WIP · World in Pocket

Indian Institute Library

Oxford, Italy

Indian Institute Library

The Indian Institute Library is a dependent library of the Bodleian and part of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Opened in 1886, the library specialises in the history and culture of South Asia, Tibet and the Himalayas. The Indian Institute and its library were originally based in the bu

ilding on the corner of Holywell and Catte Street. It was subsequently occupied by the History Faculty and History Faculty Library. (The History Faculty moved first to a location on George Street in 2007 and then to the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities in 2026; the History Faculty Library moved to the Bodleian's Radcliffe Camera in 2012). In 1968, the library was relocated to a newly constructed 'penthouse' on the roof of the Weston Library. The move was not without controversy, since the original building had been constructed with the express intention of providing a permanent home to the institute. The library remains on the top floor of the Bodleian, which results in the strange situation of a lending library being based within a reference library. The library's collection is of international importance and includes over 100,000 volumes. Around 60% of these are catalogued on OLIS,...

Listen to the audio guide for Indian Institute Library Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

Nearby