Category Archives: Building works

Radcliffe Camera building works – update 30 July 2013

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Planning for the forthcoming building work is coming along. Here is the latest state of play of the programme.

Upper Camera: works in HFL office and central reserve will take place 12 to 23 August. HFL staff will be occupying some reader desks during this time while the office and consultation room are being worked on. There will be some noise and disruption in the reading room but at current estimates you will otherwise have normal access to collections, desks and services.

Lower Camera: work on the new entrance in LCam will also start on 12 August and last until 20 Sept (at current estimates). The Lower Camera will close on 12 August and a temporary staff point for enquiries and circulation of History Faculty Library material will be created in the Gladstone Link. We are expecting staff to be able to fetch HFL titles held in the Lower Camera.

Dealing with Bodleian book requests ordered to LCam:

  • Until 8am on Saturday 3 August you will be able to order material to the Lower Camera as usual. (Please note that SOLO will be unavailable from 8am on Saturday 3 August to 9am on Monday 5 August).
  • Items requested to the Lower Camera can be consulted there until 4pm on Saturday 10 August.
  • If you wish to consult these items after Saturday 10 August, please ask staff by 2pm on Friday 9 August  for these to be transferred e.g. to Upper Reading Room.
  • All items still in Lower Camera on the morning of Monday 12 August will be returned to storage.
  • Between Monday 5 August and Saturday 21 September items from closed storage can only be requested to the Old Library.

The Lower Camera is expected to reopen on Monday 23 September. A Self-Collect book service to Lower Camera will come into operation when the reading room reopens. See also Self-Collect being introduced in the Lower Reading Room, Old Library.

Gladstone Link book moves

The HFL collections from the Lower Gladstone Link will start moving to the Upper Gladstone Link week 5 August.

We apologise for any inconvenience these essential works cause. Please seek staff if you have any problems.

Related links:

Building work in the Old Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera in Summer 2013

Bod HFL books are moving

Old Bodleian Library – update of building works 30 July 2013

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Works in Upper Reading Room (URR): The History (north) side of URR should reopen to readers on Friday 2 August. The new carpet is looking good and already deadening sound which is nice!

Work on the (English) south side of URR will start on Monday 5 August. The seating on the south side of URR will close to readers from this date. URR should reopen completely to readers on Monday 23 September.

Works in Lower Reading Room (LRR):

The new light fittings will be installed in the north (Classics) range between Thursday 21 and Friday 30 August, entailing closures of particular seating areas for one or two days during this period.

The preparatory lighting work on the south (Philosophy / Theology) side of LRR will take place between Monday 5 and Wednesday 14 August. The light fittings will then be installed between Monday 16 September and Tuesday 24 September. Both periods will see brief closures of particular seating areas for one or two days.

Work to remove the old Lower Reserve counter will take place in week 29 July, though further work in this area may be needed. There will be no general route through the old Lower Reserve area on this date, though an evacuation route will be available in an emergency.

Benefactors Board:

Work will also be carried out on the Benefactors Board between Monday 19 August and Friday 30 August. During this period, the south stairs will be closed above Lower Reading Room. Access to Duke Humfrey’s Library and the Upper Reading Room will be via the north stairs only. Both staircases will be fully available in an emergency.

We apologise for the ongoing disruption this work to improve the library environment will cause.

Old Bodleian Library: Lower Reading Room reserve now close – start of Self-Collect 5 August

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The staff-mediated reserve in the Lower Reading Room has now closed. If you wish to order material from the Book Storage Facility to the Old Bodleian Library, you should select the Upper Reading Room, or for Special Collections material, Duke Humfrey’s Library as delivery locations.

Pending completion of works, from Monday 5 August we aim to introduce a new Self-Collect point in the Lower Reading Room Reference Room (room containing the Main Enquiry Desk) enabling you to collect items you have ordered from closed access without waiting for staff intervention.

Bod HFL books are moving

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As part of the programme of building works and improvements in the Radcliffe Camera and Gladstone Links, Bodleian History Faculty Library material has started moving.

Lower Camera book move

Books in the Lower Camera (A-DA175) are being moved to create space for the new entrance to the Radcliffe Camera.  The books are still housed within the Lower Camera but are being respaced across the bays.

To prepare for the move of Bodleian material in Upper Gladstone Link into the Lower Gladstone Link, some respacing is also taking place in the Lower Gladstone Link.  Bod HFL books in the Lower Gladstone Link are being gathered together into a smaller space, with less gaps at the end of each shelf.  Temporary signage is in place to show the more compactly shelved contents of the rolling stacks.

Temporary signage in the Lower Gladstone Link

Temporary signage in the Lower Gladstone Link

Using Bod HFL books over the summer

No Bodleian History Faculty Library books are being removed from the Radcliffe Camera or Gladstone Link as part of this move and they should remain accessible throughout these initial changes.  If you are unable to locate material, please ask library staff for assistance.

