Libraries of the University of Cambridge


There are over 100 libraries within the University of Cambridge. These include Cambridge University Library, the main university library, affiliated libraries, departmental and faculty libraries, college libraries, and various other specialist libraries associated with the university. Across all libraries, the university houses approximately 16 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 faculty/departmental libraries

There are sixty three faculty and departmental libraries associated with the main University Library, for the purpose of central governance and administration. This group is 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 of Economics
  • Medical Library
  • Mill Lane Library
  • Moore Library
  • Pendlebury Library of Music
  • Casimir Lewy Library
  • Seeley Historical Library
  • South Asian Studies
  • Squire Law Library
  • Whipple Library
  • Classics
  • Divinity
  • Modern & Medieval Languages Library

    • Departmental and faculty libraries


  • Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics Library
  • Astronomy Library
  • Balfour and Newton Libraries

    • Bullard Laboratories Library

    • Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography
  • Careers Service Library
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemistry Library
  • Colman Library

  • Cory Library

  • Earth Sciences Library
  • Engineering Library
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Fitzwilliam Museum
  • Department of Coins and Medals

    • Department of Manuscripts and Printed Books

    • Genetics Library
  • Geography Library
  • Hamilton Kerr Institute
  • Herbarium Library

  • History of Population and Social Structure
  • Institute of Continuing Education
  • Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Superconductivity
  • Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences
  • John Trim Centre

  • Kanthack and Nuttall Library

  • Lauterpacht Centre for International Law - Old Library
  • Lauterpacht Centre for International Law - Finley Library
  • Materials Science Library
  • Physiology Development and Neuroscience Library
  • Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics Library
  • Rayleigh Library

  • 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 Library

    • Clare College
  • Clare Hall
  • Corpus Christi College Parker Library

    • Darwin College Library
  • Downing College
  • Emmanuel College Library
  • Fitzwilliam College
  • Girton College Library
  • Gonville and Caius College Library

    • Homerton College Library
  • Hughes Hall Library
  • Jesus College Quincentenary Library

  • Lucy Cavendish College Library
  • Magdalene College Library

  • Newnham College Library
  • Pembroke College Library
  • Peterhouse

    • Queens' College

    • Robinson College Library
  • Selwyn College Library
  • Sidney Sussex College
  • St Catharine's College
  • St Edmund's College Library
  • St John's College Old Library


    • Trinity Hall Old Library

    • Wolfson College

    Other libraries associated with the university