9^th April.

Fifth Progress Report: Friday 8 November 2019

The wet weather in October had a significant impact on the roof project.  But the good news is that we now have a shrink wrapped roof!  The builders are busy stripping away the asphalt covering from the roof as well as the skylight.  Below the roof each white panel is being removed so that it can be painted and restored.

Earlier this week two intrepid Law Library staff members ventured to the roof to inspect the project’s progress.  Afterwards they were very pleased to report that good progress was being made and that it was fascinating to see what was happening in the roof area:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From 11 November, the project will move in to a new phase with carpenters starting work on rebuilding the roof structure.  There will be some noise from this work but we’re hoping that the insulation in the crash deck will reduce the sound in the Law Library.

Refurbishment of Library Roof August 2019 – April 2020

The intention is that the Law Library will remain open for the duration of the project. This page will keep you up to date with developments and disruptions while the project is underway.

Fourth Progress Report: Wednesday 8 October 2019

The weather has not been exactly on our side! Nevertheless, the builders do seem to be making steady progress. The scaffolding tower (on the Manor Road side) has certainly reached an impressive height. The expectation is that the temporary roof will be fully operational by the end of this month.

Third Progress Report: Tuesday 10 September 2019

I’m pleased to announce that Beard – the contractor for the Law Library’s roof project – has completed the internal scaffolding work and crash deck ahead of schedule.  This means that the re-opening of the Law Library’s main entrance from 9am on Wednesday 11^th September.  Readers will be able to access all levels of the library with one area exception – the seating in the corner of the Level 3 gallery.  All the Library’s usual services should be up and running by Friday 13^th September.

Please be aware that the reading room looks very different.  As well as the scaffolding, we now have a new ceiling (crash deck) and strip lighting over the reading room.  Beard, in conjunction with Estates, has worked very hard to reduce the impact of their work on the reading room but with such a large scale project it is inevitable that the reading room looks rather industrial.  We will update our Instagram account later today so that you can see how the reading room looks:  https://www.instagram.com/thelawbod/

The project is also likely to become noisier over the coming weeks – with the first peak probably this coming Friday, the 13th of September. Once readers have collected their books from Levels 2 and 3 they may well prefer to sit on Level 1 and the Ground Floor.

Second Progress Report: Wednesday 4 September 2019

Work has moved on to installing the external scaffolding. This is only on a section of the Manor Road side of the Library, abutting staff office windows and not against Reading Room windows.
Beard (the construction firm) have advised us that they will be doing some noise testing for an hour 10 – 11 am on Thursday 5th September. As readers (for the time being) only have access to the two lowest floors (Ground and Level 1) for seating we trust even the noisiest test will be at least muffled by distance! However, readers are very welcome to ask at the Enquiry Desk for some (complimentary) ear plugs if that would make it easier for them to concentrate.

First Progress Report: Wednesday 21 August 2019

The creation of the internal scaffolding inside the Law Library’s Reading Room is progressing well. Later this week work will start on building the external scaffolding and creating a temporary doorway for the workman in to the third floor of the Law Library. This means that the noise levels are likely to become more noticeable.

The temporary entrance remains open on the ground floor. (See map below.) If you know which books you need in advance of your visit please feel free to email the details to law.library@bodleian.ox.ac.uk and we’ll do our best to have the books ready for you. Please note that we cannot fetch books from floors 2 and 3 after 5pm Monday to Friday, nor on Saturdays.

If you’d like to see what has been happening there are a couple of photos on our Instagram page 

Monday 12 August to Saturday 14 September 2019

This is the period when the essential internal scaffolding will be erected on Levels 2 and 3. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you. The expected impacts on readers will be

