Bodleian Social Science Library

There are four University owned spaces:

One accessible space adjacent to alternative entrance.

Three additional accessible spaces shared with St Cross and Manor Road buildings and located outside the St Cross Building.

All parking in the St. Cross Building car park is for University car park permit holders only. Please contact the St. Cross Building directly to arrange booking a space.

Additional parking is available on nearby Jowett Walk. Please see the parking map for more information:

• Oxford Blue Badge parking map (PDF)

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The Social Science Library is located in the Manor Road Building.

There is ramped access to the main external concourse. There are also 3 steps up to the concourse.

To enter the buildings there are revolving doors and a powered door to the left. Update March 2023 - the revolving doors are currently out of order. Please use the powered door. The powered door is either left open or users can ring the doorbell. Regular building users can register for card fob access until the revolving door is fixed.

Once inside, the main reception desk is on the left, and the Social Science Library is straight ahead.

The library has automatic powered sliding doors. These open to a clear width of over 1m. Inside the library you will see secure gates; the entrance gate is to the left and the exit to the right. People with larger wheelchairs can use the wider exit gates as an accessible entrance using the card reader attached to the front desk – this is marked with a wheelchair symbol. You will need to register your card before using the wider accessible gate for the first time. Please contact craig.finlay@bodleian.ox.ac.uk to request this. 

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The Manor Road building reception desk is on the left hand side as you enter the main foyer. The desk does not have a section at a wheelchair accessible height. There is a fixed loop system in place at the reception desk.

Inside the Social Science Library there is a long welcome/information desk. The desk is all at a wheelchair accessible height but does not have a recessed knee space. There is a fixed loop system in place at the welcome desk. 

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Accessible toilets

• As you come into the library the toilets are straight ahead, before you get to the enquiry desk
• The door into the toilets is heavy
• There are male and female toilets as well as an accessible toilet
• The accessible toilet is slightly undersize
• There are additional accessible toilets in the building

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As the library is located on the ground floor there are no stairs and the entire library is level access.

The library has very few doors as it is open plan.  The main entrance doors are sliding power doors.  Any other internal doors are large black doors without a visual panel, although all are attached to glazed rooms (with blinds), therefore some caution is recommended.

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• Most of the library is a large open plan space divided by shelving and desks
• There is level access across all of the library which is on the ground floor of the Manor Road Building
• Bookshelves are floor to ceiling height. Please ask library staff to fetch books if needed
• There are good levels of natural lighting
• There are several seminar rooms in the library
• There are a few bookable study carrels available. These must be booked in advance - use the contact details on this page, or contact the Disability Liaison Librarian: craig.finlay@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

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The following facilities are available:

• 3 study rooms
• 2 discussion rooms
• Information Skills Training Room

There is level access to all of these rooms which should be booked in advance - please use the contact information on this page. 

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• The café is on the first floor (within the building but outside the library)
• There is lift access to the first floor

There are fixed and portable loops at the issue desk.

Assistive equipment

• Desk lamps, including 2 Lumie Daylight Lamps  
• Magnifiers (suspended hands-free)
• Coloured acetate overlay sheets (red, green, orange, blue, yellow, rose & aqua)
• Headphones
• Book rests
• Slim "Light Touch" Keyboard
• Ergonomic Keyboard
• DaVinci Pro CCTV/OCR magnifier

Please ask at the Issue Desk if you wish to use any of this equipment. 

Electronic Height-Adjustable Desks 

• 2 at the end of the reader PCs area – there are also a PC available on these desks
• 2 in the study area on the east side of the library
• 1 in the silent study room

Manual Height-Adjustable Desks

• 1 in the quiet study room
• 1 in the silent study room

Fixed-Height Standing Desks

• 3 in the study area on the east side of the library

• 1 in the silent study room

• 1 at the end of the partitioned searing area outside the east graduate study room
• 1 in the quiet study area on the west side of the library, outside the Q-Step teaching lab

Ergonomic Chairs

• Many available throughout the library

Standard adjustable chairs are available in the study rooms and at desks equipped with PCs. Library staff will provide or move these on request.

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