12
available for hire all year round, as
we are not limited to term time.
Academic Venues
Study
your space
Tell us about the history of the
building and why event organisers
should see it in person?
The Bodleian first opened in 1602,
which makes us one of the oldest
libraries in Europe. In Britain, we are
second in size to the British Library,
as together, the Bodleian Libraries
hold over 13m printed items. We
encourage event organisers to have
a site visit beforehand because it is a
historical building, this means there
are a few things like lighting, AV and
caterers to consider. We believe that
seeing the room and talking through
the event in detail helps to bring it all
together.
Louisa Daley explores high-end dining at academic venues
hen you hear the
word ‘library’, you
usually picture
endless shelving of
books and resources. What if you
could picture a historical building that
transforms from a library into an
event space overnight?
We spoke to Kate Del Nevo, venue
hire and marketing manager of the
Bodleian Library, to explore how the
Oxford-based library can serve not
only as an academic venue, but as
an events venue that offers high-end
dining.
What is your connection to
academic venues in the Oxford
area?
The Bodleian library is part of the
University of Oxford and because of
this, a lot of academics know the
library and like to use us for
conferences, dinners and talks. We
are open during the day for our
readers and we are open in the
evenings for events. To book the
library, you do not need a connection
to the University, we are open to all!
We are located in the centre of the
city, so we are at the heart of Oxford
and in easy walking distance of the
colleges, hotels and accommodation.
Above: The remarkable
ceiling makes for an
impressive sight
Below left: The decor and
What would you say is the Bodleian
Library’s unique selling point?
In terms of events, it would be the
Divinity School and its amazing
ceiling. You can choose from
different lighting that can reflect up
onto the ceiling, so there are areas
that clients can be really creative
with. The Divinity School can host up
to 120 guests for a seated dinner or
250 for a standing reception. This
space has been used in a lot of films,
such as Harry Potter, as you walk in
you definitely get that wow factor. We
offer tours of the library, which is a
nice idea to do at a drinks reception,
as guests have access to the original
library rooms upstairs. The library is
So, you appeal to those looking to
run high-end events such as
dinners, how do you help
organisers make the magic
happen?
As the venue hire and marketing
manager, I am the core point of
contact all the way through the
booking, from their initial enquiry to
show rounds to drawing up the
contract and putting together the
detail function sheet that we use to
run the event. Our external partners
also work alongside the Bodleian’s
event coordinators to ensure the
clients every need is met, and all
details are covered. We work hard to
ensure every event has a very
unique feel.
furniture is of the highest
quality
www.conference-news.co.uk
Are your chefs in-house, and what
is on the menu?
As a dry hire venue, we have a list of
external Bodleian partners that
clients can choose from, which
include local and London based
caterers and florists. We ask that
clients choose from our caterers
because it is quite a tricky space to
work in. For example, there are
certain restrictions on what they can
and can’t cook, such as no gas
cooking or frying. Each of our
caterers has their own style and
menu, so it is down to the client to
pick a menu that suits their budget
and their taste.