The Old Bodleian Library, also called the ‘Old Bod’ is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. Confusing, it can be referred to as just the Bodleian Library. It is connected to the Radcliffe Camera by the underground Gladstone Link. It has three historic reading rooms: the Lower Reading Room, the Upper Reading Room and Duke Humfrey’s Library.
I’m Evie and I am one of the two new graduate trainees at the Bodleian reader services aka the Old Bod. So yes I get to work in the building Harry Potter was filmed in – pretty cool!
Duke Humphrey’s Reading Room – also the Hogwarts Library
I am a very recent graduate, having only finished my BA Anthropology degree in June of this year. Anthropology at the University of Bristol was an amazing experience, such an interesting subject and I cannot wait to make a visit to the Tylor (anthropology) library in Oxford.
During the last year of my degree and over the summer I worked in my local public library, which is the reason I decided to go for the traineeship here at Oxford. My experience at the public library has already been vastly different to the Bodleian – I have not had to sing nursery rhymes to babies yet or try to explain to an elderly person how to turn a computer on… I did love my experience there though, and I think it has set me in good stead for what may be to come in this new role.
So, I have been here at the Bod for two weeks now, and it is already flying by. I am finally starting to feel like I know what is going on and what I should be doing at any given moment of the day. Working in such a historic building is amazing (despite the stairs) and the Duke Humphreys reading room is definitely my favourite! I also have met all the other trainees several times thanks to several training courses we have had, and the Divinity Drinks reception we were invited to this week. Everyone is super kind and interesting – I think we are in for a fun year ahead of us!
I am excited for the undergrads to arrive in a couple of weeks, I think the phrase I have heard the most over the last couple of weeks is ‘just you wait till term starts’ every time I comment on the quietness or say something is easy! Its going to be an amazing experience, working in Oxford, and I still can’t quite believe I am here!
So that is my little hello post, I look forward to everyone else’s and to keep the blog up to date with my year 🙂
Hello! My name is Bethan and I am one of the two trainees based at the Reader Services in the old Bodleian this year. The Bodleian Library is the main humanities research library, and covers subjects including English, History, Theology, Philosophy, Patristics, and Classics. It is also the oldest in Europe, as it first opened to scholars in 1602.
An unusually quiet Old School’s Quadrangle
As trainees, we get to do a variety of tasks in all parts of the library. So far these have included:
The Main Enquiry Desk : This involves answering enquiries that come into the Reader Services via phone and email. These can range from straight-forward questions about how the library works, to requests to track down obscure books or journal articles. There is something very satisfactory when you are able to provide a useful answer for the enquirer, although occasionally it is best to simply forward the email on to a more informed department.
Delivery banksperson: Almost 12 million items in the Bodleian’s collection are held in the Book Storage Facility (BSF) in Swindon. As a result, boxes of books need to be transported daily. As banksperson, this task involves guiding the delivery van into the Quad, and attempting to prevent any preoccupied tourists from being run over (and probably ruining their pictures at the same time). We then transport the boxes to the appropriate reading rooms for the books to be processed and displayed at the collection points.
Upper/Lower Reading Rooms: As well as providing general help to readers (how to work the printer/connect to the Wi-Fi are common themes), this also comprises of shelving books and processing the incoming and outgoing deliveries. However, I would say my favourite part is going into the Duke Humfrey’s Library. This is the oldest and most impressive reading room in the library, as it dates back to the 15th Century. It was also used as the library in the Harry Potter films, so now I feel I can tell people that I essentially work at Hogwarts.
The Duke Humfrey’s Library in all its’ medieval glory
The Proscholium: This basically involves sitting at the front desk by the entrance. It is actually more enjoyable than it sounds because of the variety of enquires you get from both tourists and readers. As we are currently in the first term, you often find new students looking slightly lost and confused. This is understandable as the Bodleian is quite intimidating, so I think being friendly and helpful when they first arrive can make all the difference – and then they may even come back!
