Libraries & Archives
We are pleased to announce that the Longwall Library and Law Library are now open to members of the college. We have introduced new procedures to encourage social distancing and keep our users safe. More information on the libraries during the pandemic can be found here. Please make sure that you are familiar with these before you visit the Library.
We are able to accommodate some external readers for the Old Library and Longwall Library collections: please email us to find out more. Unfortunately the Archives reading room remains closed.
The Old Library exhibition, Fractured Mission by Samson Kambalu, is currently open on Wednesday afternoons: please see here for more details on how to book.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing library@magd.ox.ac.uk
Welcome to Magdalen College Libraries & Archives.
Magdalen College has a well-stocked circulating library, four specialist libraries, and extensive historical archives.
The Longwall Library contains the circulating, reference and film collections, covering the full spectrum of academic disciplines. The primary readers are Magdalen students, academics and other staff. Others are always welcome to consult items that are not held by the Bodleian Libraries. Our considerable film collection is available to borrow. The library was renovated from 2014 to 2016.
Magdalen’s specialist libraries are
- The Old Library: early printed and manuscript book collection;
- The Law Library: contemporary reference-only law books and journals;
- The Daubeny Library: nineteenth-century scientific books; and
- The McFarlane Library: medieval-history subject collection.
The Archives record over seven hundred years of history, including 12,000 medieval deeds, official documents dating from the foundation of the College in 1458 to the present time, as well as the personal papers of some former Magdalen Presidents, Fellows and students.
We are a member of the Oxford Conservation Consortium, which provides the collections in our libraries and archives with specialist care.
