Library Regulations

  1. Membership

    The use of the Library for borrowing is normally permitted to registered readers only.

    1. Registration as a reader is open to all persons in the following categories. A charge for registration may be required for certain categories of reader.

      1. Full and part-time members of the University's staff, including visiting and associate staff who have been given similar status within the University.

      2. Registered postgraduate students of the University.

      3. Registered undergraduate students of the University.

      4. Postgraduate students on the writing-up register.

      5. Graduates of the University.

      6. Members of the Court and Council other than those covered in the above categories.

    2. Non-members of the University may be permitted to use the Library for borrowing at the discretion of the Director of the Library & Archives. A charge may be made for this facility.

    3. Registered readers are issued with a University card or a Library readers' card which must be produced each time a book is borrowed. University cards and readers' cards are non-transferable. It is the reader's responsibility to ensure that changes of postal address and email address are notified to the Library.

  2. Borrowing

    1. No book may be removed from the Library without the issue being recorded in the manner prescribed by the Director. Library staff are authorised to examine books and bags if a reader activates the book detection system when leaving the Library. Unauthorised removal of any item from the Library may result in further action being taken in accordance with the University's general disciplinary regulations.

    2. The Director may restrict or prohibit the borrowing of any book or periodical.

    3. Borrowing regulations for different categories of users and material are made available on the Library's web pages and in printed Library guides. They have the status of Library regulations.

    4. All materials borrowed from the Library must be returned, or the loan period renewed, by the due date displayed for that item on the Library Catalogue.

    5. The Director may recall materials issued to any reader if the item in question is in demand by other readers. In such cases, items must be returned by the new due date specified on the recall notice sent to the reader and on the Library Catalogue.

    6. Readers are at all times responsible for any materials which have been issued in their name and this responsibility ends only when the item has been returned to the Library and the issue record has been cancelled. Readers will be required to pay for the replacement of any materials which are lost while issued to them, with the addition of an administrative charge.

  3. General

    1. The Library will be open at such times as may be determined by the Director in agreement with the University authorities, and a statement of the hours during which the Library is open is displayed in the Library, on the Library's web pages and in printed guides.

    2. The marking, defacing or damaging of Library materials will be regarded as a serious offence. Readers who are responsible for an item which is damaged, or who damages an item in the Library, will be required to pay for the cost of replacement plus an additional charge for administration, and may be subject to further action in accordance with the University's general disciplinary regulations.

    3. Readers who fail to return any materials in accordance with regulations 2(d) and (e) will be liable to the appropriate fine in respect of each item not returned. Such fines are published as regulations in the Library guides. Late payment of fines which cause an invoice to be issued may incur an additional administration charge. Persistent offenders may be subject to further action in accordance with the University's general disciplinary regulations.

    4. A charge will be made for the replacement of a reader's card which has been lost or which through damage is made unusable.

    5. Smoking is not allowed in the Library.

    6. The consumption of food and drink is not allowed within the parts of the Library open to readers, with the exception of water in containers with secure tops. No food or drink, including bottled water, may be consumed in reading areas designated for the use of the Library's special collections.

    7. Readers and other visitors are expected to behave with consideration for other users of the Library and should not cause disturbance to others who are studying. the use of mobile telephones to make and receive voice calls is not permitted.

    8. Photocopying of any copyright item in the Library may be carried out only in accordance with current copyright legislation and with the scale of charges currently in force.

    9. The use of electronic publications within the Library, or provided by the Library as networked services, is subject to the University's computing regulations, to current copyright legislation, and to the license agreements that pertain to the products of the relevant publishers or information providers.

    10. The use of any material obtained through the inter-library loan service is governed at all times by the regulations of the lending library.