Library tour

Welcome to the Library

We are open 7 days a week, offering:

Extensive online and print collections
A wide variety of individual and collaborative learning spaces
More than 1,600 study spaces, 400 computers and loanable laptops
A range of tailored support to ensure that all our users get the most out of their learning and research journeys
Access to all your essential reading via our online reading lists and personal digital textbook scheme
Accessible and inclusive study spaces and services such as the Family Study Room and Assistive Technology Suite.

Library Tour

Library Entrance, Exit and Welcome desk

Enter by the Library Welcome Desk, our team will help you with any enquiries you may have!

Level 1

Opposite the Library Welcome Desk, you’ll find our Self Service machines for borrowing/returning books, as well as our Library floorplan and subject guide board. To your left beyond this area are our Level 1 Group Study Rooms, offering collaborative study facilities. To the right is our large Level 1 Silent Study area.

Wellbeing and Reading for Leisure

Continue into the Library and on your left, you’ll find our Wellbeing Corner, with our Reading for Leisure Collection and Jigsaw Table.

Learning Development Zone

Our Learning Development Zone is where the Academic Skills and Development, Maths & Statistics, and Disability & Neuroinclusion teams are located. They provide advice and guidance to students, enhancing academic, personal, and professional skills.

Level 3

Take the Green Lift or Green Stairwell to Level 3. This is an example of our Individual Study Zone and a Silent Study Zone. Here students can work solo in quieter or silent environments.

Level 4

Continue to Level 4 via the Green Stairwell and you can explore our Group Study areas, where larger groups can work and collaborate.

Archives and Special Collections

Finally, if you go down the Green Stairwell/Lift to the Ground Floor, you can explore the Archives and Special Collections.

Wellbeing and the Library

The Library provides a relaxation area on level 1 to facilitate student wellbeing. Furnished with comfy chairs and lovely big plants in bright, colourful pots, take a look at our leisure and wellbeing reading collection, or have a go at the jigsaw in Jigsaw Corner. Jigsaws from 40 pieces to 5000 pieces can be borrowed along with coloured pencils for mindful colouring.

Origami

We run origami sessions to make seasonal items throughout the year.

Student reading Shakespeare in the library

Reading for leisure

Our SurreyReads collection is home to a broad range of genres, including contemporary bestselling fiction, biography and memoirs, award winning black, LGBT+ and female authors, fiction in translation, wellbeing, health and lifestyle and mindfulness books. Many of the books included in this collection have been chosen by students involved in the Student Curator projects, whose themes centre on diversity, inclusion and liberating the library.

three women from behind doing a jigsaw puzzle

Jigsaw Corner

Why not have a go at a jigsaw in Jigsaw Corner? There is always a puzzle on the table, and we also have jigsaw puzzles for you to borrow.

Three painted pebbles, one with a sunflower, one with multicoloured flowers, and one with a frog with googly eyes and a top hat

Other Wellbeing activities

We run lots of other Wellbeing activities throughout the year, including mindful colouring, pebble painting, and seasonal activities.

Visit the Archives and Special Collections on the Ground Floor

Our collections include the University’s institutional archive, the collections of the National Resource Centre for Dance, several collections related to renowned illustrator E H Shepard (Winnie-the-Pooh and The Wind in the Willows) and a range of other subject-specific collections.

University Archives

The University of Surrey Archive is the institutional archive of the University. It includes records on the planning and development of the University from its foundation in 1966, as well as more contemporary records on the expansion of the original site.

National Resource Centre for Dance Archives

The Resource Centre aims to provide support for dance education and research, firstly through archive collections like the below list and secondly, through training courses and resources which you can find more about on the National Resource Centre for Dance site.

Find out more about our services

Learning Support Services

Academic Skills and Development

Maths and Statistics Advice

Disability and Neuroinclusion