I have also had the opportunity to attend different talks and events – for example, I went to London with a few of the other trainees to attend the Internet Library International conference with NLPN. This was a great experience because we got to attend some really interesting panel discussions (although the free food was worth it alone). I have also been to a few events run by the Bodleian: ‘Library Conversations’ with Richard Ovenden (an open discussion with the senior staff about the Bodleian’s strategy and future developments); the ‘Digital Shift’ research meeting (a series of presentations about how the Bodleian can keep up with rapidly evolving technologies); and an interesting lecture and exhibition about Shelley’s Frankenstein. I have tried to go to as many different things as possible to make the most of my time here, and hope to continue to do so.
Overall I have really enjoyed working here so far, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds.
In my first blog, I mentioned the twice-daily deliveries of books from our Book Storage Facility in Swindon to the Old Bodleian site- as well as other Bodleian Libraries. Something exciting arrived in a recent delivery:
The Yellow Fairy Book (ed. Andrew Lang) was called up from the closed stacks. This was not interesting in itself (although it is a first edition and has a nice cover) until we opened up the book and saw that the last borrower had left their slip in there.
The Yellow Fairy Book, borrowed by J. R. R. Tolkien
That’s right- the J.R.R. Tolkien used this very book! The book mustn’t have been touched for several decades and so the slip has remained in place.
I contacted the Bodleian’s Tolkien Archivist, Catherine McIlwaine, who was able to confirm this. She explained that Tolkien looked at the book ahead of giving his famous Andrew Lang lecture at the University of St Andrews on 8th March 1939. The lecture was published as an essay entitled ‘On Fairy Tales’ in Essays Presented to Charles Williams, alongside contributions by contemporary academics such as C. S. Lewis and Dorothy L Sayers who also went on to have literary success.
Library records show that Tolkien consulted the book, among others, on the 27th February 1939. He was obviously working hard, preparing for the lecture, just ten days prior to delivering it (this makes me feel less guilty about all those essays hastily put together days before they were due!).
Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading room where I consulted the Bodleian Library’s Records
I went to Weston Library, which houses the University’s Special Collections, to look at the library records and see what else Tolkien looked at on the day. At the time Tolkien visited the library, the basement space underneath the Radcliffe Camera was a closed stack where only staff were allowed. Librarians would fetch any books stored there for readers to consult in the reading rooms. (The area is now called the Gladstone Link and is open to readers to use as a study space and to find books on the shelves themselves.)
MS. Library Records b. 618 ‘Camera Basement and Underground Bookstore Volumes fetched for Bodleian Readers’ & the inside of the book where you can see Tolkien’s name was recorded. The shelf mark ‘93 e.71’ is ‘The Yellow Fairy Book’.
The librarians recorded number of items requested each day, the time each book was requested, the shelf mark of the book, name of the reader and the seat number where they were sitting. Books were then fetched and delivered to the desk. I checked on our catalogue to see what items the shelf marks referred to.
At 10:30am Tolkien requested to see: The Olive Fairy Book, ed. by A. Lang (1907) The Book of Dreams and Ghosts, by A. Lang (1897) The Lilac Fairy Book, ed. by A. Lang (1910) The Green Fairy Book, ed. by A. Lang (1892) Favourite Fairy Tales (Fairy tales retold) 1907 The Brown Fairy Book, ed. by A. Lang (1904) The Crimson Fairy Book, ed. by A. Lang (1903) The Violet Fairy Book, ed. by A. Lang (1901) The Yellow Fairy Book, ed. by A. Lang (1894)
Later on, at 11:30am, he requested: Fairy Gold, a book of old English Fairy Tales chosen by Ernest Rhys (1907) The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies (compiled in 1893) by Robert Kirk Essays in Little by A. Lang (1891) Perrault’s Popular Tales, ed. by A. Lang (1888) The Magic Ring, and other stories from the Yellow and Crimson Fairy Books, ed. by A. Lang (1906) English Fairy and other folk tales, selected and edited by Edwin Sidney Hartland (1893)
As well as for use in his upcoming lecture, the stories in these books would no doubt have inspired Tolkien with his own fiction. The slip we found was left in the book at the beginning of The Dragon of the North a story about a courageous youth who defeats a man-eating dragon. He manages this feat with a magic ring, stolen from a witch maiden. Amongst many of its powers, if placed on the third finger of the left hand, it turns the wearer invisible. In the end, the ring is too powerful, and the youth learns that ‘ill-gotten gains never prosper’ when the witch retrieves the ring and punishes him for his deception. There is a eucatastrophe- the term Tolkien coined to describe happy endings in Fairy Tales- as the youth is rescued and made king.
