OXFORD University's Library Service has been recognised as a collection of outstanding national and international importance.
The Government's Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has named the service as one of four in the country which have made it on to its Designation Scheme.
The recognition could lead to more funding, as well as boosting visitor numbers.
The MLA highlighted a number of the Bodleian Library's special collections, which include early printed books, the only First Folio of Shakespeare, and the first road map of Britain dating from 1360, as well as the archive of the university's own papers.
Other collections named as outstanding were the Institute of Technology and engineering in London, the Shipbuilding Archives in Tyne and Wear, and Liverpool City Council's photographic archive.
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