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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. Any items not returned by the due date will incur fines. 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 for books is currently suspended due to Covid-19. Their article request service continues to be available but is prioritising requests to support NHS, Public Health and medical research so may take longer than before. If you need to request an item that we don't hold in one of our libraries please complete this 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.
When you leave the university you will need to return all loans and pay any fines. Alumni are entitled to free membership of the library renewable annually at no cost - for details see the University of Brighton Alumni website.
Some study spaces can now be pre-booked.

We know how important it has been throughout the pandemic to make study spaces available on campus, especially for those students who do not have an appropriate study space at home and need a space for individual study. You can now book spaces 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. These are all bookable via the Book a PC tile on My Brighton and you can book 2 x 2 hour slots per day.

All rooms have printing and scanning facilities.

Please note that the study spaces in our libraries cannot be booked at this time.

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

You can make 2 bookings per day of up to 2 hours each for individual study. These slots can be booked consecutively to give a total of 4 hours, or at 2 different times in the day.

Please remember:
  • All spaces in computer rooms 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.

    • 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 now book spaces 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. These are all bookable via the Book a PC tile on My Brighton and you can book 2 x 2 hour slots per day.

All rooms have printing and scanning facilities.

Please note that the study spaces in our libraries cannot be booked at this time.

Please remember:
  • All spaces in computer rooms 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.

    • 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.

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

Currently library spaces are not open. However you can still contact 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.

Libraries are operating a closed access service and are not open for study spaces.

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