The Weston Library is now very near completion so here is
some more information about what Musicians can expect to find when the new
building opens and a warning of a certain amount of disruption in the next few
weeks as the reading room is transferred from Duke Humfrey.
As already advertised elsewhere, Duke Humfrey’s Library will
close to readers at 7.00pm on Friday 19th
September and there will be no access to the Music open shelf collections
nor any fetching of music scores until service is resumed in the Weston Library
on Monday 29th September.
The intervening week will be spent in moving the books, equipment and staff
currently located in Duke Humfrey and preparing the new reading room for use
the following week. All material still on reserve in Duke Humfrey and the
Special Collections Reading Room will be returned to the stacks on 19th.
A small number of music scores which are moving to the Weston Library open
shelves are being moved in advance of the closure of Duke Humfrey so will,
regrettably, be unavailable until service resumes on 29th. Although
the building is opening to readers at the end of September, it will only
gradually be filled and the programme of collection moves will continue all the
way through to next summer. However, disruption will be kept to a minimum and
it is expected that material being moved will be unavailable for only very
short periods.
As most of you will know, Music will be accommodated in the
Sir Charles Mackerras Reading Room which is located on the first floor of the
Weston Library, in more-or-less the same position that it was latterly before
the closure of the New Library (i.e. the old ‘PPE Gallery’). The room will also
accommodate the reserve desk, serving not only the Mackerras Reading Room but
also the adjoining reading room for western manuscripts, maps and rare books. You
should be aware that, since the whole building is devoted to Special
Collections (which includes all Music items), security in the building will be
tight and the same restrictions (regarding food and drink, no bags, pencils
only, etc.) which are currently in place in Duke Humfrey and the Special
Collections Reading Room at the RSL will still apply.
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| Architect's impression of the Mackerras Reading Room |
However, we are fortunate to have a great deal more space
for Music than ever before so it will be possible for much more material to be
on open access. When the reading room opens on 29th September, you
should find there the collection of open shelf books moved from Duke Humfrey (with
a few additions), along with a selection of composer collected editions, with a
few other music series and periodicals overflowing into other open access areas
adjacent to the reading room itself. With one specific exception, this will be
the first time that the Bodleian has had music scores on open shelves in living
memory. While this material is being moved, during the next couple of weeks, it
may not be available for ordering but other copies of much of it will also be
found in the Music Faculty Library.
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| Architect's impression of the Weston Library as viewed from Broad Street |
Over the course of the next few months, before the public
opening of the building in March, more music materials will be moved from the
Book Storage Facility in Swindon to other open access areas adjacent to the
Mackerras Reading Room. This will include more collected editions and series
but the final extent and make-up of the open access collection is yet to be
determined. When this material arrives, it may cause the initial distribution
of books and scores on the open shelves in the reading room to be revised so
there will be a period of readjustment while we settle into our new home and
work out how to make best use of the space.
Initially, closed access scores and other material will
still need to be requested from its remote storage in Swindon but, during the
course of the next few months, a large proportion of the remaining printed
music collections will be moved back from Swindon into the Weston Library
stacks so that fetching times for most items will be greatly reduced. The
state-of-the-art bookstacks will at last provide appropriate conditions for the
storage of our wealth of rare books and manuscripts.
Long-standing users of the Bodleian’s Music collections will
remember the days when the old Music Reading Room was adjacent to the Music
staff office, with an inter-connecting door which was always open, so that
specialist Music staff were always on hand. While it is not possible for us to
return to that position, it is intended that a member of the Music team will be
on duty in the new reading room for most of the time during core hours.
Finally, I should like to thank everyone for their
forbearance during several years of disruption while we have existed in
conditions which have been far from ideal. We ask for your continued patience
as we now settle in to our new surroundings. Although it will be several months
before all the collections reach their final homes, we hope that the increased
quantity of material on open access and improved facilities in the new
building, coupled with the fact that records for all the printed music
collections (generated from the old card catalogues) will shortly be loaded
into SOLO, will provide greatly improved access to the Bodleian’s rich and
varied music holdings.
MH
Please ensure you know your old PCAS username and password and your Bodleian login so you can transfer any remaining balance via our online portal: https://pcasportal.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/
