David Vaisey was born in 1935 in Tetbury. Son of a gardener, he won a scholarship to Rendcomb College, near Cirencester, and then an exhibition to study Modern History at Exeter College, Oxford. In 1960 he qualified as an archivist at the Bodleian, the main library of the University of Oxford. Three years later he joined the Bodleian, first as Assistant Librarian; he subsequently became Senior Assistant Librarian and then, in 1975, Keeper of Western Manuscripts; that same year he was made a Fellow of Exeter College. In addition he was Deputy Keeper of the Oxford University Archives between 1966 and 1975. (After retirement, between 1995 and 2000, he was Keeper of the Archives.) In 1986 David was appointed Bodley’s Librarian, the head of the Library. When he retired in 1996 he was awarded the title ‘Bodley’s Librarian Emeritus’ and appointed a CBE.

Amongst his other achievements David Vaisey held a visiting professorship in Library Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, was a member of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts and, from 1999 to 2002, was President of the Society of Archivists. He was made an Honorary Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford, in 1996 and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Historical Society. He also wrote several books and various journal articles.

As an undergraduate David met the author Alan Bennett; they were to become lifelong friends. It was therefore appropriate that Alan Bennett should present the first David Vaisey Library Prizes at The Times & The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2017, commenting:

“Libraries are for all ages – it is how my reading began and how my friend David’s did too. The David Vaisey Prize is well named, celebrating as it does a life dedicated to libraries.”

Alan Bennett’s remarks at the initial awards presentation are available in full here, and there’s more on David Vaisey, in conversation with Marianne Sweet, here.