If you walk past the Weston Library on a regular basis, you’ll notice the display in the window changing pretty frequently. I had the opportunity to speak with two members of the team about the process of developing and installing new Weston exhibitions: Sallyanne Gilchrist, exhibitions manager, and Madeline Slaven, head of public engagement.
Right now, there are two free exhibitions available to visit at the Weston Library. Oracles, Omens, & Answers explores the history of fortune telling, and Listen In looks at the impact of radio technology on everyday life. As Sallyanne explained, having two exhibitions at once is normal for the space:
“Typically in the St Lee Gallery, which is the bigger of the two and more like our contemporary shows, we’ll change [the exhibitions] twice a year, so there’ll be a summer exhibition and a winter exhibition. In the other gallery, the exhibitions will be on for a bit longer – sometimes nine months, sometimes twelve months, and we’ll change them just once a year. That said, this year we’re changing that gallery twice.”
The process for planning and designing these exhibitions can take quite a while, and themes are decided long in advance; Madeline explained that they currently have a plan for both galleries until the end of 2028. To determine the theme, curators, academics or external collaborators interested in working with the Weston Library develop a proposal to be reviewed by the Exhibitions Committee (chaired by the Keeper of Special Collections and including members from numerous departments). Once a theme is approved, Sallyanne explained that (as exhibitions manager) she will start working with the curator around 12-18 months before the exhibition is planned to take place.
The next stages involve a lot of communication both in and outside of the Bodleian Library. One big perk of planning an exhibition at the Weston Library is that as part of the University of Oxford’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums (GLAM) group, it’s very straightforward to borrow items from other GLAM institutions. For instance, Oracles, Omens & Answers includes several items loaned by the Pitt Rivers Museum. Sallyanne explained that they try to keep everyone across the organisation aware of upcoming displays and to ensure that the curator has a good understanding of what materials are available:
“That’s the worst thing, you know, being at an opening or an event and one of the librarians comes up to you and says ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were doing this exhibition. Did you not think about including X, Y or Z?’”
Madeline also discussed how the different individuals involved work together, explaining that:
“[The curator] comes in with, let’s assume, huge, in-depth knowledge of their subject area, and maybe or maybe not a huge and in-depth knowledge of our collections, and that can be more challenging if they don’t. In such cases curatorial staff within the library often provide ideas and essential support.”
With new projects starting all the time, Madeline and Sallyanne joked that they know everything about each subject for a very brief period (a sentiment that would resonate with many students who finish an essay or exam and never look back):
Sallyanne: For a few months, we’re experts on certain things.
Madeline: Well, minor.
Sallyanne: Minor experts. Very minor. Then I quickly forget, and move on – I knew all about radio last week.
Working with the rest of the GLAM team also gives them some surprising opportunities. Madeline mentioned that the Kafka exhibition was fun because it was the first time they had live animals as part of the display – although the animals in question weren’t necessarily cute or cuddly:
Madeline: We brought in cockroaches, so that was fun … It was very straightforward, because of course we’ve got the huge benefit that we’re sitting in GLAM, so we’ve got the Natural History Museum up the road.
Sallyanne: Who were super keen.
Madeline: Who were so helpful, and so keen, and ordered the cockroaches and lent us a tank and told us how to look after them.
Sallyanne: They said they were the best cared-for cockroaches.
Madeline: And most importantly took them away again in the end.
It’s also not unheard of for Weston Library exhibitions to include items loaned either from other places in the UK or even internationally, but Sallyanne explained that keeping the display items local is a straightforward way to keep costs down and the exhibitions free – this doesn’t seem to be too big of a challenge when you have all the resources of Oxford’s museums and libraries at your fingertips. However, it’s also a key part of the team’s work to help items from the Bodleian collections go out on loan, giving people worldwide a glimpse into Oxford’s collections – for instance, the Kafka exhibition which was held at the Weston Library in 2024 is currently on display at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York.
After choosing a theme and the materials to include, there are a number of practical challenges to consider. Before planning the displays, the team will outline a narrative for the exhibition to incorporate a creative angle and natural flow to the visitor’s experience. However, as the exhibitions are temporary, they need to work within the pre-existing space and display cases. Sallyanne explained:
“It can cause problems narratively, because we can’t make our cases bigger … Sometimes it might be that we do need to move themes about to make them work in the gallery, and so we might number things differently, if that’s the case, to encourage people to go that way.”
Predicting the path people will take through an exhibition is a whole challenge unto itself, she added:
“We hope that if you walk in through the side entrance and you’re suddenly confronted with item number 50, you might actually go back on yourself and find number one, and start at the beginning. With the help of the GLAM assessment team we are currently doing some really interesting observation studies to find out how visitors really read the room.”
Working with delicate archival materials also requires careful control of humidity and light exposure, which varies depending on how long the exhibition will be displayed. It’s also a challenge to decide the layout of each case – Sallyanne described the “fine line between where to put the text and where to put the objects”, elaborating that:
“The text is often low down in the case because the objects themselves are in that visual zone, and I agree it can be annoying. Everything’s numbered – caption six might be here, but object six might be there – reaching that balance can be tricky.”
Past exhibitions have tackled the physical challenges of Library displays directly. Madeline commented that the Sensational Books exhibition was one of her favourites because of the way it explored the visitor experience:
“[This exhibition] was all about the experience of a book beyond reading, so the different sensory ways you might engage with a book, and the fact that a book is more than just the carrier of a text … We really worked on overcoming the glass of the case.”
Part of how they addressed the Sensational Books exhibition involved collaborating with a visually impaired group to explore different ways of presenting sensory information. In general, accessibility is something the team thinks a lot about:
“We work really hard to make sure our exhibitions are accessible, or to be very honest when we are not so accessible for some people.”
Sometimes, the care of the objects is unfortunately at odds with accessibility requirements. Sallyanne commented that low light levels in particular are something they struggle with, as they need to keep the room dark to protect the items but understand this makes it harder for certain visitors to engage with the exhibition. Similarly, when they use multimedia such as audio or video elements, it can be difficult to find a balance of light and sound which suits everyone. One solution to this might be having specific times of day where videos are turned off if they are likely to be uncomfortable for some visitors. Sallyanne also made it clear that responding to the feedback from visitors is highly important for the team, and they do what they can to make the exhibitions accessible for as many people as possible.
Madeline and Sallyanne want to encourage students to get involved with the Bodleian Public Engagement team, and especially those with an interest in culture and heritage. As well as internships, which are advertised on the careers website, they suggested that there may be other chances to volunteer and get involved with specific events, projects and exhibitions, so keep an eye out if you want to learn even more about the Weston exhibitions behind the scenes!
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