Subjects & Reading Rooms

• Subjects
• Special Collections
• Reading Rooms
  • Special Collections Reading Room at RSL
  • Duke Humfrey's Library
  • Indian Institute Reading Room
  • Lower Camera
  • Lower Reading Room
  • New Bodleian Reading Room
  • Official Papers
  • Upper Camera
  • Upper Reading Room
• Opening Hours
• Locate the Library
• University Libraries

 

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The Bodleian Library has nine reading rooms.

Duke Humfrey's Library is the oldest reading room in the Bodleian Library and the principal reading room for those studying Medieval and early-Modern manuscripts and Papyri, pre-1641, special and rare book collections, and codicological, bibliographical and local history. It is also the reading room in which most Oxford University theses are consulted. Readers may use only pencil in Duke Humfrey’s Library. Bags and cases may not be taken into the reading room and other security measures may be enforced. 

The Indian Institute Reading Room holds printed materials on the history and culture of South Asia, Tibet and the Himalayas. The reading room may be accessed on application to staff in the New Bodleian Reading Room. 

The Lower Camera Reading Room is the main undergraduate reading room of the central Bodleian for students studying Theology and English Literature. The reading room also contains the Bodleian open shelf collection of Film Studies materials.

The Lower Reading Room is the principal reading room for all those studying Classics and Ancient History and Philosophy. It is also home to open shelf general Reference and Theology (Patristics) collections, and the Main Enquiry Desk.

The New Bodleian Reading Room is the reading room in which maps, printed music, and printed books and periodicals in the subject fields of Maps, Music, and Asian and North African Studies are consulted.

The Official Papers Reading Room contains a comprehensive set of British parliamentary papers from 1801 to the present, as well as earlier records of the proceedings of Parliament and non-parliamentary papers, Republic of Ireland parliamentary and non-parliamentary papers, and the publications of international organisations, notably the United Nations. The  reading room is accessed via the Lower Camera.

The Special Collections Reading Room at RSL is the research reading room in which western medieval and modern manuscripts, oriental manuscripts and rare books are consulted. Readers may use only pencil in the Special Collections Reading Room. Bags and cases may not be taken into the reading room and other security measures may be enforced.

The Upper Camera Reading Room is the main undergraduate reading room of the central Bodleian for students studying History, including material on the history of art and on archaeology, as well as holding a smaller collection of Anthropology books.

The Upper Reading Room is the principal research reading room for access to printed books and periodicals published after 1640 in the subject fields of Medieval and Modern History, English Language and Literature, and Linguistics.