We can't believe it's been 10 years since the grand reopening of the Longwall Library, following its renovation. Prince William joined us for the occasion, speaking to Magdalen students and staff, and unveiling the engraving on our wall. Happy 10th to the Longwall Library. 🎉🎈🔟 📸credit John Cairns

We're celebrating Trans+ History Week in the Longwall library with this book display - a date deliberately chosen as the anniversary of the Nazi raid on the world’s first ever trans clinic in 1933, May 6.

How did you get so wise, Yoda? Use the library, I do often. All these books, I read. #maythe4thbewithyou

Cerulean blue, naturally. #DevilWearsPrada2 This quote is from a letter to the Editor of The Daily Telegraph [The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde, p. 465].

Did you get up bright and early for #MayMorning this year? Here are some images #FromTheArchives of the annual 6am choral performance by choristers from Magdalen College School, which takes place at the top of our Great Tower.

Today is the last time our exhibition, 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day, will be open to the public. Curated by two of our brilliant Archivists, Dr Richard Allen and Dr Emily Jennings, it seems only right that they both feature in this post

Earth Day is celebrating its 56th year! The theme for 2026 is Our Power, Our Planet, and encourages people to act to protect our planet from people and behaviour that would endanger all life on Earth. Thank you to our wonderful student helper for the words and book selections. 💚 Happy Earth Day! 🌎

This is Horace Stanley Richardson, who joined the Magdalen staff in 1929, following roles as a bicycle mechanic and a factory worker, making parts for Morris cars. A card-carrying trade unionist since age 17, Richardson tried to organise the Oxford college servants during his ten years at Magdalen.

This photograph captures all of Magdalen’s staff at some point in the early twentieth century. Seated at centre is Herbert Warren, then President. To his right is Richard Gunstone, who was JCR Steward between 1880 and 1914.

We're pleased to advise that another of our Latin manuscripts has been fully digitised and is available to view on Digital Bodleian. MS Lat 117, John Wycliffe's Postilla super totam Bibliam, was made in the early 15th century - most likely in Oxford. digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/3ec4...

These are the original college statutes, as written by Magdalen’s founder, William Waynflete (c.1395–1486). They cover the workings of every aspect of college life, including the employment of servants.

We think Oscar had it right — why get exhausted rowing, when you can just pose with the oars? Good luck to all 4 crews competing in #TheBoatRace this year. This photo appears in an album belonging to Jules Nicholas Guggenheim, who had a studio on High Street. [Archival ref: Acc1999/62]

2 April is Autism Acceptance Month, which marks the start of World Autism Acceptance Month, celebrated each April. Browse from this brilliant selection of books by neurodivergent educators and advocates writing and working in the field of autism, or ask about our welfare collection on floor -1.

April Fools! Earlier we posted these plans, which proposed new roads in College— one of which, bizarrely, cut across the Chapel, Cloisters, & New Buildings. They're from 1914 and, thankfully, the proposed changes never went ahead. Can you imagine Magdalen with a road passing through the Cloisters?

With #TheBoatRace happening this weekend, we thought we'd share this piece of university rowing history. Founded in 1850, the Oxford University and College Servants’ Rowing Club was formed of different college crews. Like its student counterpart, the OUCSRC competed against its Cambridge rival.

We are happy to share plans for some upcoming building work across College. The new roads will provide direct access from the High Street to the Grove, for anyone wishing to see Magdalen's deer.

🎭Happy #WorldTheatreDay! Here we have a theatre programme from a production by Magdalen College Dramatic Society from 1928. Two Gentleman of Soho ran from December 3rd-7th. It was produced by John Betjeman who was a student at Magdalen in the 1920s. [ref. Acc2025/158]🎭

Today, Magdalen undergraduates may live in College accommodation throughout their degree. In years past, they spent part of their time living outside college walls, lodging in the homes of Oxford locals. The remarkable Mrs Eleanor Richardson was landlady to generations of Magdalen students.

We hope you've been enjoying the Easter vacation. Basil has been using the time to explore our new Skills & Crafts collection. Although he was a bit put off by one cookbook's recipe for raspberry and Basil scotch pancakes! 🦡🌱🥞

Happy Spring Equinox! As we welcome the arrival of spring, here are some photos of our snake's-head fritillaries. As told by Baxter in his 1834 work 'British phænogamous botany' (ref. R.4.18, Old Library), both the purple and white varieties are abundant in Magdalen College meadow. 🥀

Gardeners have been looking after Magdalen’s expansive grounds since its foundation. The first picture shows Jack Sawyer who worked at Magdalen in various roles from 1925–1984, ending as Head Gardener. Here he is helping to plant a Golden Rain tree outside the President’s Lodgings in November 1979.

A limerick from Basil, this #StPatricksDay

Today is the start of #NeurodiversityCelebrationWeek. Thank you to our volunteer, Maddy, for putting together this display of books on autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. Any more suggestions for us to add? Let us know in the comments.

Happy Easter Vacation / triannual workout for Oxford Librarians 📚📚📚💪💪💪

A quote from our favourite alumnus. Happy #MothersDay

Richard Gunstone was JCR Steward 1880-1914. His retirement marked the end of an era. As reward for his service, the college authorities resolved to present him with a sum of money. The total eventually raised was £1,351 (£135,000 in today’s money), which was enough to pay Gunstone’s salary for life.

