I had an appointment this morning to read an obscure 16th century theology text — obscure enough at least for the Bodleian not to have it — at Christ Church College’s library. When I got there, the librarian at the front desk pulled this old book that was falling apart from a shelf behind her desk. My first thought was that this was really convenient — they already had my book waiting for me right there. But, no, it turned out that I was supposed to sign in. The first entry in the guest registry, if I remember correctly, is from 1908. It would have been fun to page through it — I bet some interesting people have read at the library in the past century.
Sydney