J.K. Rowling is a smart lady. For many reasons. The number one reason in my book, at least for today, is her uncanny ability to share wisdom through her thoughtfully crafted characters. The full quote from dear Professor Dumbledore to Harry (i.e. to us, the reader) goes as follows: “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” Wise words! This is also true when words form sentences, sentences form paragraphs and paragraphs form chapters, books, manuscripts, blog posts…well, you get the picture.  So why would I use a Harry Potter quote when telling a story about The Bodleian Library, pictured above? Well, apart from the obvious reference to words, The Bodleian was host to filming several of the Harry Potter movies acting as The Hogwart’s Library and restricted reading room. How awesome is that? For Potter fans, check out some of the location footage here.

At the time I took the snaps above in early summer 2002, filming was not occurring, primarily because exams were in session. Right up until my last day at Oxford, the University was wrapped in a studious hush that was unleashed at week’s end by a rush of confetti and relieved celebrations. Their “Owls” were over!  What a wonderful scene to experience!

I did get a chance to wander around The Bodleian on my Oxford-Day-of-Adventure and as a card-carrying bibliophile, it drew me like a worm to a book 🙂  The Bodleian is one of the oldest university libraries, with its origins as early as the 1400’s. The library took form as “The Bod” in the early 1600’s when Sir Thomas Bodley, a fellow of Merton College, donated a fair sum of money to refurbish the library and provide support for a growing collection of books and manuscripts open to student use while at the library. The Bodleian is well-known as a reference library, meaning you can read, but you cannot sign out. The buildings grew with the many collections over the centuries, adding the impressive Radcliffe Camera building (I wrote about the Camera in this post) in 1749. The Camera is the round building surrounded by bicycles in the collage above.  If you would like to learn more about the Bodleian, please visit their site here.

Mischief managed for one more Sunday!