page_title: Bodleian Library
section_title: Present and future of the libraries
hierarchical_section_title: Bodleian Library / History / Present and future of the libraries
caption_attribution_description: English: The New Bodleian Library building during a major refurbishment in November 2011
context_page_description: The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 12 million items, it is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library. Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom, and under Irish law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or "the Bod", it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.
  In 2000, a number of libraries within the University of Oxford were brought together for administrative purposes under the aegis of what was initially known as Oxford University Library Services, and since 2010 as the Bodleian Libraries, of which the Bodleian Library is the largest component.
  All colleges of the University of Oxford have their own libraries, which in a number of cases were established well before the foundation of the Bodleian, and all of which remain entirely independent of the Bodleian.
context_section_description: The New Bodleian building was rebuilt behind its original façade to provide improved storage facilities for rare and fragile material, as well as better facilities for readers and visitors. The new building concept was designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and the MEP design was undertaken by engineering consultancy Hurley Palmer Flatt. It reopened to readers as the Weston Library on 21 March 2015. In March 2010 the group of libraries known collectively as "Oxford University Library Services" was renamed "The Bodleian Libraries", thus allowing those Oxford members outside the Bodleian to acquire the gloss of the Bodleian brand. The building was nominated for the 2016 Sterling Prize.
  In November 2015 its collections topped 12 million items with the acquisition of Shelley's "Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things". Thought lost from shortly after its publication in 1811 until a copy was rediscovered in a private collection in 2006, the Bodleian has digitised the 20-page pamphlet for online access. The controversial poem and accompanying essay are believed to have contributed to the poet being sent down from Oxford University.
caption: The New Bodleian Library while closed during a major refurbishment in November 2011
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