Admission and Lending

The Oriental Institute Library is a dependent library of the Bodleian. All persons wishing to use the library must be accredited readers of the Bodleian Library and comply with its regulations. In addition they must observe the local rules set out below:

  1. Readers of the Bodleian Library who are current members of the University of Oxford may read and borrow books. Other Bodleian readers will be given reading rights but borrowing rights will only be extended to them at the discretion of the Librarian of the Oriental Institute.
  2. No person may use the library unless he/she has completed the local registration form.
  3. A reader with borrowing rights may borrow a maximum of six books at a time. He/she may keep them for two weeks and thereafter must return them at any time if asked to do so by the Librarian. Failure to return books on time may render a reader liable to be fined at the rate posted in the library.
  4. Periodicals, reference books and other material marked 'confined' may not be borrowed.
  5. Books may only be taken out of the United Kingdom with prior permission of the Librarian.
  6. A reader who borrows books is responsible for them until they are returned to the library and may not hand them on to another person.
  7. Bags may not be taken into the reading room, but should be stored in lockers or on the racks in the library reception area.
  8. Articles left on library premises or in lockers are at the owner's risk.
  9. Mobile phones must be switched off while on library premises.
  10. Access for disabled people by a ramp at the side of the building, with lifts to all floors. A fully-adapted toilet is also provided.
  11. Services include original script Internet access to sources in Chinese, Japanese and Korean, self-service photocopying, microform readers and lockers.