Balancing the books
So the Bodleian has wasted a few thousand on an application to manage the large number of tourists that visit in the summer; just a misjudgement on the part of the University, or symptomatic of the poor state of Oxford library provision? To open its 'News Features' section, the OxStu has decided to look in depth at Oxford's libraries and ask whether we should be expecting more from one of the most famous libraries in the world.
Although the Bodleian, being a copyright library, cannot really be faulted on the provision of books published within the UK, mistakes like that detailed on the front page of this paper make the availability of foreign books tighter as funding is squeezed. Access to books therefore is the main issue for students, as the Bod's reading rooms alone provide an essential resource for many. Since access to the library's resources is determined by opening hours this is of significance to everyone. Only last Hilary term they were threatened with shortening, saved by a vociferous and popular poster and postcard campaign by OUSU.
Within the University, the Bodleian does not compare favourably with most college libraries nearly all of which open seven days a week, including at least part of the day at weekends. Several, among them the poorest colleges, have 24-hour access. Faculty libraries are more variable but generally follow the Bodleian's dubious example with poor weekend opening, and frequently close even earlier in the evening. However as most are lending libraries this is more excusable. Physiology and the Physics Clarendon Library lead the way with 24-hour swipe card access for registered members and staff on hand from Monday to Friday during office hours.
A comparison with other universities shows Oxford to be significantly lacking in terms of access. Although the libraries here, and particularly the Bodleian, can claim to be at least as comprehensive as at other institutions, their opening hours leave a great deal to be desired when put alongside even small universities. Both the main libraries, or 'Learning Resource Centres', at Luton and Thames Valley, two of the places that frequently loiter around the wrong end of the league tables, open seven days a week with at least nine hour availability on both Saturday and Sunday. Oxford Brookes also has reasonable evening and weekend opening hours. Cambridge subscribes to the Oxford "treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen" principle, the University Library opening for a miserable 58 hours a week during term time.
The one library under the Bodleian remit that does have sensible weekend opening hours, the Bodleian Law Library, is sponsored during term time to stay open longer, and perhaps this corporate involvement is one of the options the University should look at to give students a library service that matches its world class education. Other possibilities could include the installation of swipe card and book detection facilities at the Bodleian and other libraries to allow 24-hour access to reading rooms and, after the initial expense, remove the drain of salaried staff on the increasingly stretched library budget. Students would soon get used to having access to librarians and the stack only at the current times, but would be grateful for the extra availability of shelf books in the evenings and at weekends. The Secretary to Bodley's Librarian, Steve Waterman, maintains that a guaranteed extra source of income is needed to extend opening hours, adding further to the £11 million shared amongst Oxford University libraries. You would have thought though that one of the most visited libraries in the country could find a way to raise funds from tourism without having to fundamentally change the very attraction itself. Don't hold your breath for those lovely late night essay crises on a Sunday among the dusty tomes of the Bodleian's reading rooms.
1. Luton 2. Thames Valley 3. Oxford Brookes 4. Oxford 5. Cambridge
* Based on sample of universities' main library opening hours
10th Jan 2002