This is something Sainsbury Library staff get asked a lot! So we’ve decided to make a quick guide to borrowing from the Sainsbury Library. First thing to remember is members of SBS can borrow books in the Sainsbury Library any time during the Park End Street building’s opening hours. Just tap in and out of the library with your SBS access card.

Find the book in SOLO

You can search for books in the library search tool SOLO. Enter keywords into the search bar, such as the title and author of a book. Filter in the pane on the left by library to see just Sainsbury Library items. Click the ‘Find & request’ button to see more information including an alphabetical list of the libraries that have a copy of the book. Click the arrow button to the right to see further details for each library. This book is available, as shown on the right.

Find the collection and shelfmark

To find the book on the shelf you will need two pieces of information, the collection and the shelfmark (sometimes called a call number). The collection here is Lower Reading Room. The Sainsbury Library has a few different collections: Lower Reading Room, Stack, Annexe and Careers.

The shelfmark here is HG4026 BER 2020. The Sainsbury Library uses the Library of Congress classification scheme to classify books by subject matter.

Find the book on the shelf

Lower Reading Room books are on the shelves on the first floor of the Park End Street building. Stack books are on the shelves on the second floor. Annexe and Careers collection books are in a separate room, ask library staff to fetch these for you.

Search for the shelfmark of the book you need. Books are arranged in an A-Z sequence within each collection, and there are posters by each set of shelves which show which shelfmarks are in each area. The Social Science Library has a guide to Library of Congress shelfmarks which can help you to understand the scheme.

Borrow the book

Once you have found the book, you can read it in the library or borrow it and take it home. Books can be borrowed and returned with library staff at the Enquiry Desk during staffed hours or using the self-issue kiosk next to the desk at other times. You will need your University/Bod card to do this (the one with the blue stripe across the top). Books are issued for a standard seven day loan and you will receive reminder emails the day before anything on your account is due back. Log in to your account on SOLO to renew items online, you will only be unable to renew if another reader has requested them.

Help

Library staff are here to help so if you get stuck and need a hand just ask!