Libraries of the University of Cambridge


There are 116 libraries within the University of Cambridge. These include the main University Library, twenty-one affiliated libraries, departmental and faculty Libraries, College Libraries, and various other specialist libraries associated with the University. Across all libraries, the University houses approximately 15 million books.

University Library

, referred to within the University as "the University Library" or just "", is the central research library. It holds around 8 million items and, in contrast with the Bodleian or the British Library, many of its books are available on open shelves. It is one of the six legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom, and is therefore entitled to request a free copy of every book published in the UK and Ireland. Through legal deposit, purchases and donations it receives around 100,000 books every year.

Affiliated Libraries

There are twenty-one affiliate libraries associated with the main University Library, for the purpose of central governance and administration. The affiliated libraries are a growing network, with a remit to "maximise efficiency while catering to the diverse range of user needs."

  • African Studies
  • Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
  • Art and Architecture
  • Criminology Library
  • Education
  • English
  • Haddon Library
  • Marshall Library
  • Medical Library
  • Mill Lane Library
  • Moore Library
  • Pendlebury Library of Music
  • Casimir Lewy Library
  • Seeley Historical Library
  • Social and Political Sciences
  • South Asian Studies
  • Squire Law Library
  • Whipple Library
  • Classics
  • Divinity
  • Modern & Medieval Languages Library

    • Departmental and Faculty Libraries


  • Applied Economics Department Library
  • Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics Library
  • Astronomy Library
  • Balfour and Newton
  • Bullard Laboratories Library
  • Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography
  • CUCAP
  • Careers Service Library
  • Centre for International Law
  • Centre of International Studies
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemistry Library
  • Colman Library
  • Computer Laboratory
  • Cory Library
  • Department of Psychology Library
  • Development Studies
  • Earth Sciences
  • Engineering Library
  • English Faculty Library
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Fitzwilliam Museum
  • Fitzwilliam Museum: Department of Coins and Medals
  • Fitzwilliam Museum: Department of Manuscripts and Printed Books
  • Genetics Library
  • Geography Library
  • Hamilton Kerr Institute
  • Herbarium Library
  • History and Philosophy of Science
  • History of Population and Social Structure
  • Institute of Continuing Education
  • Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Superconductivity
  • Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences
  • Judge Business School Information Centre
  • Kanthack and Nuttall
  • Land Economy
  • Language Centre
  • Latin American Studies Centre
  • Lauterpacht Research Centre
  • Materials Science Library
  • Oriental Studies
  • Physiology Development and Neuroscience Library
  • Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics Library
  • Rayleigh Library
  • Scott Polar
  • Social Anthropology Library
  • UCLES Library
  • Veterinary Anatomy Library
  • Veterinary Medicine

    • College Libraries

    There is at least one library in every college within the University. All Colleges have a working library, generally to support undergraduate teaching. Material in the College libraries will typically cover all Tripos subjects. Many of the Colleges also have special collections such as early printed books and manuscripts, and are often kept in a separate library. For example, Trinity College's Wren Library holds more than 200,000 books printed before 1800, while the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, has one of the greatest early medieval European manuscript collections in the world, with over 600 manuscripts.

    • Christ's College
  • Churchill College
  • Clare College
  • Clare Hall
  • Corpus Christi College
  • Darwin College
  • Downing College
  • Emmanuel College
  • Fitzwilliam College
  • Girton College
  • Gonville & Caius College
  • Homerton College
  • Hughes Hall
  • Jesus College
  • King's College
  • Lucy Cavendish College
  • Magdalene College
  • Murray Edwards College
  • Newnham College
  • Pembroke College
  • Peterhouse
  • Queens' College
  • Robinson College
  • Selwyn College
  • Sidney Sussex College
  • St Catharine's College
  • St Edmund's College
  • St John's College
  • Trinity College
  • Trinity Hall
  • Wolfson College

    • Other Libraries associated with the University