ABSTRACT
Richard Ovenden, in 2010, the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford unveiled a new £26-million Book Storage Facility (BSF), capable of holding in excess of 8.4 million volumes on 153 miles of shelving. The new book warehouse, in South Marston, near Swindon, was built to store the vast collections that had overwhelmed the existing bookstacks and temporary storage facilities. Over 6 million books were moved into the BSF in what has been the biggest book move in the Bodleian Library’s history. The decision to site the facility outside Oxford has been informed by new academic strategy for the Libraries. Interestingly, this strategy focuses on increasing the overall speed of access to information. In how far does moving a collection further away from the reader help the library’s plans to improve access to material?
