About us

Our purpose

The purpose of the University Library is to:

• support teaching, learning and research in the University, by developing and promoting access to information resources;
• develop students’ academic and information literacy skills required for success;
• support the management, communication and preservation of University research;
• contribute to the wider world of scholarship, and to the transfer of knowledge, by collaborating and co-operating with other organisations.

We uphold this mission by aligning our activities with the University’s strategic principles of community, excellence, sustainability, and the engaged University.

• Introducing the Library - find out about the Library and our services
• 50 years at Whiteknights (PDF) - read about the history of the Library on the Whiteknights campus 1964-2014
• Library Refurbishment Project (2016-2019)

Service provision

• Service statement - a brief outline of services that we currently deliver
• Partnership agreement - outline of the terms under which those services are delivered

Policies & rules

We have a number of Policies and rules which guide our services and help us meet our aims and objectives. These include the Library rules.

Research projects

The Library is involved with the following research projects:

• Location Register of English Literary Manuscripts and Letters
• WATCH Project - Writers and their Copyright Holders

The Library in the University structure

As part of Academic and Governance Services the Library comes under University Library and Collections Service (ULCS). Also within ULCS is (UMASCS), which brings together the museums with the University's collections of rare books, archives and manuscripts (formerly housed in the Library).