The Wycliffe Hall Library

 

The Wycliffe Hall Library is at the heart of study and research activities of the Wycliffe Hall Community, serving students, academics, researchers and staff of the Hall. Like most Oxford college libraries, it is an independent institution, not being part of the Bodleian Libraries, and offers collections and services which are specifically tailored to meet the academic needs of Hall members.

Our collections support the courses taught at Wycliffe Hall; they are particularly strong in biblical studies, ethics, doctrine, Christology, apologetics, evangelism, Christianity and science, spirituality, homiletics, liturgy and worship, church history, and interfaith studies. The library holds around 30,000 items.

 

History

The Wycliffe Library has long been a cherished part of the institution, and has moved around over the years as it outgrew various rooms, finally arriving in Old Lodge at the turn of the 1970s. (The first recorded need for a larger library space was noted in the College Minute Book of 1932).

Steady collecting resulted in an ever-larger card catalogue, but the advent of computerisation in the late 1990s meant that a digital catalogue could be so much more easily searched, and so the Heritage system was purchased in 1999, and the long process of RetroCon began (the retrospective conversion of card records to computerised records).

The incorporation of the Hall into the Oxford University system in 1997 also gave Wycliffe Hall students unfettered access to the Bodleian catalogue (now in excess of twelve million items), as well as borrowing privileges at some libraries, including the Philosophy and Theology Faculties Library.

In the last few years the Library has struggled to find space to shelve its ever-burgeoning collections adequately. During summer 2017, major works were carried out in the Library to resolve the storage issue, with the construction of an internal staircase connecting the upper and lower ground floors, and the installation of mobile shelving, effectively increasing book storage by almost half, and enlarging student study spaces.

Photo of students studying in the library

 

Practical information

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Our collections are searchable via SOLO, the Bodleain's library database. You can access SOLO online here.

You can also use this tool to search for resources across the Bodleain libraries, many other college libraries, and online resources such as e-books and e-journals.

The Wycliffe Hall library is reserved for the use of current Hall members so access to the library is restricted to authorised readers with their own proximity card. 

Non-members may be able to access the library by prior agreement with library staff.

Oxford University members: If we are the only library that holds a book which is not available anywhere else in the University, please contact library@wycliffe.ox.ac.uk to arrange a visit. Please bring your university card as a form of identification. Unfortunately, visitors are not able to use the photocopiers.

External visitors: Wycliffe Hall Library is not open to external visitors. In exceptional circumstances, a visit may be permitted by agreement with library staff. Please contact library@wycliffe.ox.ac.uk to make a request.

The Library is located in an historic building without a lift so we regret that there are many steps at the entrance to the library. Visitors with reduced mobility may find it difficult to access. We can provide a fetching service so please contact the library on library@wycliffe.ox.ac.uk to arrange this service if required.