The Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) is the main teaching and research

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Being officially part of the

Bodleian Libraries The Bodleian Libraries are a collection of 28 libraries that serve the University of Oxford in England, including the Bodleian Library itself, as well as many other (but not all) central and faculty libraries. As of the 2016–17 year, the librari ...

, the library holds the

Legal Deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...

material for the sciences and is thus entitled to receive a copy of all British scientific publications. In December 2018 it was announced that the premises would be used as the basis of a new non-residential graduate college of the university,

Reuben College Reuben College is a new constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The plans for the new graduate college, preliminarily named Parks College, were announced in December 2018. It is the first new Oxford or Cambridge college foun ...

, alongside the library. The library closed for refurbishment in December 2019 to reopen in Summer 2021. RSL library stock and services are now being provided temporarily at the Vere Harmsworth Library in the

Rothermere American Institute The Rothermere American Institute is a department of the University of Oxford dedicated to the interdisciplinary and comparative study of the United States of America and its place in the world. Named after the Harmsworth family, Viscounts Rothe ...

History

The scientific books housed in the

Radcliffe Camera The Radcliffe Camera (colloquially known as the "Rad Cam" or "The Camera"; from Latin , meaning 'room') is a building of the University of Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in neo-classical style and built in 1737–49 to house the Radc ...

were transferred to the

Oxford University Museum of Natural History The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum or OUMNH, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It ...

in 1861. On land next to the museum (on the corner of

Parks Road Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England, with several Oxford University colleges along its route. It runs north–south from the Banbury Road and Norham Gardens at the northern end, where it continues into Bradmore Road, to the junction with ...

and

South Parks Road South Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England. It runs east–west past the main Science Area of the University of Oxford. Many of the university science departments are located nearby or face the road, including parts of the geography, z ...

) a new library building opened in 1901, the Radcliffe Library. Like a number of other buildings in Oxford, the library was named after John Radcliffe, a major benefactor of the university. In 1927, the library lost its independence, for financial efficiency becoming part of the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

. The library took on its current name, the Radcliffe Science Library, and gained the right as a legal deposit library to receive a copy of all new British scientific publications. The library has doors with relief wood carvings by

Don Potter Donald Steele Potter (21 April 1902 – 7 June 2004) was an English sculptor, wood carver, potter and teacher. Don Potter was born in Newington, near Sittingbourne, Kent, the son of a school teacher, and attended a private school. He joined ...

, undertaken while he was studying with the sculptor

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

. With the construction of a basement in the 1970s, part of the building was used to form The Hooke Library, a (separate) science lending library for undergraduates, which was named after

Robert Hooke Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that h ...

, a scientist who worked in Oxford. The Hooke Library housed its collection in the ground floor of the Abbot's Kitchen which was originally part of the University Museum and on the staircase at the eastern end of the Jackson Wing of the RSL. The area which housed the Hooke Library collection became part of the RSL, with the ground floor of the Abbot's Kitchen transformed into a refreshment area and a training room. Until 2007, the library was a

reference library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

rather than a

lending library A lending library is a library from which books and other media are lent out. The major classifications are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries. It may also refer to a library ...

. During 2007 the building and collection of the Hooke Library was integrated into the RSL.

The building

The RSL building consists of three parts, developed as expansion of the library was necessary: # The Jackson Wing, parallel to South Parks Road, is

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

listed. Designed by

Sir Thomas Jackson Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, 1st Baronet (21 December 1835 – 7 November 1924) was one of the most distinguished British architects of his generation. He is best remembered for his work at Oxford, including the Oxford Military College at Cowl ...

it opened in 1901. This wing currently houses parts of the RSL and formerly housed part of the

Hooke Library The Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) is the main teaching and research science library at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Being officially part of the Bodleian Libraries, the library holds the Legal Deposit material for the scie ...

on the staircase at its east end. It is arranged over 3 floors, all above ground, with two reading rooms and administration offices. # The Worthington Wing, parallel to Parks Road, was designed as an extension to the Jackson Wing in 1934 by

Hubert Worthington Sir John Hubert Worthington (4 July 1886 – 26 July 1963) was an English architect. Early life Worthington was born at Alderley Edge, near Stockport, the youngest son of architect Thomas Worthington. He was educated at Sedbergh School fr ...

. The wing extends to the north of the western end of the Jackson Wing and contains two reading rooms, on the first and second floors, and the library entrance hall on the ground floor. # The Lankester Room and Main Stack, a two-storey extension under the lawn of the museum, built 1972–5. The Lankester Room is a large reading room of the library containing the book collection. The stack contains additional storage for library materials - readers do not have direct access to this, but can request items from it.

Gallery

File:Radcliffe Science Library Front Entrance.jpg, Entrance File:Worthington Wing Interior.jpg, Desk inside the Worthington Wing File:Alexander Library of Ornithology.jpg, Alexander Library of Ornothology, circa 2018 File:Radcliffe Science Library Interior Main Floor.jpg, Ground floor interior File:Rare Book Room Door - Radcliffe Science Library.jpg, Door to the rare book room carved to a design by Eric Gill in 1935. Each panel features a famous scientist.

References

External links

Radcliffe Science Library website
{{Authority control 1861 establishments in England Libraries of the University of Oxford Science and technology in Oxfordshire Deposit libraries Science libraries Library buildings completed in 1901 Library buildings completed in 1934 Library buildings completed in 1975 Reuben College, Oxford

History

The building

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links