Plan ahead

Further changes and work, some of which will be disruptive, is scheduled to take place this summer.  You can sign up for our mailing list (on the right hand side of this page) or RSS feed to receive updates about further work, or check our Summer Works webpage.  If you are planning to use the library, do check ahead of your visit and contact us if your have any questions.

Related Links Summer Works webpage | Bodleian Library website | Contact us

Collect your own stack requests in Old Library – starts in August

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Finger from Statue de Rollon (Rouen) by zigazou76 on Flickr

Finger from Statue de Rollon (Rouen)
by zigazou76 on Flickr

The Bodleian Library will introduce Self-Collect in the Lower Reading Room (LRR) in early August.

This is great news for those wishing to pick up your stack requests yourself.

To make this possible, the current staff-mediated reserve in LRR will close. The new Self-Collect pick-up location will be in the Reference Room, near the Main Enquiry Desk. The old reserve area will be turned into open access shelving and more desks will be added.

Timetable of changes:

  • Until 5pm on Fri. 12 July you will be able to order your books to LRR as normal.
  • You can consult those items requested in LRR until 4pm on Sat. 20 July
  • If you wish to consult those items after Sat 20 July, make sure you ask staff by 2pm on Friday 19 July for these to be transferred e.g. to Upper Reading Room (URR).
  • Otherwise, all items still in Lower Reserve on the morning of Monday 22 July will be returned to storage.
  • Between 22 July and 5 August, all non-Special Collections bookservice to the Old Library will be to URR. You can of course taken to the LRR to use if you prefer.
  • 5 August: Self-Collect service is expected to come into operation in LRR.

Please ask staff if you need any assistance with requesting material, especially while bookservice to LRR is suspended.  Thank you for your patience while we introduce this new service. Once it is up and running, we hope that you will enjoy it!

Related links

Starting 17 June: Old Bodleian: flooring and lighting in URR and LRR

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Work to improve the environment in the Upper Reading Room and Lower Reading Room will start on Monday 17 June 2013.

New carpet in the Upper Reading Room (URR)

To provide a quieter working environment, a carpet will be laid in the Upper Reading Room.

History (north) section is affected mid-June to end of July. Seats are available in the English section. If you need to use any of the open shelf collections, please contact staff at the URR Reserve. A guide to the key sources in the History section (Class K) suggest online alternatives where known.

New lights in the Lower Reading Room (LRR)

These will also provide a better and quieter working environment as well as improve our energy efficiency.

The Main Enquiry Desk and Classics section is affected mid-June to end of July. Seats are available in the Theology & Philosophy section. If you need to use any of the open shelf collections, please contact staff at the Lower Reading Room Reserve.

Worried about the disruption?

Library staff will be here throughout the summer to help you access the collections, even when some areas are closed. Desks are always available in other areas.

Plan ahead

If you plan to use specific resources in the library, then our top tips are:

1. Do check the Building Works posts on this blog and sign up to the blog’s email alerts.

2. Do ask staff in the library if you have trouble locating material.

Related links

Building work in the Old Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera in Summer 2013

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This summer building work will be taking place in the Old Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera during the Long Vacation.

It will be necessary to close the Lower Camera for a period of five weeks but we expect to maintain services throughout.  During this time there will be a staff-mediated fetching service for open shelf material housed in the Lower Camera.  Bodleian History Faculty Library books can still be borrowed and returned as normal in an alternative location (Upper Gladstone Link tbc). Further detailed information about arrangements and the schedule of works will be advertised soon here on the blog and on the Bodleian History Faculty Library website.

Old Bodleian Library – work likely to begin on 17 June

  • Re-flooring the Upper Reading Room to provide a quieter working environment
  • Re-lighting the Lower Reading Room to provide a better and quieter working environment and to be more energy efficient
  • Closure of the Lower Reserve and changes to provide additional capacity for open shelf material and seating for readers
  • Setting up a Self-Collect Reserve in the Reference Room to allow readers direct collection of requested stack material
  • Re-purposing the Photocopying Area in the Upper Reading Room to provide an expanded Mediated Reserve

Radcliffe Camera – work likely to begin in August until mid September

  • Creation of a new entrance to the Radcliffe Camera in Bay 4 of the Lower Camera to provide easy disabled access to the building and to improve security and circulation of material.  This will allow books to be moved freely between the Upper Camera and other parts of the central Bodleian Library site.
  • Additional seating will be added to the Upper and Lower Camera
  • Setting up a Self-Collect Reserve in the Lower Camera to allow readers direct collection of requested stack material

There will be some noise and minor disruption associated with these projects but it is intended to confine works to one building at a time as far as possible. If you have any deadlines, concerns or need support during this time, please contact us.

Related Links Bodleian History Faculty Library Building Works webpage | Contact Us