Happy #InternationalWomensDay. Here is a little piece of library history about women at Magdalen. This bookplate comes from a copy of The Handmaid's Tail by Margaret Atwood; part of a collection to commemorate a decade of women being allowed to study at Magdalen.

This #WorldBookDay, we thought we'd tell you about our latest book collection. Suggested by one of lovely students, who is a keen chef, we have started our Skills & Crafts Collection. The collection will include books on cooking, crafts, sewing and origami.

Standing in front of the building is a college gardener with his wheelbarrow, a sight that is still common today. The gardener’s identity is sadly unknown, but he is captured in what is potentially the oldest known surviving photograph of a member of Oxford college staff.

What a nice welcome back on a Monday morning! Found in our returns box 😁

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! Here are some dragons from MS Lat 50, a Latin manuscript dating from the 12th century! 🐉🐲

Happy World Bookmark Day! 📖📚 In celebration, here are some of the bookmarks that Special Collections Librarian Jessica found while cataloguing the book collection of T. E. Lawrence's authorised biographer, Jeremy Wilson (1944-2017). #worldbookmarkday

Magdalen’s kitchen and buttery staff have to prepare meals in all sorts of circumstances for all sorts of people, although rarely is a visual record of this work captured in the college archives. These two photos show college kitchen staff working in two very different circumstances.

Happy 6th week! Vacation loans now apply. Renew your books for a due date of 30th April. 🐣🐇🐥

What a Very Good Boy! 🐾 Yesterday we were thrilled to welcome Harry (a registered PAT therapy dog) and his owner Dave to the Longwall Library. Harry made lots of new friends and gave them big cuddles to ward off their 5th Week Blues. 🤗 A huge thank-you to Dave and Harry for kindly volunteering!

Magdalen College Servants’ Cricket Club was founded before 1849. This scorebook contains its first recorded match (a victory over St John’s College). Servant sports teams were incredibly popular in Victorian Oxford, enduring through to the 1950s.

It's #ChineseNewYear2026 today, marking the start of the Year of the Fire Horse. This horse currently resides in our Old Library. It's an exact recreation of the head of the Selene Horse, part of the East Pediment of the Parthenon Sculptures dating from the fifth century BC.

🔥🐎Happy #ChineseNewYear2026. Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Fire Horse. Here we have images from the 1683 work 'The anatomy of an horse' by Andrew Snape, who was Farrier to King Charles II.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? No, thanks - this is our Valentine's Day reading this year! "The pleasures of a single life, The miseries of matrimony" is attributed to Edward "Ned" Ward and was published in the early 18th century. Happy Valentine's Day to all our members. 💕

This daguerreotype of Magdalen's President Martin Routh was taken on his 99th birthday on 18 September 1854. In it, he can be seen wearing his famous wig, more typical of fashions of the 1750s than the 1850s. See this, and the wig itself, in our Old Library. 📍Old Library 📆🕑 OPEN Today, 2-4:30pm

Last week, we cut the (spiderman, naturally) ribbon on our new Graphic Novels Collection. The collection consists of some 250 books, given by Peter Kessler and the late Rachel Cooke. You'll find the collection in the Longwall Library foyer, opposite the jigsaw puzzles & boardgames. Happy reading 📚️ 😀

This photo shows members of the Magdalen College Fire Brigade in 1935. Founded at some point before 1925, it was formed exclusively of college staff. College fire brigades would often compete with one another, including for a rowing ‘Challenge Cup’.

We're marking LGBTQ+ History Month in the Longwall library with this display ft. queer history, diary, memoir... There's even a graphic guide to lesbian & queer history too. Looking for more LGBTQ+ history & queer theory? Go to 👉 306.7 💥Graphic novels 👉 library foyer 🌱Self-help 👉 Rolling stacks

Happy #InternationalPuzzleDay. There's a new jigsaw puzzle in the Longwall Library foyer. Next time you take a much-needed study break, help us out with finding all the edge pieces.

Today is #LibraryShelfieDay. Here we have 3 shelves of beautifully bound books donated to the library by Francis Lascelles-Hadwen. Lascelles-Hadwen, who bound most of the books himself, was a Demy student at Magdalen in the 1940s.

An early modern 'side hustle' - servant wages could be poor at Magdalen, in the 16th century but there were opportunities for those employed by the college to supplement their income. This account book extract shows ‘Stayno’ being paid 3s 4d to make pottery jars for the visit in 1592 of Elizabeth I.

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. The theme for HMD 2026, 'Bridging Generations', is a call-to-action. A reminder that the responsibility of remembrance doesn't end with the survivors - it lives on through their children, their grandchildren and through all of us.

Happy #BurnsNight. This portrait of Burns (the original hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery) by Alexander Nasmyth is reproduced in the first volume of his collected works. You can borrow all three volumes from the Longwall Library.

We like to think it's more than 'tone' but we enjoyed this library love in 'The Last Continent' by Terry Pratchett.

#OnThisDay in 1946, the writer Julian Barnes was born. Barnes studied at Magdalen between 1964-8. We have several of his books in our Magdalen Authors Collection, including his Man Booker prizewinning novel, The Sense of an Ending. Happy 80th birthday to Julian Barnes! 🎈🎂🎉