Bodleian Humanities Library

A photograph of the Humanities Library with three LGBTQ+ pride flags hanging by the staircase. In the centre is the Transgender flag, on either side of it are Progress Flags.

Happy LGBT+ History Month!🌈

To celebrate, we've decked out our staircase with various pride flags and we think it looks wonderful 🤗

Keep your eyes peeled for further updates from us as we celebrate this month!

Beautiful! 😍

Hi there! The bust now resides in the Bodleian Humanities Library and its location has been chosen so that it can be viewed from the public areas of the building too 😊

Did you know you that the Bodleian has access to over 20,000 free audiobooks via LibriVox? 🔊📖

These are volunteer-created readings of works in the public domain, often based on Project Gutenberg texts.

Now findable on SOLO here: tinyurl.com/bdejbxd2

Happy listening!🎧

A photograph of our one of our bookshelves in the library. On it, are nineteen editions of Ulysses by James Joyce which take up the whole shelf!

#OTD in 1882, James Joyce was born! 🕰️

For your viewing pleasure, here's a picture of our 𝘜𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 shelf in the library...and yes, we do indeed have✨19 copies✨

Schwarzman Centre becomes Europe’s largest Passivhaus university building and world’s first Passivhaus concert hall

P is for Passivhaus! #HumanitiesLibraryA-Z

The Schwarzman Centre has now officially received Passivhaus (very low-energy construction and upkeep) certification! This makes us Europe’s largest Passivhaus university building. Read more about it here:
www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/article/schw...

Doing a DPhil? Make sure to sign up for your free welcome event by 3rd Feb! 📚

A photo of the Humanities Library lift. The doors are open, and the lift arrow is pointing up.

A photo of the card tap point to call the Humanities Library lift. Next to the card tap, there is an instruction card. This reads, "To Call the Lift: 1) Tap your card here 2) Press the arrow button. Please note: This lift is operational during the library's staffed opening hours (9am-9pm) only."

Wonderful news! Our lift is working at last!

It's ready and waiting for you during library staffed opening hours (9am-9pm). Travel between the 1st and 2nd floor uses the lift buttons, but if you’re going from the ground floor to the 1st or 2nd, tap your card on the card reader to call the lift.

A photograph of the self-collect shelves in the library, including lots of books with colours slips, and letters marking alphabetical order displayed.

O is for Offsite Storage! #HumanitiesLibraryA-Z

Books that live in our Bodleian Offsite Storage can be ordered in to the library through SOLO!

Once they arrive, you can find them in our Self-Collect area! Library use only items have red slips (left) and loanable items have blue slips (right) 📕📘

A photograph of Goldie (the golden fidget toy articulated dragon), sitting in front of two eggs: one gold, and one red and gold)

Urgent appeal! 🚨

My sister has gone missing! Ruby is red and gold like her egg, and normally lives in the library fidget toys basket (our hoard).

Could she please be returned home, so we can return to ruling our domain together (and providing well needed r&r for our readers)?

Thanks!
-Goldie 🐉

A photograph of three books, each one with a portrait of John Donne, Lord Byron, and Franics bacon on the cover. They are photographed in front of a bookshelf and an armchair.

#OTD, three literary giants were born! 🗓️

Today is the birthday of Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Byron, AND John Donne - what a day!

A photograph of bookshelves and work desks in the Rare Materials Teaching Room

Welcome back for Hilary term! 📚

It's great to see so many people back and using the library already. The Humanities Library team are here and ready to help, whatever you need! 👋

An image of our New Books Display in the Bodleian Humanities Library. The image shows six wooden shelves filled with books and our New Books Display signage attached to the side of them.

N is for New Books Display! #HumanitiesLibraryA-Z

If you're fancying a browse through all of our wonderful new acquisitions, then this is the place to be!

Located just behind our quick search machines and opposite our staff help desk, you'll find a range of loanable material for your every need 😊

An image of our rubber duck Bill Shakespeare hidden in between two Shakespeare books on the shelves in the Humanities Library.

It's nearly the beginning of Hilary Term here in Oxford, so here's a friendly reminder from Bill that all vacation loans are due back next Tuesday, 20th of January! 🦆📚

We're looking forward to seeing all of our lovely readers again soon! 😊

Exterior wide angled shot of the Radcliffe Camera

Are you new to Oxford this term or would you just benefit from a refresher on what the Bodleian has to offer you during your time in the city? These @bodleian.ox.ac.uk induction sessions will be hosted online and can be booked now for next week

go.glam.ox.ac.uk/RefresherHT

Heads up for our readers! The east pathway outside the Schwarzman is temporarily closed - if you're accessing the building via the east door out of hours, make sure to approach from the north. 🧭

A photo of the Multimedia room in the Humanities Library, taken from the far end (opposite the door). It shows many large wooden tables with wooden chairs, with the back and right-hand walls covered in CDs and DVDs, respectively.

A photo of a librarian browsing the DVD shelves, with her back to the camera. The DVDs fill the entire space in front of her. She is to their left, wearing a grey sweater, and has long blond hair. She is reaching out to select a DVD.

A close-up photo of the CD collection. The divider to show 'Schubert' is centred, as on this side it is identified by a tiny printed drawing of the composer. He is white with wild dark hair, wearing a coat and shirt. Many more CDs can be seen on the shelves above and below.

M is for Multimedia Room! #HumanitiesLibraryA-Z

Eagle eyes may have spotted this room in our last alphabet tweet. Not only is there plenty of study space, it also holds our full on-site audio-visual collections; come in from the cold and treat yourself to a browse!

Our collection of desk friends say hello! We've missed you, dear readers 💞

The library is open today for weekend access arrangements! More information: www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/libraries/hu...