• Temporary Entrance  Readers are asked to use a temporary  entrance on the north side of the building. There are physical signs on site too. The door is up a short flight of stairs (with handrail); a ramp to the door (also with handrail) is a couple of paces further along. Once inside the building, turn left into the Library – there is an Enquiry Desk there with staff on hand to help you get your bearings!
• Restricted Reader Access  Seating areas for readers are on Level 1 (accessible by lift and stairs) and the Ground Floor. Reader spaces include the Large IT Room on the ground floor (with its Bodleian Library Computers), the Discussion Rooms on the Ground Floor, and the Seminar Room on Level 1. There is a PCAS machine on the Ground Floor.
• Staff will fetch items shelved in closed areas (Levels 2 & 3) between 9 am and 5 pm Mondays to Fridays
• NB Readers who can only come to the library after 5 pm on week nights, or on Saturdays, are asked to email law.library@bodleian.ox.ac.uk in advance so that we can arrange that items on Levels 2 & 3 they wish to consult can be waiting for them on the Ground Floor.
• No access to a microfiche reader/printer  There is one in the Bodleian Social Science Library a 5 minute flat walk from the Law Library.
• Restriction to Services Staff in the Law Library will not be able to add cash top ups to PCAS accounts, nor sell Bodleian KeepCups, nor handle payment of library fines. Our colleagues in the Bodleian Social Science Library will be happy to do these transactions. The Social Science Library is a 5 minute walk from the Law Library.

Refurbishment of Library Roof August 2019 – April 2020 

The works will consist of the replacement of the roof structure, new roof finishes, rooflights, and rainwater drainage; including repairs and cleaning of the brickwork structure, improvements to smoke detection systems, and internal decorations.

The project will also include a new passive ventilation system which will improve the thermal comfort of the library and reduce overheating during the summer months.

Summary of Schedule (as predicted 5 August 2019)

Monday 12 August to Saturday 14 September 2019

Temporary Entrance with reader access limited to Ground Floor and Level 1.

Monday 16 September 2019

Return to normal entrance, with full reader access main Reading Room and Gallery. Internal scaffolding installed.

Monday 23 September 2019

External scaffolding installed

Friday 21 February 2020

Completion of works

Monday 16 March 2020

Return of temporary entrance on the north side as internal scaffolding is being removed.

Friday 4 April 2020

Return to normal entrance, with full reader access main Reading Room and Gallery. Internal scaffolding removed.

If you have any questions, please contact law.ref@bodleian.ox.ac.uk and we will try to answer them for you!

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21 December 2016 As the year draws to an end, most of the work on the renovations has concluded. There will be some issues to be sorted in the new year, but in general everything physical is done. We still await some furniture, and working entrance gates. We would like to thank every single person who has put up with the disruption in the past 18 months, and we look forward to a more peaceful and quiet library environment in 2017. Warm Season’s Greetings to all.

28 November 2016  As we commence the final week of term, the renovations are almost complete. The Entrance Gate will be finished in a couple of days, and the various final book cases and tables are being installed. Over the break the rest of the furniture will arrive, and we look forward to starting the new year with our completed renovations. We really appreciate the patience of all our readers over the past 18 months; it has been, at times, a very trying experience for everyone, readers, visitors, and the law library staff. However we hope your future use of the library will be enhanced by the improvements that have been made! Please visit us in the new year if you have not had a chance to yet!

7 November 2016  In the last month there have been several items of note. The new PCAS room on the 2nd floor is available for use, and houses three new copiers. Desks are in place for the SOLO terminals and the fiche reader printer. The small discussion rooms and the seminar room are complete and can be booked by students at the Enquiry desk. But we are still waiting for our entrance gates to be commissioned…

7 October 2016 The newly refurbished entrance is open and we have been soft-launching it this week. The actual entrance gates will not be installed until Monday, and some of the services are still in temporary locations. But we are working hard to get things looking better by next week. If lost – please ask one of the staff!!

30 September 2016 The day is drawing near!! The re-opening of the Law library entrance will take place on Wednesday 5 October – here is a sneak preview of the new entrance and the desk..

 

12 September 2016 It is still hard to imagine that this area will be our new entrance  in a few weeks’ time. The work continues apace, and we continue to have a lot of noise and disruption on a daily basis. The Law Library will be opening its doors to users again from Monday 19 September, but the entry to the library will still be from the laneway by Manor Road.

