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USING THE LIBRARIES: HOME

Using the Library

Find information on borrowing from our collections and visiting us.

Library Updates

 

 

Borrow

Book

Reserve

Using the Libraries

The University will be continuing with the Click and Collect services in all of our libraries. You can continue to place a reservation for the book you need on the catalogue as normal and we will email you when they are available for you to collect.

If you are unable to travel to a library your Information Adviser can discuss alternative resources with you. This may include posting a limited number of books to you. Online resources are available via your library subject guide and if you need advice or support in accessing these or other resources then please contact your Information Adviser. You’ll find their contact details on your subject guide or email library@brighton.ac.uk.

University members can borrow up to 99 items - except for those on short and pre-sessional courses who are limited to 12 items. You will need to have your Unicard on you to borrow.
  • Long loan items are issued for 3 weeks
  • 7 day loans are issued for a week
Log in to your library account on the library catalogue. Your account shows what you have on loan and when things are due back. It also lets you renew items and pay fines using your Unicard. Access your library account here: My Library Account
If the book you want is on loan or at another university site library you can reserve it via the library catalogue. This means we’ll hold it for you at the library of your choice once it’s returned. We’ll send you an email once the item is ready to collect. You’ll have 7 days to pick it up. You are limited to 5 reservations at a time. Teaching Resources can also be reserved with the exception of ‘reading sets’ and ‘big books’.
7 day and long loans are automatically renewed unless they have been reserved. You do not need to do anything! You will receive an email letting you know which loans have been renewed and which have not. If an item is reserved by another user you will be given 7 days to return it. If you have overdue items you may not be able to renew any other items. If there are extenuating circumstances that prevent you from returning an item please contact your campus library. If you need to manually renew an item you can do this by contacting your library, or by logging in to your library account.
Books can be returned to any of the university libraries – you don’t need to return them to the library you got them from. Please note that at this time items must be returned to the book drops positioned at the entrance to each library - these are available during library opening hours The exception is interlibrary loan items which must be returned to the library they were borrowed from. You can return University of Brighton items by post to the site library address but they will incur charges if they arrive late or are lost.

During the current National Lockdown, fines for books returned late are currently suspended.

It is important that you return reserved book/s as another student needs them.

If you need an article from a print journal held at another University of Brighton site library, please complete the form - remember to sign the copyright declaration! We’ll email you a scan of the article.

If you can't find the book or journal article you need you may be able to request it as an interlibrary loan. You cannot use this service if you have any fines outstanding on your library account. The British Library Inter-Library Loan service response time may be slower due to the Covid related safe working processes that are in place. If you need to request an item that we don't hold in one of our libraries please complete aInterlibrary loan form - remember to agree to the copyright declaration! We will then try to source the item from another library and will email you once we have it available for you.

Interlibrary loan entitlements are:
  • Undergraduate student (not final year), up to 3 interlibrary loans per academic year
  • Final year undergraduate student, up to 10 interlibrary loans per academic year
  • Taught postgraduate student, up to 15 interlibrary loans per academic year
  • Research student and Staff, unlimited interlibrary loans to support University of Brighton research or work
  • Partner college students, external members, intermitting students, and UBIC staff and students are not entitled to interlibrary loans

Members of the university resident in the UK can join Brighton and Hove libraries. Registration can be done online and gives immediate access to their online resources.

If you are on placement in the NHS or working on an NHS project then you may be eligible to join the Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Libraries. Please see the Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Libraries webpages for details.

The SCONUL scheme and access to the University of Sussex library are both currently suspended due to Covid-19.
Your student library account and computer login remain active for 8 weeks after you finish your course so that you can access IT services including My Brighton, My Studies, the Online Library, library subject guides. You can continue to use libraries and computer rooms and have more time to return library books. Remember there is a fines amnesty in place but you must return all books before the end of the 8 weeks or you will be invoiced for any outstanding books. We will email your university email address to remind you about the books you have on loan and how to return them, including details of our freepost returns service. Email library@brighton.ac.uk if you have any queries about your library account. If you’re staying in Brighton longer term and want to continue to borrow books you can join the libraries as an Alumni at no cost, see Alumni services (brighton.ac.uk) for further information.

From Monday 19th April PC and study space bookings will increase from 2 x 2 hour slots to 3 x 2 hour slots per day.

All spaces in are for individual study only and must be pre-booked.

Book before you leave home, making sure you bring your UniCard as you will not be able to gain access to the rooms without it.

Booking Library Spaces

Each campus library is open between 9:30am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. All visits must be pre-booked

You can book a library study space here.

Once a booking has been submitted and you arrive at the library before your allocated time, you must call the library helpdesk phone number to validate your booking so staff can enable entry into the library. All details will be provided at all library entry points.

Booking computer rooms

The following computer room spaces can be booked to use in the following locations:

  • Edward Street
  • Cockcroft Building Level One
  • Watts Building Level Two
  • Falmer computer room
  • Eastbourne computer room

The desks in these areas are suitable for general study as well as computer use and for the use of Teams to support remote learning. You can book 2 x 2 hour slots per day.

All rooms have printing and scanning facilities.

If you want to book a space in one of the computer rooms book a PC here.

Please remember: It is our responsibility to help protect each other, the students and staff of the University, so please be sure to follow all of the guidelines that are in place and remember that face coverings must be worn at all times and 2m social distancing protocols followed. And please do be respectful of our Covid marshals who will be on site to support students to follow the current guidelines.

Each campus library is open between 9:30am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. All visits must be pre-booked

You canbook a library study space here.

Once a booking has been submitted and you arrive at the library before your allocated time, you must call the library helpdesk phone number to validate your booking so staff can enable entry into the library. All details will be provided at all library entry points.

You can now book computers in the following locations:

  • Edward Street
  • Cockcroft Building Level One
  • Watts Building Level Two
  • Falmer computer room
  • Eastbourne computer room

The desks in these areas are suitable for general study as well as computer use and for the use of Teams to support remote learning. You can book 2 x 2 hour slots per day.

All rooms have printing and scanning facilities.

If you want to book a space in one of the computer rooms book a PC here.

Please remember:

It is our responsibility to help protect each other, the students and staff of the University, so please be sure to follow all of the guidelines that are in place and remember that face coverings must be worn at all times and 2m social distancing protocols followed. And please do be respectful of our Covid marshals who will be on site to support students to follow the current guidelines.

You can contact the library on library@brighton.ac.uk.if you need help or advice with library services.

If you need help with IT or computing resources then you can contact the IT Service Desk - servicedesk@brighton.ac.uk.

Food, snacks and hot drinks are not allowed in the libraries or computer rooms.

Bottled water is allowed and there are are water fountains for refilling.

All our libraries have:
  • Lifts
  • Refuge areas in case of emergency
  • Induction loops
  • RNIB Bookshare – a free service for print disabled readers – is available to registered students. Contact your library or subject team to register.
  • Your subject team can also help source course materials in alternative formats. Please contact them or your library to set up an appointment where we can discuss your needs and how best to meet them.
We try to ensure that all our online services, including My Brighton and the online library, meet usability and accessibility requirements and the standards issued by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). If you find that they do not, please let us know by contacting the Service Desk, your Information Adviser or your nearest library help desk. For advice on free accessibility tools see the JISC guide to Free and open source software recommendations​.
We have the following equipment available in libraries
  • Height adjustable desks
  • Scanners
  • Digital magnifiers
If you need to use a height adjustable desk please select "Resource Type: Accessible PC" when you book a PC.

Visiting and Using the Libraries: Printable Guide