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The University Library

The Library was founded in 1611 with a gift of 1,100 books. It now holds 1.16 million printed volumes, and keeps them for anyone who needs them, including people who have not been born yet.

SOUTH ELEVATION · 1:200 · OLD LIBRARY, BELLHOUSE LANE
The Old Library, south elevation. Estates drawing office.

The Old Library on Bellhouse Lane was built in 1768 to hold the Academy’s books, which had outgrown the Chapter House. Its Upper Reading Room, under the dome, reopened in February 2026 after fourteen months of repairs.

The Library in 2026–27

Printed volumes
1.16 million
Manuscripts and archives
4,300 collections
E-books and e-journals
412,000 and 61,800
Reading rooms
4
Librarian
Dr Hywel Prothero
Lazarus partner since
1998

Reading rooms

The Library’s reading rooms
Reading roomWhereSubjects
Upper Reading RoomOld Library, Bellhouse LaneHumanities; Special Collections by appointment
Riverside LibraryRiverside siteSciences, social sciences; open 24 hours in term
Law LibraryChapter StreetLaw
Faculty LibraryChapter House, Ferry LanePhilosophy

Collections

The Library collects for teaching and research in every subject the University teaches, and keeps what it collects. About 610,000 volumes are in three temporary stores across the city while a new store is built on the Riverside site; readers can order them for delivery the next working day.

Special Collections include the Academy’s 1611 benefaction, its own records since 1583, the Pontar Ballad Collection and the papers of several generations of the University’s teachers.

Digital preservation

Since 1998 the Library has deposited copies of its digital collections with Lazarus, the digital archive run by Frothly. It was among the first university libraries to do so. Digital preservation and Lazarus

Contact

Library enquiries: library@oxenfurt.uk · 01632 960655

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