Library admissions information

Members of Oxford University (current members of Congregation, university staff, undergraduates, and postgraduates) will be able to gain access for legitimate purposes of study to many libraries in university institutions, including the Bodleian Library. A University Card will normally establish the holder's identity and status but registration on a first visit to a library will often be required. In general, access to a college library is restricted to members of that college, and some other libraries impose restrictions on access to non-members of the department or faculty. Members are advised to consult the library guides for individual library policy.

Non-members of Oxford University should consult the admissions guide for individual library policy within OULS libraries (PDF file), and individual library guides for other libraries. Note that if it is more than ten years since you last obtained a reader's card from the Bodleian Library we will not have retained the evidence of your previous admission and you should make a full application as a new reader.

The OLIS catalogue lists items in all its contributing libraries, but it should be borne in mind that some of these, such as college and departmental libraries, will not be open to members of the University not belonging to that college or department. Some contributing libraries have not yet completed the process of putting their catalogues on to the OLIS database.

There are online library guides for most of the libraries associated with the university. These are listed by name and by OLIS code and contain summarised admission and borrowing policies for each library. Note that by necessity these policies are much simplified and provided for initial guidance only. Please check with the individual library for full details.