It looks like Tolkien must have returned to consult The Yellow Fairy Book at least once more, as the slip suggests he sat in seat 23 of the Upper Reading Room- whereas the records from the 27th February state seat 22. He obviously liked that particular area of the reading room (I must say, it has a nice view of the Radcliffe Camera through the window!)
Here’s me, sitting in seat 23 in the Upper Reading Room, pretending to be Tolkien!
It was pretty thrilling to open up the book and find the Tolkien slip; and interesting to trace his steps and see what other books he used, during the period when he would have been writing Lord of the Rings. It makes him feel more real, somehow, to know that he used the library just like us!
It also makes me excited for the upcoming exhibition, curated by Catherine McIlwaine, entitled Tolkien: Beyond Middle Earth which will open at the Weston Library in June 2018.
The Old Bodleian Library lit up as part of Night of Heritage Light 29-09-2017 (Photograph by George White)
Hello, we are George and Jennifer and we’re the two Graduate Trainees who are based at Reader Services in the Old Bodleian Library this year. We thought we’d do a joint blog so we don’t repeat any information. We’ve been working here a month, which has flown by. As with any new job, there is an awful lot to learn and we have attended a fair few training sessions already, to get us up and running with the library systems. Things are starting to make a bit of sense now – but we are still relying on our very supportive team of colleagues to help us out with the more complicated reader enquiries. Term starts next week, so the new students are starting to descend – wish us luck over these next few weeks of chaos!
George says: Before my traineeship started, I studied English Literature and History at Sheffield University – where I spent a lot of time reading in the library! After graduating, I worked in public libraries for a few years- in Rochdale, where I grew up. I loved uni and working in my local library, so working at an academic library seems like the perfect place for me. I feel especially lucky to be working in one as beautiful as the Bodleian (I keep finding excuses to visit Duke Humfrey’s, the oldest part of the building, which is particularly lovely!).
Jennifer says: Prior to becoming a trainee, I completed an MA (Medieval History) and BA (History) at the University of York. After graduating, I worked in retail for a while, alongside volunteering in my local library and applying to a range of Graduate Trainee Schemes. I’m really looking forward to my year in Oxford, and at the Bodleian specifically, with the range of activities organised for us and the responsibilities I’ll have.
The Bodleian Library is one of the oldest libraries in the Europe; it was first opened in 1620, although it includes a much earlier library (Duke Humfrey’s Library) which dates to the 15th Century. The library has a long-standing tradition that none of its books are lent to readers – even to royalty. Charles I was apparently refused permission to borrow one – it’s good to mention this to readers, should they complain! The Bodleian is a Legal Deposit Library, which means we’re entitled to a copy of every book published in Britain. As you can imagine, this means we have an awful lot of books (around 12 million, last time we counted…) so the vast majority are housed at our Book Storage Facility in Swindon. Books can be ordered in by readers and will likely arrive the next day. As a result, staff are kept busy with twice daily deliveries from Swindon.
