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Page last updated at 16:43 GMT, Friday, 14 January 2011

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Millionth book arrives at Swindon's Bodley

On Friday the one millionth item from the world famous Bodleian Library was 'injested' into the gigantic 15-acre book storage facility on the outskirts of Swindon.

The millionth book, the Journal of General Physiology Volume I, was formally ingested into the £26m South Marston facility by the Bodley's Librarian Dr Sarah Thomas.

It's taken a staff of 32 just three months - processing up to 42,000 books and periodicals a day - to achieve this "extraordinary feat".

"We're moving say 25,000 books a day and sometimes 38,000 in a day and we had to tell the fellows to slow down because they have a long way to go yet," said Dr Thomas.

By December 2011, it's hoped that 6.5 million volumes will have made the trip up the A420 to the 154 miles of shelving within the enormous purpose-built warehouse.

"It's going to take the next 12 months to move 5.5 million volumes in here but we expect by the end of this year to have 6.5 million volumes in here," said Dr Thomas.

With the Bodleian collection expanding at a rate of 5,000 books per week and shelf space at a premium in Oxford, it is hoped the move to the vast new 'Swindon Bodleian' will resolve the library's storage problems for the next 20 years.

"The book storage we had wasn't fit for purpose. It was vulnerable to fire and water damage and the humidity and temperature controls were all out of whack but here it's a flat line and absolutely superb conditions for books," added Dr Thomas.

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