The Library is open this Saturday 22 September! 
Working on your dissertation? Busy in the week? Make use of the Library this Saturday!
The Library will be open between 11:00 – 17:00.
The URS building will be closed.
Check full Library opening hours for more details.
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
The Library is open this Saturday 18 August!
Working on your dissertation? Busy in the week? Make use of the Library this Saturday!
The Library will be open between 11:00 – 17:00.
The URS building will be closed.
Check full Library opening hours for more details.
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
We are making it easier for you to find your hold with improvements being made from Wednesday 1 August. Holds will now be organised by Call Number. Just go the Hold Shelf and find the Call Number to pick up your item – you can disregard any prefix to the Call Number as all sizes of books will be shelved together.
Tips for finding your hold!
Requested an item from Store or Closed Access?
Loanable items requested from Store or Closed Access will also be easier to locate, these items will be shelved in Call Number order in the new ‘Requests’ section of the Hold Shelf.
Call Numbers of all Store and Closed Access requests are included in the notification email which is sent when an item is available.
If you have any questions or need help finding your hold please come and ask us for assistance at the Information Desk in the URS Building.
Holly Thomas, Library User services
From Thursday 31 May the standard loan period for undergraduate and taught postgraduate students is extended until Tuesday 2 October or until the end of your 
course, whichever is earlier. Standard loan periods for other Library borrowers remain unchanged.
All other loan periods and fines for late return remain the same! So please take care when borrowing 7-day loans, Course Collection items and journals. Make sure you check your University account regularly for due dates.
From Saturday 9 June until Sunday 23 September, the Library Building and URS Building will be operating summer vacation opening hours. But wherever you are this summer, there are still a number of Library services and resources available for you. Check out our tips for searching and accessing a wide variety of e-resources from off-campus. You may even be able to study at and borrow from a university library nearer to you by registering with the SCONUL Access Scheme.
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
If you are graduating this summer then please don’t forget to return your loans and clear your account 
before you go. If you have any outstanding fines or bills you can pay online via the Campus Card Portal or at the Ground Floor Information Desk now situated in the URS Building.
Before you leave don’t forget to return:
Save the pennies and avoid having any leftover money on your Campus Card at the end of your course. When you top-up your card via the Campus Card Portal there is now no minimum amount you have to spend. This means you can top-up exactly what you need to see you through to the end of term!
If you are interested in borrowing from the University Library after you graduate, annual Library membership is half-price at £45! Alternatively, if you are beginning a new course at UoR next session you can apply for membership over the summer for a reduced charge of £20. Registrations for membership can be made at the Ground Floor Information Desk in the URS Building.
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
The Library and URS Building will close at 17:00 on Wednesday 28 March for the University Easter closure period. We will reopen at 08:30 on Wednesday 4 April. You can always view our full opening hours on our website.
If you need help while we’re closed you can chat online via the blue ‘Virtual Enquiry Service’ box on the Library homepage! This service is staffed by professional librarians working remotely to answer your queries from our website and other information we’ve supplied.
Revising this Easter vacation? It’s not all bad! The Library makes getting those crucial textbooks even easier for you. It will be ‘business as usual’ with loan periods remaining the same in vacation as all term.
So keep checking your account and renewing your loans unless someone else recalls them. No items will be due back over the closure period and we’ll email you if your loans are recalled! You can return items at the Library even when we’re closed or you can even post them back to us. If you’re ever unsure, you can contact us.
All of the group study rooms in Library@URS will be open from 6pm on Friday 23 March until the start of next academic year (except during the University’s Easter closure period). If you ever need to find study space just check our Study Space map to find a place or use the Free Room Finder online tool which displays rooms available for immediate use.
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
Last collections before Easter closure
If you want to use items from the Store or Closed Access before Easter make sure that you get your requests in on time!
Normal service will resume on Wednesday 4 April with the first Closed Access collection on that day and the first Store collection on Thursday 5 April.
