The Bodleian Law Library (BLL) is an
academic library
An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...
in
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 ...
, England.
It is part of
Oxford University
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 ...
, 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 ...
and is also the library of the Faculty of Law. It is situated in part of the
Grade II*-listed St Cross Building on
St Cross Road
St Cross Road is a road in Oxford, England. It links South Parks Road to the north and Longwall Street to the south, where it also meets Holywell Street. The road is named after St Cross Church.
Linacre College, one of the colleges in the Univ ...
in the parish of
Holywell, on the corner of
Manor Road.
Overview
The library is one of the largest open-access law libraries in Europe Opened in 1964, as of 2014 it contains over 550,000 volumes on 16,000 linear metres of shelving, and is housed in purpose-built library accommodation designed by the distinguished architects
Sir Leslie Martin
Sir John Leslie Martin (17 August 1908, in Manchester – 28 July 2000) was an English architect, and a leading advocate of the International Style. Martin's most famous building is the Royal Festival Hall. His work was especially influenced b ...
and
Colin St John Wilson
Sir Colin Alexander St John ("Sandy") Wilson, FRIBA, RA, (14 March 1922 – 14 May 2007) was an English architect, lecturer and author. He spent over 30 years progressing the project to build a new British Library in London, originally planned t ...
.
The BLL benefits from the Bodleian's status as a library of
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 reposi ...
, by which the BLL has the right to claim a copy of any printed legal material published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Together with its position as an official Documentation Centre for the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
and its significant expenditure on foreign legal materials, this means that the BLL adds more than 10,000 new items to its stock each year.
The BLL serves a wide and expanding range of university and external readers. Its primary 'client' base is the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
's Faculty of Law which, with over 1,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and 80 academic staff, is the largest law faculty in the United Kingdom. At the same time, and because of its legal deposit status, the BLL is also used extensively by legal firms, lawyers, and individual researchers from both home and abroad.
The BLL collection supports the teaching and research of Law at the University of Oxford, and shares Criminology and Socio-Legal Studies with the
Social Science Library. The St Cross Building is adjacent to the Social Science Building in Manor Road, which houses the Social Sciences departments, including the Economics Department, as well as the Social Science Library.
Collection
The BLL collection has been built up over a period of four centuries, both from the legal deposit intake, and from specific purchases based on recommendations from academics and researchers alike. The core primary legal materials for the UK, the Commonwealth countries, the US, the EU, individual European countries, and international law are collected on an ongoing basis, together with key legal texts for all jurisdictions. The BLL holds full sets of previous editions of major UK legal monographs on the open shelves.
It receives over 2,000
serial titles per annum, including law reports, legislation, journals and looseleaf services from all the jurisdictions held in the collection. The BLL holds several special collections, including rare books, the Viner collection, the Bandar Collection of
Islamic Law
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...
, and the Kahn-Freund collection of
labour law
Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...
material.
Readers have access to all leading UK legal databases, together with a large number of foreign legal databases, supporting the research undertaken by members of the faculty. Network printing, scanning and photocopying are provided.
Facilities
The BLL was designed to hold the law collection of the Bodleian Library on open access shelves, ensuring ready access at all times t
scholars Seating is provided for 430 readers, with over one third of seats reserved for postgraduate student use.
There is a Graduate Reading Room.
This area occupies a separate wing, and provides students with
ethernet
Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...
access, several PCs, and wireless access for laptops.
The BLL has a total of 40
PCs
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or techn ...
for reader use. The PCs in the Freshfields IT room on the lower floor and in the Gallery computer room require readers to log in, but there are a few PCs for searching the catalogue on each floor. Wireless access for laptop computers is provided throughout most areas of the library and is accessed using the same login as the library PCs.
The Baker McKenzie room is available for student use for group discussion, as well as facilities which are offered on a shared basis.
Legal research
The Law Library staff provide an extensive teaching programme to all postgraduate and undergraduate students. The Legal Research Skills Programme is a compulsory first year subject for undergraduates;
all postgraduates are provided with detailed library induction, as well as a wide range of research classes offered each term. Legal information guides to specific countries and to legal subjects is available in leaflet form.
Culture
From 2019 this building is used as the backdrop to the police station in the
ITV television series
Endeavour.
References
External links
Bodleian Law Library websiteFree Legal Library Website
{{Authority control
1964 establishments in England
Library buildings completed in 1964
Law libraries in the United Kingdom
Grade II* listed buildings in Oxford
Grade II* listed library buildings
Libraries of the University of Oxford
Deposit libraries