The Radcliffe Science Library is the main teaching and research sciencelibrary at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Being officially part of the Bodleian Libraries, the library holds the Legal Deposit 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, alongside the library. The library closed for refurbishment in December 2019 to reopen in Summer 2021.
History
The scientific books housed in the Radcliffe Camera were transferred to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in 1861. On land next to the museum 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 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, undertaken while he was studying with the sculptorEric Gill. With the construction of a basement in the 1970s, part of the building was used to form The Hooke Library, a science lending library for undergraduates, which was named after Robert Hooke, 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 rather than a lending 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 listed. Designed by Sir Thomas Jackson it opened in 1901. This wing currently houses parts of the RSL and formerly housed part of the Hooke Library 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. 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 hallon 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.
