The Bodleian Library

The first recorded lecture at Oxford took place in the nearby church in 1096. Oxford would build up over the years for several reasons. The main thing is that the town was surrounded by churches and the King had a castle a few miles up the road. In 1167, students studying in Paris were forced out by the English King and than went to Oxford. The university was "officially" established in 1180 by the Guild of Universities. Today, Oxford has 39 separate colleges around the University, and Oxford is the oldest english speaking university in Europe.

Of course, in every great university has to be a great library! Broken into separate libraries is the Humphrey's Library and the Bodleian Library, old and new. In 1488, Humphrey donated to the school 281 manuscripts, and they were housed in the Divinity Room. But in the 1500s, the library was closed and everything sold. Of the original 281 manuscripts, Oxford only has 3 left. After marrying a rich widow, Bodleian decided to restore the library. The library was restored between 1598 to 1602. Bodleian decorated the ceilings and added bookcases. This part of the library can be seen in the sixth Harry Potter movie when Hermonie and Harry are talking in the library. So cool!!

Along with the Humphrey's library, there is the new Bodleian Library which houses 8 million books and under the Square is another 2 million books. Around the university is 34 lending libraries, but Oxford is a reference library, so nothing can be checked out. Since there are so many libraries and reading rooms, it can take 3 hours for a book to be delivered once its been ordered through the internet. That's a long time, but our guide, Mitchell, said that it used to take all day several years ago.

In the collection, the oldest document the Bodleian Library has is an Egyptian marriage license from 567 BC. Oxford also has the most Magna Cartas anywhere else. The one in the British Library is so horribly damaged that you can't even read it. The Bodleian was also the first book depository in the UK. Today, they receive 5,500 new books a week. Like some of the other libraries we've visited, the Bodleian doesn't use the Dewey Decimal System, but catalogues the books by size and arrival date. At the moment, there are over 50,000 registered readers.

The best part of our tour was taking the tunnel from the old Bodleian to the new Bodleian Library. We saw the system that carrys the books from one building to the other. We ended up three stories beneath the library in the stacks. Mitchell told us that the third floor was used as a bomb shelter during the air raids. The second floor basement displayed all the photographs taken of the Normandy Beaches and how the troops would land for D-Day. The first floor basement had people trying to decipher German codes. To me, that is awesome! To think the planning of the Invasion of Normandy took place in the floor above us was amazing! So many places became safe havens and outpost for the war, that nobody would know unless told. That was just so cool!

In the next couple of years, the new Bodleian Library will be renovatied because it has to be brought up to fire coded, needs to make the storage space more efficent, and more user friendly for the patrons. The old and new Bodleian Library were awesome libraries and the new Bodleian will be even better once its renovatied. Oh, and our guide Mitchell was informative, funny, and cute. He just made the tour even better!

To learn more about the Bodleian Library, please visit www.bodley.ox.ac.uk

The photograph was provided by gsjal.jp

The National Art Library

Part of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Art Library has over a million volumnes of art books, manuscripts, periodicals, and more ranging all sorts of art forms. The library was part of the V&A Museum when it first opened in 1857, but the library wasn't established until 1884. The library moved into its current location back in 1966.

The library is split into two sections: The Reading Room which is quiet and the Public Room were inquires can be made. The library is a closed library, so the librarians have to retrieve the books. The library is three stories and the books are packed into every little corner that is available. It was cool to be able to walk around the library from the second floor and see everybody working. The library has to fight with the museum for space, and the museum usually wins. That could be seen where the museum had an exhibit in an old library space, but the library books were still around the walls. Since the books where around people, the librarians had to bar up the shelves so people couldn't walk away with the books.

A nice service the library provides is the use of two over large black and white copiers. If the book is too fragile to lay open, the library has a camera machine to take the picture of the page and the patron will also see the color. The library has about 30 staff members and there are always 4 people down on the floor at one time.

Along with the books and manuscripts, the library does have a special collections, and we got to see some of the examples. At the London Library, we saw Shakespeare's fourth folio, but here, we saw his first folio and was able to touch it! There was a corrected proof by Dickens, and we saw how he changed a characters name after he made the first draft. Another cool thing was the library has five of Da Vinci's note books. Some of the library staff have never seen Da Vinci's note books because they are hardly brought out, but we got to see them! So cool! If somebody wants to see any of these rare collections, they have to have a pretty good reason to do so. All of these things are awesome, but I didn't see how they fit into art. That was my thought, but I didn't want to bring it up. If I was an art student or artist, the National Art Library at the V&A would be the place to go.