A photograph of a sign that reads: Looking for a seat? If the main reading room is busy, try these reading rooms, marked up on the maps: 1. Rare Materials Teaching Room (first floor) This room is available as a reading room when not in use for teaching; check the digital display outside the room to see if it is free 2. Multimedia Reading Room (first floor) 3. Graduate Reading Rooms (first & second floors) These rooms are available for postgraduate students to use 4. Digital Study Room (ground floor) Please borrow any collections items before heading to ground floor spaces. [The picture also features maps directing to said locations]

A photograph of the multimedia reading room - complete with DVDs, wooden tables and chairs, a PC monitor, and armchairs.

A photograph of the Digital Studies Room, with lots of soft chairs and big tables

A photograph of the Rare Materials Teaching Room, with lots of comfy chairs and wooden bookcases holding the Old Norse Collection

L is for... Looking for a seat? #HumanitiesLibraryA-Z

We know the main reading rooms can get quite full during busy periods! Luckily, we've got lots of big, quieter reading rooms that you are also free to use for study 📖🤫

A photograph of 5 rubber ducks, in varying arrays of Christmas get-up

🎄Holiday Opening Hours 🎄

Today and tomorrow, the Humanities Library will be open 9am-5pm!

The library will then be closed for the holidays! ☃️

We'll reopen for weekend access arrangements on Friday 2nd January. Normal opening hours resume on Monday 5th January!

More information: shorturl.at/48Cqc

An image of a clear Bodleian Keep Cup with a red lid being held up in front of the entry gates to the Humanities Library.

K is for KeepCup! #HumanitiesLibraryA-Z

Bringing a hot drink into the library?🍵📖

To help keep our space clean and our collections safe, only sealed reusable cups are permitted - just like this lovely @bodleian.ox.ac.uk one below!

Person viewing an exhibition related to Jane Austen, featuring displays of historical clothing and documents.

Jane Austen was born 250 years ago today ✨

Our new display, Dancing with Austen, explores how dance shaped her social world and drove the plots of her novels.

Now on display at the Weston Library.

#JaneAusten

An image of a revolving film display populated with numerous DVDs and Blu-Rays. On top of it is a sign which says "New Films Display." In the background are the open film shelves and two blue chairs.

Introducing our ✨New Films Display✨

Regularly updated with our most recent acquisitions, you'll find an eclectic mix of borrowable films to help you in your studies!

Either watch in-house using one of our audiovisual rooms, or, loan a DVD player from our help desk to watch at home 🍿🎬

A watercolour of the north entrance to the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. In light brown stone, there's a base of archways, with wide, tall windows above. The Humanities Library can be seen in the windows over the door. In the foreground, there is a snowy bench, with footprints in the snow leading from the bench into the building.

Don't we look lovely?

There's some fresh new art for the Humanities Library for the first time! That's how you know we've really made it.❄️

A photo of the Humanities Library fidget toys, in their woven basket. In the foreground is a small golden dragon 'crawling' out of his storage egg. He is many jointed for use as a fidget toy. Behind him is a laminated sign saying 'Bodleian Humanities library Fidget Toys. Help yourself! Please do not take toys out of the library. Please return all toys to the basket when you're finished with them.'

What’s in this dragon’s hoard? Books, of course! 🐉📚

Fidget toys are now available for our readers to use! Please don't take them out of the library, and pop them back in the basket when you’re done. Go find them in the relaxation zone on the first floor!

A photo showing the New Periodicals display. There are copies of the TLS, the NYRB, and of various film periodicals (Cineaste, Film Quarterly, Little White Lies, Sight and SOund, Cahiers Cinema, Postif, Cineforum, and Fotogramas).

A photo of a librarian reading the TLS. She is blonde and wearing a red Christmas jumper. Her face is hidden by the front of the TLS, which she is holding open to read. Behind her, through a glass pane, are the shelves of films in the Multimedia Room.

J is for Journals! #HumanitiesLibraryA-Z

With the latest issues of Film periodicals, the TLS and the NYRB (@nybooks.com) available (1st floor, by Multimedia Room), why not have a cheeky browse?

If you need something else, we have thousands more titles you can order up from off-site to consult! 🗞️

An image of our ground floor library space. In the foreground is a large circular table with various chairs around it. Behind this are some bookshelves upon which there are various notices and a section of our library display.

An image of our relaxation zone in the library. There are two large comfortable armchairs and a table in front of numerous bookshelves. On one of the empty shelves are a selection of puzzles which readers can use.

An image of the relaxed area of our first floor study space. There are two large sofas facing one another, as well as some small desks and chairs nearby. In the background are some bookshelves filled with books.

I is for Informal Study Space! #HumanitiesLibraryA-Z

Alongside our more formal work areas, we have various relaxed study spaces too! Some of these include our ground floor public space, our comfy sofas near the help desk, and our relaxation zone (equipped with cosy puzzles, naturally…) 🤗🧩

A poster which reads: DPhil Crafy Connections 5:30-7pm Tuesday, 9th December Radcliffe Science Library Get to know other DPhil students while crafting and eating snacks! Book online: https://go.glam.ox.ac.uk/p8OOW16wU

🚨 Calling all DPhils! 🚨

Fancy taking a break and connecting with fellow DPhils over some hot drinks, cake, and a plethora of festive crafts? Then sign up to the DPhil Crafty Connections event below – spaces are limited! ☕

Link: ox-ac.libcal.com/calendar/rsl...

A festive graphic outlining some important dates for our vacation loans. It reads "The winter vacation begins on Sunday 7th December. Loans issued or renewed from Monday 1st December will be due back on Tuesday 20th January. Happy reading!"

It's almost the end of Michaelmas Term already! As such, our vacation loans will kick in from Monday, 1st December! 📚🎁

Any books borrowed from this date onwards will then be due back on Tuesday, 20th January 😊