The University of Oxford is delighted to announce that the Helen Hamlyn Trust is continuing its generous support for the Bodleian Libraries with a gift of just over £460,000. The grant is funding an innovative programme of creative learning activities, taking place from 2022 to 2024.
The programme is wide ranging, including participatory workshops for local school pupils based on exhibitions at the Weston Library; book art creation and printing activities for members of the public; work with volunteer guides to create family friendly activities; and a ‘touch tour’ of the ‘Tutankhamun: Excavating the Archive’ exhibition tailored for audiences with special needs.
The funding enables the Bodleian learning team not only to plan ahead for three years of activities but also to recruit and retain high calibre staff to lead the programme. With the goal of encouraging local Oxford residents to visit the Bodleian Libraries – potentially for the first time – the hope is that, once new visitors see the quality and breadth of the creative learning activities, they will want to return time and again.
Lady Hamlyn CBE, Chair of the Helen Hamlyn Trust, says: ‘The Trust is pleased to continue its long association with the Bodleian Libraries. In 2016 the Trust initiated the role of a dedicated Education Officer to develop the Bodleian’s first cohesive education programme to build upon the existing Public Events Programme. This further grant enables the education and participation programme to grow its breadth of high-quality activities, for all ages to enjoy, which crucially provide a bridge to link schools, community groups and currently under-engaged audiences for the first time with the libraries’ special collections.’
Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian, says: ‘This gift will make all the difference to our ability to become truly accessible. It will allow us to deliver a transformational and vastly enhanced creative learning programme and also to move forward with our new education and public engagement partner organisations, confident that we can embark on longer-term relationships with audience groups and partners alike. We are extremely grateful to Lady Hamlyn and to the Helen Hamlyn Trust for initiating this programme and their continued support to develop this important area of our work.’
Events will take place in locations both on- and off-site until the new, dedicated Learning Space opens at the Weston Library in 2023. The Bodleian team are currently trialling the activities in the programme to gather feedback from key audiences in advance of the official opening of the Learning Space, ensuring that events are well targeted and ready to execute from the outset of the launch.
The new programme of activities will complement the range of existing programmes already offered by the Bodleian Libraries Education and Public Engagement team, such as OxLibris – a service run by University of Oxford librarians to help year 12 and 13 students with independent research coursework – volunteer engagement, public engagement with research activities, schools and community workshops, annual events such as Oxford Open Doors and digital engagement activities.