 

8 September 2016 Our new lift is installed, and the scaffolding on the south side of the library has been removed. The various new discussion rooms on the ground floor are being finished  off and should be ready in 3 weeks. Nearly all the books from the Gladstone Link have been returned to the new shelves on the first floor. We plan to re-open to readers on the 19th of September. but access will not be via the front doors of the law library until the week starting the 26th.

Saturday 6 August to Sunday 18 September (both inclusive) The Law Library will have to be closed as the refurbishment enters its final peak.
During this period Law Library staff will maintain an Enquiry Desk in the Bodleian Social Science Library (the neighbouring building to the Law Library) Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm. We will arrange for books and journals held in the Law Library to be delivered to this alternative location. Please feel free to contact us – via law.library@bodleian.ox.ac.uk – in advance of your visit, so that we can get things ready for you, and keep any inconvenience to you to a minimum.

August 2016 August saw the extensive demolition and reconstruction of many parts oft eh building, resulting in a great amount of noise and general disruption. The number of workers on-site reminded us of the Fraggle Rock, and the Doozers beavering away on their never ending glass towers…

18 July 2016 Since the end of term, the Law Library has morphed into a building site, with many sections blocked off by hoardings, and no longer available to readers. Noise from demolition and drilling takes place at various times through the day and in different parts of the building. Staff are on hand to retrieve items that are not easily accessible. The situation will continue until the library closes at 7pm Friday August 5th.

27 June 2016 – the new entrance to the Law library:  when you arrive at the foot of the stairs to the law library, turn right and head towards Manor Road. Turn left into Manor Road, and walk past the St Cross Building and the trees on your left. Turn into the driveway and just past the hoardings on your left, you will see the temporary entrance to the law library. Staff are at the desk, and you will be asked to present your University/Bodleian card.

 

 

24 June 2016  Without our multinational workforce we would not have the new renovations at the Bodleian Law Library. On this sad day for England, we continue to welcome  our hard working

building team. The Library looks like it has been torn apart by giants; access for readers is limited to the top two floors; entrance will stay at the main level 2 entrance UNTIL MONDAY when it moves to the ground floor (until we close on 6 August). Noise levels will increase next week as demolition commences. The photos show the newly relocated Reserve collection on the north side of the Reading Room, and the space where the Reserve Collection spent the past 20 years…

 

      21 June 2016  We were evacuated today when the fire alarm turned out not to be a test!  But it gave us a chance to take a photo of some of the many workers who are here for the summer seeing through the changes to the St Cross Building.

20 June 2016    Works start back on site today and we start a busy week of relocations.

For today and the next  day or so you will still be able to access the library from the usual entrance at the top of the stairs.

Please note that the male toilets on the first floor are now closed. Male toilets are available on the GF by the Cube and in the temporary toilets at the front of the building. Ladies toilets are available on the GF by the Cube, in the temporary facilities at the front of the building and on the first floor near the English Graduate Common Room. There is an accessible WC on the first floor near the English Graduate Common Room.

A reminder that the bike racks at the front of the car park are now closed, please use the temporary bike racks at the front of the building.

6 June 2016 The lack of blog posts reflects the relative silence in the BLL these past few weeks. This state of peace and quiet will end on 20 June, when the building works will recommence. In the interim, the collections continue to be moved to new, and in many cases, permanently changed locations. Over the summer a new floorplan will be prepared to help you find the books you need. Advanced warning as well that from the week of 20 June reader access to the library will move to the ground floor until we close on August 6.

23 May 2016 On level 1 the metal shelves are being replaced by the timber shelves that were in the wing on Level 2. The dismantling of the shelves in the level 3 Wing area will commence this week. All the International Collection has moved to the other end of the third level, near the US Collection.

The Level 3 wing area desks will no longer be available for use by readers. The small computer room is still available to readers.

13 May 2016 The major works underway at present are quiet – the metal shelving on Level 1 is being dismantled, and lovely timber shelves are being erected. The International collection has been moved to the nth east corner of Level 3, just a corridor away from its former home. The next collections to move will be pre-2000 journals, which will go to the ground floor rolling cases.