George in very fetching (i.e. mandatory) Hi Vis whilst doing the van deliveryVan delivering books to the Old Schools Quad
In addition to being a working academic library, the Old Bodleian is also a tourist attraction; running daily tours of the Divinity School and Duke Humfrey’s Library. It is also, occasionally, a film set. Duke Humfrey’s Library was used as Hogwarts Library in the Harry Potter films. It holds special collections which may be looked at, but which must be consulted in the Special Collections reading rooms over at the Weston Library. These books are alarmed and there is a member of the security team in the library at all times. Although they don’t actually scream at you, these books are about as close as you’re going to get to the Restricted Section at Hogwarts.
As Graduate Trainees, we float between the several teams that ensure that the library functions. So far, this has included:
• Stints on the Proscholium (fancy Oxford term for reception) which has involved a lot of nice conversations with tourists and directing nervous-looking undergrads and postgrads around the maze that is the Old Bodleian.
• Covering the Main Enquiry Desk, answering telephone calls and email enquiries (these vary greatly!)
• Processing deliveries from the BSF.
• Re-shelving items used by our readers (there are lots of classification schemes used it the Old Bodleian, just to keep us on our toes!)
• And, perhaps the most useful skill in a librarian’s repertoire, helping readers connect to the library’s Wi-Fi.
Another great aspect of the Bodleian’s Library Graduate Trainee scheme is that we’ve started the job at the same time as 23 other trainees. It’s nice to be part of this network and find people with similar interests- especially having just moved to a new city, where we don’t know many people. We expect our weekly training sessions, will soon become a highlight of each week (especially if we keep up the tradition of heading to the local pub afterwards… speaking of which, we’ll say goodbye for now.)
With first term over and Christmas hovering invitingly on the horizon, it’s probably about time I introduced myself on here.
Hi! I’m Sophie and I’ve been the graduate trainee in Reader Services at the Old Bodleian Library since the beginning of August. It’s difficult to remember what it was like in the blur that was my first few weeks here, besides walking the wrong way, picking up a book to pretend I know what I’m doing, and turning straight back around again. I’d like to think I’ve got into the swing of things by now, but I’m still learning something new every day.
The Old Bodleian Library is unique, both as a building and as a library (which, ironically, is a statement which could be applied to all of the libraries in Oxford). I’m surrounded on all sides by beautiful architecture, and I’m glad to say that I still haven’t got used to it, especially now that there’s a Christmas tree in the quad.
I came to the trainee scheme straight from Exeter University, where I studied English Literature. My experience working in libraries before this has mostly been behind-the-scenes, having assisted a preservation/conservation project in the Devon & Exeter Institution Library and a digitization project working on the letters sent to Thomas Hardy in the University’s Special Collections. I’ve really enjoyed the front of house aspects of working at the Old Bodleian, especially because the front entrance and the Main Enquiry desks are often the first port of call for people coming to the University of Oxford’s libraries for the first time. Being able to find a “missing” book or provide an answer to a grateful reader or member of the public is very satisfying.
Now that term is over, the Library has become a lot calmer and I’ve had more time to work on the beginning stages of my project: phasing out the use of the handlists (aka the card catalogue). At the moment, I’m working through the handlists to decide what information is necessary and will therefore have to be put on to our digital catalogue, so that we no longer rely on the physical catalogue as a back-up. The hardest part is understanding what previous cataloguers have meant by certain abbreviations and anachronisms. I’m in desperate need of a dictionary that can translate words and phrases from Bodleian into English because at times it’s like solving a cryptic crossword. Having said that, putting my detective skills to work is quite fun.
A page from one of the handlists (and the kind of book I need).
I’ve really enjoyed the training sessions and the scheme in general so far, and I’m looking forward to what is to come in the new year. Merry Christmas!
Hello! I’m Sophie, the Reader Services trainee for this year. I’m based in the Old Bodleian so I see Elizabeth (see above – Archives trainee) every couple of days and Danielle (also above) quite a lot!
