1. The Library's purpose is to support the work of Wolfson College as a centre of graduate studies and research in the University of Oxford. It will do this by providing library and information services responsive to the needs of its users and by preserving collections entrusted to its care where their presence at Wolfson can make a significant contribution to scholarship.
2. The Library's primary responsibility in the delivery of its services is to the members of Wolfson College and Common Room. Reference access to its collections may be provided to other scholars for material not available in other Oxford libraries, and lending of such material to other libraries may be considered.
3. The Library will seek to meet the needs of its users by:
   
   1. Developing its own holdings where appropriate (see 4 below);
   2. Providing mediated access electronically to sources of information available online in Oxford and throughout the world;
   3. Providing access to material held in other libraries through document supply services;
   4. Providing a relaxed but studious environment in which members of the College can work.
4. The Library will seek to develop its own holdings by:
   
   1. Providing certain core material requested by students of the College for their course work;
   2. Providing working collections for members of the College in specific subjects, the selection of which will be reviewed from time to time;
   3. Providing specific material to support individual research needs where this is considered appropriate to the Library's collections;
   4. Allocating a limited proportion of its budget, which will be reviewed annually, for fiction and books of general interest suggested by members of the College.
5. The Library will preserve its collections in Indology and Ancient History for the use of members of the College and as a reference source for other scholars.
6. The Library will aim to educate its users in the use of its holdings and services.
7. The Academic Committee will regularly review and plan the development of the Library in accordance with this statement of purpose and aims.

This statement of purpose and aims was approved by the Library Committee on 2nd June 1998