3 May 2016 The term has started the way it will continue – a quiet time, as the builders undertake minor finishing works in some areas. This will be a welcome relief for our finalists, as well as for us! The collections continue to be re-located, and we are on hand to assist you when the collection you want appears to have vanished!

The shelving in the former Sec Coll section on Level One is being dismantled in preparation for some lovely timber shelving. The collection itself has now moved to the shining new rolling cases on the ground floor.

25 April 2016 Welcome back for Trinity term. We are pleased to let you know that all noisy building works are suspended for this term, and the law library will be a much more pleasant place to study than it was last term. Please ask if you can’t find what you need!!

22 April 2016  Work on the site will wind back now for Trinity Term. Noisy work will be suspended for the term to provide a quieter study space for revision and preparation for first year LRSMP Moots. You will notice some sections of the library are no longer accessible, and the book collections continue to be moved. The entire Sec Coll UK, Europe and US collections have been moved to new rolling cases on the ground floor. Staff will help you locate material anytime you find yourself lost.  The Freshfields IT Room remains on Level 1 for this term, and the small computer room remains accessible on Level 3. Parts of Level 1 will be closed off over the course of the next month.

14 April 2016  Forgive the lack of reporting, but the news was the same most days – noisy concrete cutting and demolition works were in full swing for the past fortnight. The UK Secondary collection has been moved to the new rolling cases, and the rest of the secondary collection is being cleaned and moved now. The image shows the first book being shelved in the new rolling cases, and the one next to it shows the void where a staircase and carrels used to be located in the level 2 Wing.

30 March 2016 A great deal of work has taken place in the past two weeks, and there are new areas which are now no longer available to readers, including the Level 2 Wing area, much of level 1 – although readers can access the Freshfields room, and the RoW Collection, and the ground floor, which is still being worked on. We have been advised that noisy concrete cutting work will resume tomorrow for a week or so.

14 March 2016 After 3 days of very loud concrete crunching, we are pleased to let you know that the work is now finished. However the drilling and hammering noises will continue throughout the Easter vacation, as well as other noisy building works. The first floor collections are still accessible via the temporary door on the main stairwell, or the small staircase on the South Wall.

9 March 2016 The concrete cutting machine is on site today, and will start chopping through the small staircases on Level 1 at about 1pm. This will be extremely loud, and we apologise in advance. The noise will continue, on and off, for several days.

Those who remember the Level 2 wing stack, where Roman, Juris, Crim and Gen were housed – this is the way they look today! The shelves are being dismantled for re-use on the newly refurbished Level One – no more ugly grey metal shelves.

7 March 2016   An update on a couple of things happening this week.
1. Collections – We will start a backwash of the UK collection. The reason for this is to enable the Scotland/Ireland books to be re-located at the end of the UK sequence. This work will be stop/start, as it will take place in between other moves/cleaning. The books will remain in the same area where they are now, just moving by a couple of bays.

2. The ‘brock’ machine is being delivered on Wednesday to start chomping up the staircases. Apparently the noise is not as bad as the jack hammers, so that’s relief.

2 March 2016 Concrete drilling continues today; the image shows you the workman working to remove the concrete for the lift shaft. This is very noisy in the main reading room; the former graduate reading room on level one, accessible to all, is much quieter. To access the Freshfields IT Room you will need to use the door on the far window side from now on. Please follow the signs.

And finally, to try to help you keep track of where the collections have moved to, we have a list on our refurbishment page which tracks the moves .

29 February 2016 The concrete cutting continues this morning as the workers strive to break through the roof for the new lift shaft. We have even better earplugs at the desk for those who brave the noise. A reminder that Missing Bean is still here providing caffeine fixes to help you through the day. In addition, the EU section is being worked on today. The good news is that the level one reading room is still relatively quiet.

26 February 2016 We wanted to alert readers who are brave enough to venture to the law library that the drilling noise is very loud and intense today, especially in the Main Reading Room. Headphones and earplugs highly recommended. The good news is that the new rolling cases on the ground floor are coming together nicely as the photos show. For those curious to hear the sound of concrete drilling, we share this video with you.