For more information and detailed instructions on how to make Closed Access and Store requests, check out the ‘Requesting items from Store and Closed Access‘ information page.
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
Help make the Library work effectively by respecting everyone’s right to resources and limited space. It can be as easy as checking when your Library loans are due back or clearing a desk space for other users. And don’t forget there are alternative study spaces on campus too.
Here are some simple suggestions on how to keep on top of your Library account, save time and money, and help provide a pleasant and productive working environment for all:
Please help us share study space in the URS building fairly. It is fine to pop over to the Library building for a book and return to your desk within a short time. However, we think it unfair for students to reserve desks with their belongings for long periods when other students want to use that space.
If you find unattended study places apparently ‘booked’ with clothes, stationery and the like, please ask Library staff for support at either the URS Reception desk by the main entrance or the URS Information Desk next to the Course Collection on the ground floor. We will give you a timed warning card you can place on the abandoned stuff. Put the belongings to one side and sit down. If the owner returns within the hour, they are entitled to the space back. If not, you can sit there. Also ask staff to help explain, should anyone returning after an hour and complain.
Where unattended stuff hasn’t been moved overnight, staff will remove it to URS Reception. If it is not claimed by the next morning, it will be taken to Palmer Reception, the centre for all lost property in the University.
Check out our ‘Using the Library’ and ‘Policies and Rules’ pages for more information.
Check the ‘FIND STUDY SPACE BEYOND THE LIBRARY’ section of the Library Refurbishment Project homepage for alternative space.
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
Are you currently researching a topic for a dissertation? If so our Inter-Library Loan service maybe able to help you! This service brings you material which is not held in our Library giving you access to a wide range of academic books and journals on request.
If you’re a member of staff or a PhD candidate you can make your ILL request online.
If you’re an undergraduate or taught postgraduate you can make your request in a few simple steps:
If you have any questions about requesting an Inter-Library Loan please get in touch with us either at the Information Desk at the URS Building or you can send us an email: ill@reading.ac.uk
Holly Thomas, Library User Services.
With textbooks in increasingly high demand even after the end of term, we’ve made sure our policy ensures fair access to all. It will be ‘business as usual’ with all loan periods remaining the same in vacation as all term. This means that items will not be issued to cover the whole Christmas vacation.
Just keep renewing your loans unless or until someone else recalls them … so keep checking your University account! You can even return loans by post if you prefer. If your account is blocked please contact the Library and we will discuss the situation with you.
This means you can place holds on books on loan in vacations. The threat of fines on non-returned books should help Library users return them for you!
What about Christmas holidays and Uni Closure?
We know the short Christmas break also spans public holidays and the Christmas University Closure period (Friday 22 December to Monday 1 January – see our Opening hours page for more information), so we’ve made special allowances. Any journals, 7-day loans or Course Collection items borrowed from Saturday 16 December until the Christmas University Closure will be due back on Tuesday 2 January (by 10:00 for Course Collection items). No items will be due back between Saturday 16 December and Monday 1 January.
Happy holidays!
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
If you have a library-related query during the Christmas closure period (Friday 22 December to Monday 1 January) you can still get help. Chat online via the blue ‘Virtual Enquiry Service’ box on the Library webpage.
The Virtual Enquiry Service is staffed by professional librarians working remotely to answer your queries from our website and other information we’ve supplied. You can keep an email transcript of the chat. If they can’t resolve a particular issue they’ll refer you back to us during our staffed hours.
During staffed Library service hours, please do continue to contact UoR Library staff to help with your enquiries!
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
Last collections before Christmas closure
If you want items kept in areas not accessible to Library users or members of the public before Christmas make sure that you get your requests in on time!
Normal service will resume on Tuesday 2 January with the first Closed Access collection on that day and the first Store collection on Thursday 4 January.
For more information and detailed instructions on how to make Closed Access and Store requests, check out the ‘Requesting items from Store and Closed Access‘ information page.
Holly Thomas, Library User Services
