Conservation and Heritage Science
Our work
The mission of the Bodleian Libraries is ‘to provide an excellent service to support the learning, teaching and research objectives of the University of Oxford; and to develop and maintain access to Oxford's unique collections for the benefit of scholarship and society’.
We support the learning, teaching and research endeavours of the University through the provision of information collections, curated spaces to study, specialist services and expert staff.
Highlights of our work in academic year 2024–5
- The sheer extent of take-up of our services is staggering. For the academic year 2024–5, for the 24 hours of the day for 365 days, we recorded c.54,500,000 transactions across our full service offer: more than 100 a minute.
- This academic year saw a continued return to physical use of libraries with a rise from 1,933,041 visits in AY23/24 to 2.2million this year. The most visited libraries remain the Old Library and the Radcliffe Camera with 844,000 visits. Space development has been a key strategic priority for the Bodleian Libraries, with further work to improve comfort in the Radcliffe Camera this year, and investment in monitors, ergonomic chairs and height-adjustable desks which benefitted readers across all our libraries. On top of this, bigger developments (the relaunch of the Radcliffe Science Library and work to prepare for the move to the Humanities Library) are further impacting on readers. In the 2022 Reader Survey, the comfort of spaces came up as a key concern. Following steps to improve our physical estate, the 2025 survey included many more positive comments about study space.
- Scan & Deliver remains popular with 29,161 requests in AY23/24 and 29,797 in 24/25. Most importantly, the average time taken to satisfy Scan & Deliver requests fell from ten days to four in this period.
- Yet again, there was an increase in demand for services for disabled students, with the number of students receiving specialist support rising from 3,267 to 4,970.
- One of the guiding principles of the Bodleian Libraries Strategy is ‘we will foster and value inclusion and diversity in everything we do’. This informs our services and is linked to the Libraries’ work around student wellbeing and developing a sense of belonging. Building on our flagship project, ‘We Are Our History: Towards racial equity’ (which won the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in 2024), this year the Bodleian Libraries established a ‘Belonging Group’ to develop strategy to take inclusion activities forwards.
- As noted, our Reader Survey ran again in February 2025. We received the highest ever scores in all main indicators of reader satisfaction. These scores are reflected in the feedback received from readers, as quoted throughout the service catalogue (for example: ‘Just Thank You. Bodleian Libraries are the heart of the university. I genuinely have no idea where we would be without you.’) and the Oxford libraries’ score in the NSS (97.4%).
The wellbeing space at the Radcliffe Science Library
One of our most visited libraries - the Bodleian Old Library
Boxes preparing to move items into the new Humanities Library into the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities
Full scope of our work
Each academic year the Bodleian Libraries details its work in its ‘Service Catalogue’.
This document covers:
- services provided to members of the University of Oxford and Bodleian Reader Card holders;
- how the service offer supports the University’s strategic priorities;
- usage of the services in the previous year;
- impact of the services on members of the University of Oxford and Bodleian Reader Card holders;
- action taken or planned in response to feedback about aspects of the service offer;
- priorities for development over the coming year.
Download the full service catalogue for 2024–5 (PDF)
