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The fascinating history of Oxford University's 750-year-old medieval library

2026-04-27 19:40:00, Blog CNA

The fascinating history of Oxford University's 750-year-old medieval

This month marks the 750th anniversary of the Oxford University library, one of the most famous and richest in the world with the most diverse publications.

Library history

The origins of the Merton library are certainly different from the way we think of such institutions now. There was no librarian and no shelves for browsing.

"There was a system of borrowing and returning books from the till," Merton librarian Dr. Julia Walworth tells the BBC. "It would have been a formal thing. Instead of just saying, 'Oh, go and look and find the books you need,' the whole community would come together to open the till."

The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a charter in 1276 introducing this requirement, which marked the beginning of the library at Merton College. The Merton collection began to evolve into a modern library quite quickly. The books were chained to a table in the college, making them available at all times. According to Walworth, this innovation predates the modern distinction between lending and reference library collections.

The fascinating history of Oxford University's 750-year-old medieval

Today, only a few volumes in the library are chained together, purely for display purposes. And the remaining books are now arranged in a modern way with the covers facing out. But otherwise, the medieval room remains an extraordinary time capsule of the library's history. Near the entrance, visitors can also see the 13th-century chest.

During term time, the library's historic room is still used by students. And this continued use is an important factor in the superlatives often applied to the age of Merton's library. 

The library has been mythologized.

An 1878 guide to Oxford called Merton's library "the oldest now in England". The 1885 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica described it as "the oldest existing library in England". Gradually, these claims were inflated. A 1928 article in The Times recounted an event held by the Oxford Preservation Trust at which it was declared "the oldest library in the world".

The fascinating history of Oxford University's 750-year-old medieval

This growing perception of Merton's longevity was even mentioned in F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, "The Great Gatsby." In the book, the multimillionaire main character fills his mansion with replicas of history's most prestigious rooms. So it's only natural that his books would live in a recreated place he calls "The Merton College Library."

The debate over the world's oldest library

Among these global institutions, there are several contenders for the disputed title of the world's oldest library. When the Al-Qarawiyyin Library in Morocco underwent a major restoration in 2016, it was described by some media outlets as "the world's oldest library." But the Guinness Book of Records lists the Monastery of St. Catherine in Egypt as the oldest continuously operating library.

In both cases, it is difficult to pinpoint a precise start date. For the Al-Qarawiyyin library, some scholars have cast doubt on the library's claims of ninth-century origins, saying that history is full of myths surrounding it. In the case of the Monastery of Saint Catherine, the building was built in the sixth century. But ancient writings suggest that the library's collections may date back two centuries. 

The fascinating history of Oxford University's 750-year-old medieval

However, Prof. Richard Gameson of Durham University says that the library at St Catherine's Monastery is probably the one with the longest continuous history. But he disputes this, adding that "the nature of 'library', the way it was used and understood changed over time. So any claim to being the 'oldest' must be accompanied by an adequate explanation of what a library is. Finding a single definition that allows for a definitive record-keeper seems an almost impossible task.

The challenge facing digitalization

Finding a common definition of a library will only become more challenging now, as digital institutions offer physical spaces that don't even contain any books.

Reflecting on the 750-year history of Merton's library, this digital phase seems like another step in a long evolution. Just as books moved from the Archbishop's chest to chained tables and horizontal shelves, they will now enter the virtual realm.

The tradition of book donation, introduced by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1276, continues to this day. What began when he established those orders was the idea of ??a shared collection built by the people. So it's simply remarkable that for 750 years people have maintained this connection with an institution and its books.

Perhaps this proves that books really are the most enduring treasure, whether they are handwritten on parchment and sealed in an ancient chest or scattered like pixels in the cybernetic ether./ Adapted from BBC 





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