Our Policies

The Somerville Library is an exceptional resource and a special place to work. Our library rules below help to make sure it stays this way.

We would appreciate you taking a moment to familiarise yourself with them:

1. The Library is for use by members of the College only. Visitors should make an advance appointment with the Librarian, and report to the College Lodge on arrival.
2. Food must not be brought into the Library. Drinks can be brought in if they are either bottled water (which must be kept securely closed when not in use) or hot drinks in spill-proof College or Bodleian ‘keep-cups’.
3. Every effort must be made to minimize noise and disturbance in, and immediately outside, the Library.
4. Mobile telephones must be switched to silent and used only for texting in the Library.
5. The Library computers must be used for academic-related purposes only.
6. Books must be treated with care; in particular, they must not be scored, annotated or otherwise defaced.
7. Books, other than dictionaries and encyclopaedias, taken from the shelves for reading in the Library should not be replaced, but should be left in the Returns box in the Library Loggia, or at the passage end of the tables.
8. Any books or papers left in the library overnight must be placed in one of the trays at the ends of the desks or in the storage shelves at the bottom of the West staircase with a completed ‘Please Leave’ slip (available from the library front desk). Books left in this way must be checked out to the user on the self-issue system. Failure to comply will result in the books being re-shelved and papers being removed without further warning.
9. Books and periodicals may be confined to the Library at the discretion of the Librarian.
10. Dictionaries, atlases, and certain other reference books are normally for use in the Library only.
11. Other books may be taken out of the Library under the following conditions: (i) every book taken from the Library must be checked out on the self-issue machine; (ii) any book recalled by the Library must be returned as soon as possible; (iii) a book may be passed on to another reader only if it is checked out in the name of that reader; (iv) all books must be returned to the Library, or renewed, at the beginning and end of each term, at the time fixed by the Librarian.
12. Books must not be lent to anyone who is not a member of the College; 
13. All loss or damage must be made good by the borrower.
14. The Librarian may in special circumstances give permission to past students and others to use the Library, for reference only.

Access for the Somerville Community
Full membership of Somerville College’s SCR, MCR, JCR and employment by the college ensures full access to Somerville College library, with full borrowing rights.
Friends, partners and guests of full members do not have access to the library except in circumstances as outlined in the categories below.

Alumni
Alumni are welcome to use the library for reference only (no borrowing rights). During term time (week 0 to week 10) access to the library is by appointment during staffed hours only. During vacation periods, those alumni making extensive use of college facilities can be granted ongoing access to the library, and appointments are not required to use the library during staffed hours.

Others with college affiliations
Visiting academics and visiting students will be granted ongoing termtime access to the library, when their application for access is sponsored by a member of the SCR. Access to the collection will be reference only, with no borrowing rights granted.

Associate members of the MCR may be granted reference-only (no borrowing rights), ongoing access to the library during vacations only. During term time (week 0 to week 10) access to the library is by appointment during staffed hours only.

Other members of the university and members of the public
Anyone who has good reason to consult books in the library collection may do so by arranging an appointment during staffed hours to visit the library to view specific resources.
Access to the library as a place of work or study solely will not be granted to other members of the university or members of the public.

Loss of access
Access to the library is granted on the understanding that those using the library abide by the rules which make the library a pleasant place to work and study for all. A full list of the rules can be found on the library website. The access of full members to the library will be suspended if the rules are contravened, and will remain suspended while disciplinary action is pursued. For all other groups, access to the library will be removed immediately a rule is determined to have been contravened and will not be reinstated, unless there are exceptional circumstances, to be determined by the librarian.

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The library and archives are an integral part of the identity of Somerville College. Created at a time when undergraduate libraries were rare among the colleges and borrowing by undergraduates from central university libraries limited, Somerville College library was founded at the outset as a lending library for its students. Through generous donations over the decades, from notable individuals such as John Stuart Mill and Amelia Edwards, and through a plentiful annual budget supplemented by funds from several legacies, the initially small collection has expanded to one of the largest college collections in Oxford with approximately 120,000 volumes. It has been and remains a source of enduring pride and affection among generations of Somervillians.

The library and archives comprise several distinct collections: the library lending collection, the library’s antiquarian collection, the archives, the special collections and the chattels. This policy determines how each of these collections are added to and maintained, providing guidance on acquisitions and withdrawals.

The library’s lending collection

The lending collection totals approximately 100,000 volumes, housed in the main library building and Holtby Loft, as well as myriad smaller locations throughout college, including shelves in the Reading Room and the offices of academics.

The collection is particularly strong in the areas of English literature and European history, and has several research-level collections such as in medieval European languages. The research collections, acquired through donations from experts in their fields, have enhanced the research potential of the library beyond that of a typical undergraduate lending library. Small collections on topics not taught at Somerville (such as theology, geography and art history) remain as part of the collection and are valued for their tangential contributions to the understanding of those subjects which are taught.

The antiquarian collection

Totalling approximately 20,000 volumes printed prior to 1850, the antiquarian collection is the responsibility of the library, with the majority of items catalogued and available online via SOLO, the Oxford union catalogue. The collection is housed in Vaughan Basement, and includes historically important items such as a Second Folio of Shakespeare. Most items added to the antiquarian collection are acquired through donations.

The archives

Housed in three rooms in Darbishire, the archives contain the record of the college’s history. Only those items which pertain to the history and functioning of the college are considered to constitute the archive. The collection increases in size through the acquisition of records created by the college (which increasingly are born-digital items), and through the donation of items by Somervillians.

The special collections

The special collections are the joint responsibility of the library and the archives. They are collections of published and unpublished writings and of objects, normally acquired through donation, from donors who usually (but not always) have some connection to the college. These collections do not necessarily pertain to the college; donated items which are about the college are typically added to the archives. While the special collections are housed (with a few exceptions such as the John Stuart Mill library and the Mary Somerville Papers) alongside the archives in Darbishire, they are distinct from the archives, and are managed independently of the archives.

Chattels

The chattels are the responsibility of the librarian and include the collection of artworks, ceramics, silver, furniture and other miscellaneous valuable donations, such as jewellery and medals. The chattels are housed throughout college, and are regularly audited and valued for insurance purposes.

Acquisitions policy

Donations policy

Withdrawal policy