To learn more about the National Art Library, please visit www.vam.ac.uk/nal

Photograph provided by the blogger.

The London Library

The London Library was created out of angst over the British Museum Library. Thomas Carlyle hated how he could not bring home the books he wanted to research from the British Museum Library. In response to that, in 1841, Carlyle created the London Library and allowed people to check the books out. Today, it is the world's largest independent lending library.

The library is still a lending library, but the members have to pay for the services. Depending on the cost, it can range from £16.60 per month or £32.90 per month to use the library. Yes, that is a lot of money for anybody to spend, but the cost is worth it to use the library if you're a serious researcher, writer, or enjoyer.

It's worth paying the money though because of the library itself. They have over 1 million books and 97% of the books can be checked out while 3% of the rare books have to be read under close supervision. Books that date back to the 1700s are shelved with all the new books and anybody can read them and take them home (as long as they are careful). The books all looked the same because they are hardcovered with no dust jackets. Since it's a lending library, the books need to last, hence, the use of the hard covers. Unique to this library, and it seems to have worked for over a hundred years, is the classification system. The books are divided into subject, such as Art, and arranged in alphabetical order by the author's last name. And there's no stickers to indicate either! I've never heard of it done that way before, but it works for them.

Another cool thing about the London Library is that they have their own conservation room. The conservation room takes care of not just the rare books but also the regular books that need to be updated. Six to ten books a day are fixed and the conservation room will bind and rebind over 4,000 books a year!!!

For the outside, the London Library doesn't look like much but on the inside, it's huge!! The library is four different buildings put together. The library had a complete update which connected all the buildings and gave the library more room to move collections back to their original section. The main part of the library stacks is from the original 1930s building which used steel graded floors and steel book cases. You can see three stories up or down through the floor which was awesome. It felt great to be in the stacks and with the books, not separated out. I guess that's one of the best things people enjoy about the London Library is being with the books and able to check them out.

The best part of the visit was being able to hold a book written by Henry VIII, published in 1521, denouncing Luther. The cover was beautiful, even though it was so old. To hold something that old and of great importance was incredible! The binding needed to be fixed, but I'm sure that when it's done, the members will be able to read it in the Reading Room, which is also beautiful. Even though the members pay for the library services, the staff are super sweet and willing to go the extra mile to help a member answer a question. If you need research done and have the money, the London Library is the place to go!

To learn more about the London Library, please visit www.londonlibrary.co.uk

Photograph provided by the blogger.

National Maritime Museum-Caird Library

I didn't know what to expect from our visit to the National Maritime Museum, but I trully enjoyed myself. The Caird Library, which is part of the museum, was an excellent library. The library opened to the public in 1937 by the generous benefactor of Sir James Caird. Since it is part of the National Maritime Museum, the library receives public funds from the government. Today, it is the largest maritime reference in the world with around 3,000 to 4,000 patrons a year.

The Caird Library is divided into two parts, the regular library and the archives. Together, they hold books, records, manuscripts, pamphlets, charts, and tons of reference books on maritime for a total of four miles of shelving. The library has a total of twelve staff members who do varies jobs. Some manuscripts and such are on a digital archive, but not everything. There is two off site locations for all the manuscripts and such to be stored.

At the moment, the Caird Library is in the process of moving into a new building that is being built. Instead of being open for six days, they're only open for three. It's not the best situation, but when the library is officially moved, it sounds like it will be much better. Instead of ordering a book and waiting three to four days for the book to be delivered, most of the collection will be on site, so it will only take about one hour for the book to be brought up. There will also be more room for people to sit and be in a central area, not in a far corner of the library. The official opening of the Caird Library won't be until next summer of 2011.

So far, this has been my favorite library to visit, because the library and people are more relaxed for a research facility. At some of the other libraries, the patron has to sign up for a library card, be interviewed, and explain why they want to see the book in question. At the Caird Library, anybody can come in and ask to see something. People can handle rare documents as long as they're careful. To me, that's more welcoming than having to explain why you want to see a document. I understand why they do that, but it is a little too formal. Also, at this library, we were shown some documents and books and told about their importance. The articles that were selected were interesting, and we actually got to hold them. It's always fun when you can hold the object. The Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum was a great library and anybody looking for a specific thing about maritime history won't have a hard time seeing the document.