22 February 2016 The ground floor of the law library is no longer available to readers. From this week, the rolling stacks holding the EDC collection, and pre-2000 journals from Crim, Juris, Roman & Ancient, as well as our collection of Hansard, will be inaccessible until the end of April. We apologise for this; however, with 2 staircases being removed in the area, shrink-wrapping the rolling cases is the only means available to prevent dust settling on those books. There will be hoardings in place to protect the Official Papers collection; items will be fetched for readers from that collection as needed.

Please note: Noisy work in EU section will commence on TUESDAY 23 February as a partition wall is erected.

18 February 2016 This week has seen many collections move location within the library. The changes might make it hard to locate a book, please check with desk staff, and read the side labels on book bays. Many to the moves are temporary, so floorplans will not be updated until the summer to reflect all the changes. The noisy work continues, intermittently, throughout the day.

16 February 2016  Apologies for a lack of updates; the server has now been restored and we can let you know that the work and noise are progressing. The flooring for the rolling stack on the ground floor is being laid, and the shelves are on site.

The collection is being moved all around the library; you may have seen our book movers hard at work. The reason for this latest round of internal moves  is the need to vacate the level 2 wing stack. The monographs are all moving to the Main Reading Room; the journals and law reports in those collections will be relocated potentially to Level 1. More anon.

 

4 February 2016 Overhead lighting in the EuroComm area will be removed over the next 4 days. Plastic sheeting will cover the shelves – please ask for help if you are seeking a book.

Work in the Sec Coll section near the Moys (K) books will commence on Monday for a couple of days. About 2000  books will be transferred to level 3. Apologies for this inconvenience.

The photos show the empty rare books shelves on level two, and the start of work for the new rolling cases on the ground floor.

2 February 2016 The drilling work on the form work for the new law library lift continues intermittently and can be quite noisy for readers in the Main Reading Room. Remember there is a quieter reading room on Level One, available to all.

28 January 2016  Latest works see the electricians inserting new cabling on the ground floor, the plasterers working on the Freshfields Room, and book movers shifting the Rare Books off site for a short period. Drilling noises continue, but mainly in bursts now and then, not constantly. rare books move in red totes, not green, the shelves are emptying, the mobile shelving is arriving, and the plastering works on the ground floor IT room are underway.

 

 

 

 

22 January 2016 The new ground floor Freshfields IT Room is taking shape, as the new walls are erected.

Please note that this afternoon there will be work on the cable trays in the Official Papers section, on the ground floor. This will not be noisy work, but there will be two electricians on ladders in the corridor.

The book moves to the Gladstone Link are now completed, and on SOLO you will see this new location for the next 12 months or so, until they come back to the refurbished library:    Bodleian Library Lower Gladstone Link Open Shelves

The next (much smaller) collection to move away temporarily will be our locked rare book collection, which will be relocated to the RSL for 6 months. Staff will assist you to retrieve these items if you need them.

20 January 2016     The work is progressing in the background, and so far the noise has not been to loud, but it is in the background for part of the day. Just be aware of this; the earplugs are doing quite a good job for many readers.

12 January 2016 The heating has been restored to the Main Reading Room, thankfully.

And the walls for the new Freshfields IT Room on the ground floor are starting to be erected. The space for the new rolling stacks on the ground floor is nearly done.

 

 

 

 

 

6 January 2016 In addition to the works downstairs, the International section on Level 3 has work taking place as well. Electricians are replacing the lighting and so some shelves are not easily accessible. Please ask for library staff help to retrieve any items. We hope this will finish in the next couple of weeks.

4 January 2016 Welcome back and a Happy New Year. We can report that drilling continues throughout the day, but it is not greatly disruptive. The next two weeks will continue to be sporadically noisy as concrete ‘chasing’ continues. The heating is not working very well in the Main Reading Room, so do bring an extra layer!

12 December 2015  The drilling background noise continues each day; it stops around 4pm. Ear plugs seem to be working for many readers, as well as headphones. We have seen much progress on the ground floor, where the concrete has been ‘chased’ to enable wiring conduits to be placed underfloor, and one of the small staircases has been removed. The scaffolding on the outside of the south wall shows where the new law library lift will be installed.