I came to this position from a background in Theology (BA and MA), followed by a brief stint teaching in a secondary school, and eventually a year’s volunteering a day per week in a Special Collections library. I’m currently very happy to be here, six weeks into my Graduate Traineeship, at the point at which the world is beginning to make sense again. The last few weeks has been a deluge of information, systems and the obligatory new-job cold, though it’s been very enjoyable – the job, that is, not the cold.
To work in the Bodleian is to have a very unique library experience. It is an organisation of many layers that somehow manages to function as a fully operational academic library, a historical monument, and a tourist attraction all at the same time. It has somehow gotten the balance between the three and they exist, the majority of the time, in harmony. There are people who have been here so long that they can explain the migration of and changes to collections and buildings over many years, and people who, like me, are new to Oxford, city, university and library, and are just about functioning!
The first few weeks here have involved trying to understand how the Bodleian manages the transference, cataloguing, lending and tending to thousands of books per day while negotiating its layers of tradition, history, policy and practice. Duke Humfrey’s library is a great example of this. It has managed to achieve its goal of being a quiet and working study space while respecting its ancient trappings (really, let’s not put sellotape on the medieval panelling) and, of course, admitting quite a few tours per day. Fortunately, most of the trainees have had a few weeks of vacation to learn the ropes before the rush descends, although I’ve certainly been enjoying the beginning of Michaelmas term, book deliveries having doubled and many more people needing help around the library.
There have definitely been two things that I have found particularly perplexing as a newcomer to the Bodleian.
First of all, the classification systems are confusing at first. Most libraries have beautiful things such as the Dewey Decimal system or the Library of Congress. Not so, here! Or at least, not only. There are many classification systems, the worst to navigate being the Nicholson in the Gladstone Link but the worst to get wrong in terms of distance walked being “Hist.” and “S. Hist” which are not even in the same building.
Secondly, how did Mr Henry Aldrich manage to get two portraits of himself in the same room of the Lower Reading Room? Maybe he just thought nobody would notice…
I had had visions of my first week here being very similar to the scene in ‘The Mummy’ where we are first introduced to the librarian, Evie, sitting in a pile of books, manuscripts and bookcases which have just cascaded to the floor in one glorious domino effect. Fortunately, though, most of the Bodleian’s bookcases are attached to the wall – for the moment.
One of the unexpected aspects of the trainee year for me has been the opportunity for user education. I hadn’t really considered that during my time here I would go from being the new guy who asks all of the questions to someone knowledgeable enough to give training to our users. When the new academic intake arrives each October, the Bodleian runs a series of tours around the library to help orientate students and familiarise them with relevant collections for their fields of study. It’s a big site and the tour takes around 45 minutes with plenty of time to explain things like Closed Stack material, just where exactly the Gladstone Link is and that yes, Harry Potter was filmed in Duke Humfrey’s Library. I’m also starting to help run ‘Making The Most Of (the Bodleian)’ sessions which cover the practicalities of using the library, from exploring the catalogue to the differences between electronic subscription material and electronic legal deposit.
The Divinity School – User Education since the 1400s
This month, I assisted in a Research Skills workshop for humanities postgraduates at the University’s IT Services centre. Run collaboratively between the Bodleian Libraries and IT Services, students were able to move between work stations (and rooms) with different tasks on each table and the chance to learn about subscription resources which could aid their research. It was a fun environment with the idea to change learning tasks every ten minutes. The students were able to cover a lot during the morning and the on the spot feedback was very positive. My role was supportive; being on hand to answer questions and solve any issues that arose during the sessions. The university is fortunate enough to be able to subscribe or have access to an enormous array of electronic resources and at times it’s difficult, even as a staff member, to have even heard of every database – let alone be familiar with using it. Often it’s about having a broader awareness of how that sort of resource works and being able to explain with a logical approach.
As digital resources continue to proliferate, the role of a librarian will increasingly need to cover user education. There are always opportunities to help readers in new ways and at the same time, to learn more yourself!
