Category Archives: Browse & Borrow

Fast Track Borrowing: Browse and Borrow

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Although you can order books and collect them via our Click & Collect service, you may find that booking a Browse & Borrow slot works better for you:

  • It’s potentially quicker to get hold of the books you need as library staff are fetching a large quantity of books per day for Click & Collect while Browse & Borrow means you can just book a slot on the day your essay is set and pick up whatever books you need straight away.
  • You don’t need to know exactly what books you are going to borrow ahead of time, so if you don’t have a set reading list to work from, Browse & Borrow may be better suited for your needs.
  • Remember that if you just need to collect some printing or do some photocopying in the library, you can also take advantage of booking a Browse & Borrow slot.

How does Browse & Borrow work?

Go to the SSL study space booking webpage and choose the ‘Browse and Borrow only [NO DESK]’ option to book your slot. This entitles you to browse our collection, borrow items via our Self Issue Machines and also use our photocopiers/printers but it doesn’t allow you to sit and study in the library.

Browse & Borrow bookings are separate from our study space bookings, so you won’t be taking a desk away from anyone who wants to study in the library. You can browse as long as you want in your chosen booking period (e.g. a Mon-Fri morning slot booking means you can use the library between 9.30am-2pm, an afternoon slot between 2pm-7pm), or if you prefer you can be in and out. 

How to borrow a book from the SSL

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Need to borrow a book from our Library?

If you have a study space booked, you can retrieve the book from our shelves and issue it via our self-issue machines.

Browse & Borrow

You can also enter our library to select and borrow books by opting to ‘Browse and Borrow’. To do this, choose the ‘Browse and Borrow only [NO DESK]’ option when booking your study space. This entitles you to browse our collection and borrow items via our Self Issue Machines but it doesn’t allow you to sit and study in the library. Some of the benefits of Browse & Borrow are as follows:

  • It’s potentially quicker to get hold of the books you need as library staff are fetching a large quantity of books per day for Click & Collect while Browse & Borrow means you can just book a slot on the day your essay is set and pick up whatever books you need straight away.
  • You don’t need to know exactly what books you are going to borrow ahead of time, so if you don’t have a set reading list to work from, Browse & Borrow may be better suited for your needs.
  • Remember that if you just need to collect some printing or do some photocopying in the library, you can also take advantage of booking a Browse & Borrow slot.

Click & Collect

Another alternative (if you know exactly what book you want) is to borrow a book/s via the Bodleian Libraries Click & Collect service.

For Click & Collect, place a request on SOLO for items which would usually be available to borrow. Library staff will fetch the items requested and, once the items are ready for collection, you will be emailed and invited to select a date and time to collect the items.

Here at the SSL, on the days we are open, our collection times for Click & Collect are:

Monday to Friday, 12pm – 4pm.

 

 

How to book a study space at the SSL

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Access to our library is strictly by advance booking only, to ensure the continued safety of our staff and readers.

To book a desk space, including desks with PCs and height-adjustable desks, please visit our bookings page, select the category of workspace you would like to use and make a booking for the date(s) you wish to visit the library.

Bookings can be made for the whole day on Saturday and Sunday and for the morning or afternoon on Monday to Friday (though you can book both a morning and afternoon slot on the same day if you wish).

For Michaelmas Term (Sunday 11 October onwards) you can choose to make bookings for the following times:

  • Sunday 11:00-19:00 (all day)
  • Monday – Friday 09:30-13:30 “morning” and 14:00-19:00 “afternoon”
  • Saturday 10:00-18:00 (all day)

If you wish to just come into the library to browse our shelves, you can choose the ‘Browse and Borrow only [NO DESK]’ option when booking your study space. This entitles you to browse our collection, borrow items via our Self Issue Machines and also use our photocopiers/printers but it doesn’t allow you to sit and study in the library.

If you know the exact title you need though and it is a borrowable item, you may prefer to use our Click & Collect service.

Please Note: Demand for desks in the Bodleian Libraries is very high and therefore you may need to check regularly for available slots. Slots are released each day due to cancellations and same day bookings can be made up to 8am each morning. Additional slots are released, 7 days in advance, between 7.30am – 9.30am each morning.

After submitting your request, you will receive a confirmation email containing important information on the new arrangements in place in our libraries. Please read this carefully.

When you arrive at the library, please show your University/Bodleian Readers card to a member of staff at the issue desk and they will confirm your booking and give you directions as to our study space usage.

Remember that if there is no space available on your day of choice, you could instead make a booking for a study space in another Bodleian Library. Use the Space Finder tool to see study space availability across all the Bodleian Libraries with one search.

If you are no longer able to attend, please cancel by emailing reader.services@bodleian.ox.ac.uk to free up availability for others.