 

 

 

 

07 December 2015  The first 100 plus metres of books have been placed on the shelves in the lower floor of the Gladstone link. These photos show the book movers at work , and the books in situ.

Back in the law library, intermittent drilling and some demolition noise has started to take place during the day. The quietest time to come will be after about 4pm. We continue to be open until 7pm during the week.
The photos show the books in their new location, a couple of the book movers, and the long tunnel underneath the Weston, Broad Street and the Clarendon all the way through to the Radcliffe Camera, where the Gladstone Link is located.

         

03 December 2015   Work has begun on moving some of our collection to the Bodleian’s Gladstone Link: from Monday 7 this will act as a temporary subsidiary open access reading room for the Law Library. There is consequently a bit of trolley action – and consequently noise – around the edges of the main Reading Room.

27 November 2015  The acoustic preparation work commenced this week and will continue next week, in preparation for demolition works commencing on December 7.

The collections that are being moved at present comprise older legislation from many foreign jurisdictions. In general these are very low use items, and a great deal of more recent legislation is available freely online.  It is being moved permanently to the BSF, and will be able to be called up to the library at any time .

19 November 2015  Tomorrow morning there will be electricians working on Level Three in the International Collection area, working on removing the light fittings. They will be doing any noisy work before 9 am.

Please also note that demolition works will resume next week; again the noisiest work will take place before 9 am, although there may be some noise from rubble removal during the day. Additional acoustic screens will also be installed in preparation for the construction works resuming on December 7.

3 November 2015  Please note that there will be drilling today during lunchtime. Tomorrow there will be test drilling all morning at different stages to gauge the noise levels. Apologies in advance.

27 October 2015 The building works have not quite resumed, but there will be some drilling and hammering noises now and then. We hope that this will not be too disruptive for you, dear readers.

21 October 2015 We have been advised that construction work will recommence on Monday, 26 October.  We hope some of the new acoustic treatment will result in a less intrusive  level of noise for those working in the law library.

12 October 2015 There is no work on site today, and readers are not being inconvenienced by building works. Once we have an update on recommencement of work we will post it. Nice to have a quiet start for the first day of term.

9 October 2015  The building works have been halted temporarily as solutions are found to reduce the dust issues. So for the next week or two there should be minimum disruption for readers in the law library.

8 October 2015 The shaft of sunlight in the Main Reading Room below picks out the dustiness in the mornings. However this does settle down during the day. The Graduate Reading Room is our best offer of a dust free zone at present. Also this week, the old catalogue drawers went, as the wall to the Baker & MacKenzie seminar room came down.

7 October 2015  If you were wondering why there is so much drilling noise, this photo might help explain it. Channels are being created for cabling and other services that will be needed in the rooms which will be located on the ground floor, such as the IT room. Drilling starts early in the morning and is being suspended during teaching times, but resumes at lunchtime. Hammering may take place at various times.

6 October 2015   The past few days have been rather noisy, as the ongoing demolition on the ground floor continues. Whilst the builders will try to keep noise levels to a minimum once term starts, please be aware that the library will not be the normal silent retreat we are used to.  Library staff continue to work on bar coding some parts of legislation collections to move them to the BSF, and we are ensuring that the material sent off site is all available online to our researchers, as well as being retrievable via book stack orders on SOLO.

1 October 2015

Yesterday a whole wall came tumbling down! The wall that used to separate the IECL section from the Official Papers was removed in preparation for the installation of new rolling cases throughout this section. It will also house the relocated Graduate Reading Room, the IT room, and small meeting rooms.

Preparatory work on the creation of the lift shaft has started, and the drilling noise continues.

The Graduate Reading Room can be used by anyone who wants a slightly quieter spot to work.

29 September 2015  Today was a little trying as the rest of the demolition on the ground floor continued. The former IECL is now almost stripped of walls and fittings, in preparation for the installation of rolling shelves for the secondary collection books. We suggest you bring your headphones or earpieces to play some background music if the noise interferes with your work. The library does quieten down after 4pm..