I am writing this at the start of my second week here at the Bodleian. My trainee post comes under the umbrella of the Reader Services department and at the moment has seen me based in the Staffed Reserve area of the Upper Reading Room. We receive several deliveries of stack books from the BSF (Book Storage Facility) in Swindon each day, which are processed and then taken to nominated collection points around the site. A Self-Collect service was introduced earlier in the year but many readers still order to the Staffed Reserve and any books older than 1900 have to be picked up from here as well. It’s all change at the moment with the Weston Library (previously called the New Bodleian) opening to readers later this month and the rehousing of the library’s special collections in that space.
View to the URR from the quad. Whenever I look out, someone is pointing a camera at me or themselves!
I found my way onto Oxford’s Trainee scheme after graduating with an English degree in 2010 and moving through various customer facing roles including a year in a public library. Working with the public was a good preparation for dealing with the broad range of enquiries you face somewhere like the Bodleian. Later in the year, I will have a chance to be part of the Main Enquiry Desk team and deal with correspondence from around the world but there’s a lot to learn before I get there…
Last Tuesday we had our second trainee get together when we were treated to a tour of the Bodleian library, the Radcliffe Camera and the Gladstone Link, as well as a wine reception at the Divinity School. It was very exciting seeing behind the scenes at these grand libraries!
Old School Quad
As there are quite a few of us, we separated into two groups and our tours took different routes. In my group we looked around the Bodleian reading rooms first. We heard from our excellent guide all about how books are sent from the remote storage facility in Swindon (which we will be visiting this year!), and the different ways readers can collect their requests once they have arrived in Oxford. We then headed outside to see the Radcliffe Camera (currently undergoing some construction) and travelled back to the Bod underground through the Gladstone Link. I really liked the reader space in the Link, which was very modern compared to the reading rooms in the Bod and the Camera, but which still had the traditional stacks, designed by William Gladstone himself.
The Bodleian Library at Sunset
Afterwards, we went to a reception in the Divinity School, the university’s first purpose-built teaching room which was constructed in 1488. We were joined by senior members of the Bodleian library staff and were given a very warm welcome. The librarians present all wished us well for the coming year and were very encouraging!
Hi, I’m Hannah and I’m just 7 days into my role as the new Graduate Trainee at the Bodleian Library. I’m in good company as one of over 20 wannabe librarians embarking on traineeships across the university this year.
The road to the Bod began with ‘Bounce and Rhyme’ and ‘Silver Surfers’: I’ve been interested in a career in libraries since getting a part-time job at Nuneaton’s public library during my A Levels where most of our patrons were under 6 or over 60. While I was studying for my BA in French and German at Somerville College, here in Oxford, I also helped out in the library and archives over the long vacations. Somerville was a wonderful library to get work experience in; it’s one of Oxford’s largest college libraries as it was built in the days when women weren’t allowed to use the Bodleian! Luckily those dark days are over and I’m really looking forward to spending a year at the Bodleian. I can’t wait to get to grips with the inner workings of this amazing place.
Thus far I have been based on the reserve desk in the Upper Reading Room. Bodleian books aren’t for lending, and much of the huge collection is now stored off-site at the Book Storage Facility (or BSF; one of many acronyms to learn!) We unpack three deliveries a day of books from the BSF in Swindon for readers to consult here, as well as helping readers to find what they need on our open shelves. The Old Bodleian is currently undergoing maintenence works to improve the flooring (no more squeaky lino!) and lighting, so we duck under the red tape (with the permission of the workers) to fetch various volumes. We wouldn’t want any unsuspecting readers tripping into one of the gaps in the flooring in their pursuit of the Collected Works of Coleridge. There are also always new readers who might need a hand with SOLO and I’m anticipating that these enquiries will become ever more common as term time draws near. During my year here I’ll be based at several different desks and service points in the Bodleian, including the Main Enquiry Desk and heading down into the Gladstone Link, so I’m excited about the variety of work that I will get to do.
Recent Comments