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General Elections often mark times of great change. With the next General Election coming up, it is interesting to see what different political parties are promising to do if elected. Here are some analyses of how the different political parties’ …

What’s being promised in the General Election 2024 Read more »

The Public Library tuk-tuk book van will pull up outside the University Library this Wednesday (15 May) to bring a selection of fiction books and sign up new customers for free as part of Feel Good Fest! Stop by between …

A van full of pleasure Read more »

There are lies, damn lies, statistics, and then there is politics.  Fake news has existed since the dawn of civilisation and has taken flight and caused serious concern more than once in human history.  Crises of authority and the desperate …

Truth and the turning wheel of history Read more »

Yesterday, the University Library hosted its first-ever Global Storytime Event. We invited parents and carers to bring their children into the University Library, where two of our talented students read to them from a selection of illustrated children’s books from the Outside In World collection of children’s books in translation. After this, the children were invited to participate in an art activity, colouring and drawing images inspired by the books.

I am so grateful to our talented students Abigail and Santosh, who engaged the children so effectively, and to all the parents and children who participated. A wonderful time was had by all and the artworks created by the children were particularly fun and entertaining.

Until 10 April 2024, you can explore our newest free trial to the WWII Censorship Archive! Censorship: Practice and Policy during the Second World War explores British postal and telegraph censorship throughout a pivotal era of modern history.

We are always looking for new ways to make learning more fun and interesting. To that end, one of our resident sci-fi enthusiasts has pulled together a reading list of science fiction books we have in stock that were all written by People of the Global Majority.

Celebrate World Book Day by going on a blind date with a book. All this week in the Library, you can borrow up one of our specially wrapped hand-picked books from the trolley in the Atrium and discover something you might not otherwise have ever read. Where might your date take you?

Anyone can injure themselves and find it difficult to carry books around, and while we make as many books available electronically as possible, a few books remain only available in print, while some people prefer to read from printed books, particularly when they study for extended periods. Often, academic books tend to be the sort of heavy book with which you can prop open a door or build a small bunker.

Happily, between our postal loans, wheeled book trolleys, and click and collect service, both our print and electronic books are easily available to everyone.

One reason ebooks are so popular is that they are always available but since print books renew themselves automatically once borrowed, if you want a print book that is on loan to someone else, you really want to reserve it! 

All books you or anyone else borrow are renewed automatically until someone else reserves them. As soon as you reserve a copy using the Library Catalogue, we will email the person with the book due soonest and ask them to bring it back within one week.  Once they bring it back, we will email you to let you know it is on the reservation shelves in the Atrium, waiting for you to collect.  Since the Library is open 24/7 and you can borrow books online, this means you can collect books 24/7.

Christmas is on us this year – at least the streaming is! Catch classic Christmas movies from the mainstream to the macabre, along with films and documentaries on every subject under the sun through Kanopy, exclusive to you for you to enjoy at university.