28 September 2015 It was another noisy day, and some sections of the library are temporarily ‘Staff Only’ sections. We hope the noise and drilling will subside as inductions start.

22 September 2015  Heavy demolition work continues. We have ear plugs at the desk if you would like to use them. We will monitor the noise levels.

17 September 2015 There is drilling in the library today as plumbers discover some old pipework. It should be in short bursts only. We have ear plugs at the desk if you would like to use them.

15 September 2015 Some noisy work started today, as some demolition work commences on the ground floor in the old IECL space, to make way for some lovely new mobile shelving. The scaffolding on the South side will be used for the work being done on the new lift that will be inserted there.

 

 

 

 

 

14 September 2015  Today will see the start of some heavy demolition work on the ground floor. We will monitor the noise levels and hope it will not be too intrusive.

4 September 2015  After a lot of book moving last week, we have a new mini-collection on Level 3 called OoS – Out of Sequence. Most of the materials are from the secondary collections on Level 1, and if you are confused when trying to locate items, please ask us for guidance.

Next week will see come works commence in other parts of the Building, but the BLL should remain relatively unaffected by noise and disruption for the next little while. Book moving and bar-coding of legislation  ready to move it to the Book Storage facility continues.

27 August 2015: The hoardings have been erected on all four floors now, and the books have been moved to Level 3, into a large ‘Out of Sequence’ section. The hoardings are white and surround the south staircase, and the entrance to several of the small staircases on the south and east sides of the library. These photos show the hoardings, and also the temporary relocation of the table in the former Baker & McKenzie Room into the Main Reading Room. Many hands have been at work getting through all the work that has taken place so far, and we thank them!

            

                           

21 August 2015: Although the works on the law library do not commence until 1 September, there will be workmen here from Monday 24 August. The builders will commence the erection of hoardings on Levels 1, 2 and 3 on the south side of the library. These hoardings will mark off the area behind which Phase 1 of the St Cross refurbishment works will take place.

The Law Library will provide readers with earplugs if the work is too noisy. However it is planned that the major noisy demolition work will be taking place out of hours.

Collections on the south side will be relocated to the Gallery – Level 3 – as a temporary measure. Temporary signage will redirect you to the new locations. And if it is too confusing, please ask for help!!

22 July 2015: USA collection (legislation, law reports, journals and monographs) is being re-spaced: all the items currently  there (See 29 June below) will remain on the same floor as before, Floor 3. All the material will remain accessible to readers throughout the “wash”. Work is expected to take 10 working days. Trolleys will be used, so intermittent noise is inevitable.

14 July 2015: Part of the Reference collection, that relating to legal bibliography, legal research and citation style (shelf marks starting “Ref. Bibl.”) has moved to open shelves on Floor 3, in preparation for work on new lift.

29 June 2015: The US collection has been the first section to be affected by the coming changes. The National Reporter series, as well as the older series of the Federal Reporter, and many pre-2000 US Law Journals, have been transferred to the BSF (Book Storage Facility) at Swindon. If you are a current member of Oxford University with an Oxford Single Sign On, you can access these online via one of these subscription databases: Westlaw (go via Services link to Westlaw International to get to US material), HeinOnline, or Lexis@Library (from both the Cases and the Journals Search pages you can click a link in the left hand column to discover International cases/journals, or you could go to the Sources tab and use the Filter by Country drop down menu to discover the US material available.) If it is early US legislation or law reports (federal or state) you require, then LLMC-Digital is another potential treasury.

If you would rather consult the physical book or journal, or you are a visitor to the Law Bod without a personal or home institution subscription to the databases mentioned above, the items can be retrieved at any time using the request system on SOLO  If you have not used this request system before, there is plenty of help online (via both video and text) – but of course, if you are already in the Law Bod, a member of staff will be happy to show you.

The same request system on SOLO means that any of the foreign dissertations which have been sent to the BSF can also be returned to the Law Bod for consultation.

Work has also begun on respacing the USA collection: the current collection of US material will remain on Level 3, but will take up fewer bookcases. The activity is limited to Level 3, noise disruption is minimal.