To learn more about the National Maritime Museum and the Caird Library, please visit www.nmm.ac.uk

Photograph provided by Wikipedia

Bath Public Library

After our quick, one hour visit to Stonehenge, we visited the old Roman city of Bath. It would of been nice to of stayed longer at Stonehenge but in all fairness, it is just a bunch of rocks in the middle of a field. Anyways, while on our visit to Bath, we found the local library. It was a little strange since the library was above and inside a shopping center, but it was a great library inside. Just for reference, the library was opened September 26, 1990.

The Bath Library, like the Barbican, has small book shelves instead of tall book shelves in simple roows. Above each section was signings indicating what the section was and they were easy to read. There were several quick select book stands for people to see books easily. In the back of the library was microfiche and film that people could look up. Back in that section is also a huge stack of card catalogs. If the records were before 1986, they aren't in the computer system. The patrons need to use the card catalog. In that section, it was mainly for if patrons wanted to look up old county documents and research family trees. In another section was maps. They had maps of about every county and town in the UK. They were nice heavy duty maps people could check out, use, and return. To me, that's a nice service so people don't have to keep buying new and different maps. Unlike the Barbican though, this library had a huge teen book section along with the children's section. Like the Barbican as well, patrons can check out music, videos, and dvds.

Another service the library offers is an exhibit room and a conference room for the patrons to use. The current exhibit was on local flowers. Most of the services in this library though come at a price. Even members of the library have to pay so much to use the computers. To interlibrary loan a book cost about £3 and the library can order whole scores of music, but that can cost between £15 and £20. I guess that's okay since it's not costing the library any money to provide some of the services. Overall, it was a great public library. I felt more at home in the British public libraries than I do in the US. And sorry for the eyeball picture. It was the only sign I saw that had the library logo on it.

To learn more about the Bath Public Library, please visit www.bathness.gov.uk/libraries

The scary eyeball picture was provided by the blogger.

The Cartoon Museum

On my free time, I decided to visit a fun, but different museum. Behind the British Museum, tucked in a side street is the Cartoon Museum. The Cartoon Museum is fairly new, since 2006. It's a non-profit, non-funded group ran out of a small, leased two-story building. The purpose of the museum is to highlight British comics, cartoons, and caricatures and make it accesible for people to research and enjoy.

What's great about the Cartoon Museum is that it is also a learning center. Throughout the summer, they have several different workshops for kids ages 8 through 18 on how to draw different types of cartoons. In the museum upstairs is a studio where everybody is welcomed to draw a comic. Paper, pencials, and drawing books are provided to help. In the sitting areas are copies of old and new comics that people can read. There is also two tv projectors showing different British cartoons.

Now, this Cartoon Museum is for British comics. Anybody that's not British might not of heard of there comics before. The only one I knew was Dennis the Menace. I never knew that was a British comic, since I always saw it on American TV. Also, the comics ranged from kids comics, graphic novels, and old political cartoon from the 1800s.

They also have a temporary changing exhibit and right now they are highlighting "Toy Tales"-highlights from favorite children's animation. Again, most of the shows are ones I've never heard of. But they had such a cute show back in the '70s called Bagpuss. He was a big pink and white stripe cat that would come to life and tell stories. The cat puppet they had was so old and cute! They had one for sale in the gift shop. I might still go buy it. Other shows, such as Bob the Builder, were also highlighted. Again, I didn't know that was a British cartoon. I think they dub over the voices for American ones.

The museum does have a library, but its only open on wednesdays or by appoinment. They have over 5,000 comics, cartoons, and more and 2,000 more that need to be catalouged. Unlike other libraries I've visited, the books were catalouged in the American Library of Congress classification system. I found that odd, but I was told that was a decision made because it was easier to sort the art books. The library is just for reference and nothing can be checked out. I didn't understand much about the cartoons I was looking at, but it was still fun and educational. It was a nice change from the huge museums we've been visiting.

To learn more about the Cartoon Museum, please visit http://www.cartoonmuseum.org/

Photograph provided by the blogger.