The library of the future – what is the Bodleian for?

I’m talking at Oxford on 2009-04-02 on the future of libraries and I’m doing some simple browsing to see what I can find – by intelligent browsing only – about the purpose of libraries, specifically Oxbridge.

My first visit is obviously to Wikipedia:

The late sixteenth century saw the library go through a period of decline (to the extent that the library’s furniture was sold, and only three of the original books belonging to Duke Humfrey remained in the collection).^[8] It was not until 1598 that the library began to thrive once more, when Thomas Bodley (a former fellow of Merton College) wrote to the Vice Chancellor of the University offering to support the development of the library: “where there hath bin hertofore a publike library in Oxford: which you know is apparent by the rome it self remayning, and by your statute records I will take the charge and cost upon me, to reduce it again to his former use.”^[9] Duke Humfrey’s Library was refitted, and Bodley donated a number of his own books to furnish it. The library was formally re-opened on 8 November 1602 under the name “Bodleian Library” (officially Bodley’s Library).^[10]

PMR: We immediately see one of the many problems of digital curation. Although I assume that “apparent”, “rome” and “remayning” are faithfully transliterated, their semantics and deeper meaning are unclear. I would value a modern interpretation. There is no mention of a charter or purpose… so let’s go to the official Bodleian site:

Ten things you need to know about the Bodleian Library

1. The Bodleian Library is a reference-only library. We do not lend books, and you cannot borrow them.
2. The Bodleian Library is the second biggest in Great Britain, after the British Library itself. The Bodleian collection includes more than 8 million volumes.
3. The Bodleian Library is one of five legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom. We are entitled to claim a copy of every book and periodical part published in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland. We are also obliged to keep them in perpetuity.
4. The Bodleian Library is part of Oxford University Library Services (OULS), the group of more than thirty research, faculty and departmental libraries that make up the largest part of Oxford University’s library provision.
5. The Bodleian’s printed collections are listed on Oxford University’s union catalogue OLIS, which is available for all to consult on the internet.
6. The Bodleian’s holdings include internationally significant collections of manuscripts, maps, sheet music, and printed ephemera.
7. Our open access (open shelf) collections include the material that our experts believe will be most helpful to you in your learning. These comprise approximately 14% of our total collection, and are spread across nine reading rooms in the central Bodleian itself, and twelve other OULS libraries.
8. The remainder of our collections are kept in a series of closed access warehouses called the Bookstack (stack books). Material from the Bookstack can be ordered, using a function on the OLIS catalogue, to the central Bodleian’s reading rooms or twelve other OULS libraries.
9. Our facilities staff will search your bags both when you enter the Library and when you leave.
10. If, having read this, you are unsure where to start or have any questions, please:…

PMR: so from this we learn that the Bodleian collects books and manuscripts and is part of (not the whole of) Oxford libraries. It clearly has a purpose to collect things and a minor mention of learning…

Does it have a stated purpose?

The best I can find rapidly is:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY SERVICES
MISSION
To provide the most effective university library service possible, in response to current and future users’ needs; and to maintain and develop access to Oxford’s collections as a national and international research resource.

The first phrase is worthy, but self-referential – as I don’t know what a library is, it won’t help me. The section is clear – OULS collects things. Note this is not just the Bodleian now, it’s the whole University of Oxford.

Can I find a charter? This is a legal document which requires the grantee to have certain aims and to abide by certain conditions. There is no link on the Bodleian site to any charter, so I’ll use the history. This states:

[Sir Thomas Bodley] married a rich widow whose husband had made a fortune from trading in pilchards and, in his retirement from public life, decided, in his own words, to ‘set up my staff at the library door in Oxon; being thoroughly persuaded, that in my solitude, and surcease from the Commonwealth affairs, I could not busy myself to better purpose, than by reducing that place (which then in every part lay ruined and waste) to the public use of students’.

So Bodley’s purpose was for the public use of students. This is partly clear; we’ll assume we know what a student is (thought that is not self-evident). It doesn’t say what they are going to use the library for.

I doubt that I shall find a charter for the library – it’s probably subsumed under the Charter of the University or one or more colleges. So our trail so far has yielded:

• libraries collect things
• libraries are for the use of students.

I’ll now try to find what the purpose of the University and one of its colleges is…