Using the Continuing Education Library

Admission

  • All University card holders may use this library. Learn more about borrowing rights at this library
  • If you are on an award-bearing course run by the Department for Continuing Education, you will receive a University card which also serves as your library card. Bring your card to the library desk to register with the library.
  • If you are enrolled on a short course run by the Department of Continuing Education (including weekly class, WOW and short online courses) and wish to borrow items from the library, please apply in person at the library desk.
  • If your course is taught at Ewert House in Oxford, and you wish to use the computers in the Student Resource Room but are unable to visit the library (located at Rewley House), please contact library staff by email or telephone for login details.
  • For former Department of Continuing Education students, we offer a subscription membership costing £30 for one year, £20 for six months or £10 for 3 months.
  • Friends of Oxford Lifelong Learning are entitled to library membership for the reduced fee of £10 per year.

Rules and regulations

The Bodleian Libraries Regulations and Rules of Conduct apply in this library. We would particularly like to draw your attention to the following:

  • Eating, drinking (except for bottled water or drinks in KeepCups) or smoking are not allowed in the library.  
  • Do not hold long conversations or use mobile phones in, or near, the library and Reading Room, as this will disturb other users.  
  • Do not leave bags, laptops, mobile phones and other valuable items unattended in the library or Reading Room. The library is not responsible for items left unattended.  
  • When seating in the Reading Room is limited, priority will usually be given to students of the Department for Continuing Education.
  • If you wish to leave books in the Reading Room (for up to 3 days) please fill in a ‘Please Leave’ slip for each item. If books are not already issued to you, library staff reserve the right to remove such items if required by other readers.

General information

  • Although we try to keep noise to a minimum, due to the nature of the library it is difficult to provide a silent study environment.
  • You are welcome to use laptops and mobile devices in the library.
  • The main study area is the Reading Room, next to the main library desk area. It has 16 seats around 2 large tables and has power points and Wi-Fi. The Reading Room is open 7 days a week, from around 8am – 10pm. The lower floor of the library has additional bench seating equipped with power points and Wi-Fi.
  • There is a ‘Quick Search’ terminal on each floor. These are not full PCs but can be used to search SOLO, the Oxford libraries catalogue.

Layout and classification

The library is classified using the Dewey Decimal System. For help finding books within the library, view the library floorplan (PDF) or browse the list of shelfmarks (PDF).

More information about the library’s holdings.

When checking an item’s call number on SOLO, note down any suffixes (e.g. ‘Pamphlet’), as these items are kept in specific places.