The 1930s building of the Library, with its awe-inspiring vaulted timber ceiling, was complemented in 2005 by a multi-award-winning extension. This created a spacious IT resources area and a state-of-the-art repository to house the Archive and the Special Collections. These collections range from rare Sanskrit manuscripts to gifts of books from Girton’s most notable early supporters such as Tennyson, Ruskin, and George Eliot. There are extensive and internationally important collections on the history of women and work, the suffrage movement, and women’s education, as well as an extensive archive of the College’s ground-breaking history.
Library News
This weekend's opening hours:
| Friday, 22 April | 9:00am - 9:00pm |
| Saturday, 23 April | 9:00am - 11:00pm |
| Sunday, 24 April | 9:00am - 11:00pm |
| Monday, 25 April | 9:00am - 11:00pm |
Books and DVDs borrowed for the vacation are due back on Wednesday 27 April.
If planning a journey specifically to come to the Library, it would be worth contacting us in advance – tel. 01223 338970 or email library@girton.cam.ac.uk.
Library study rooms: booking required
| D33: Group Study Room (Hyphen corridor) Book at https://calendars.libraries.cam.ac.uk/calendar/girton Interactive white board Suitable for up to 2 people at a time. |
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| 8am-12noon | 1pm-5pm | 6pm-10pm | 11pm-6am | |||
| D34: Group Study Room (Hyphen corridor) Book at https://calendars.libraries.cam.ac.uk/calendar/girton Small general book collection Suitable for up to 3 people at a time. |
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| 9am-1pm | 2pm-6pm | 7pm-11pm | 12midnight-6am | |||
| D35: Group Study Room (Hyphen corridor) Book at https://calendars.libraries.cam.ac.uk/calendar/girton Interactive white board Suitable for up to 2 people at a time. |
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| 10am-2pm | 3pm-7pm | 8pm-12midnight | 1am-6am | |||
| Top Chapel Study Room Book at https://calendars.libraries.cam.ac.uk/reserve/Girton-TopChapel Quiet study room with 5 spaces to book separately |
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| 9am-2pm | 3pm-7pm | 8pm-12midnight | ||||
Please note:
- If you wish to check whether a study room is available for use, please look at the booking software. Popping your head round the door to see if the room is empty is very disturbing for the person already using it!
- Each room has slightly different opening hours. Please pick the one that suits your needs and use the confirmation emails to remind yourself of which one you've booked. If you're not sure what you've booked, please email library@girton.cam.ac.uk.
- The group study rooms on Hyphen corridor are not guaranteed to be quiet; you may be able to hear voices from the other rooms, from the corridor or from Campbell Court. If you need somewhere quiet for a video interview, for example, you are recommended to contact the Conference Office:conferences@girton.cam.ac.uk.
- We are gradually installing CO2 monitors in these rooms. Please follow the instructions if the monitors turn amber or red, and open more windows to increase the ventilation.
Easter Vacation 2022 opening hours for the Library
| Monday 21 – Friday 25 March | 9am – 9pm **Longer hours** |
| Saturday 26 – Sunday 27 March | Closed |
| Monday 28 March – Friday 1 April | 9am – 5pm |
| Saturday 2 – Sunday 3 April | Closed |
| Monday 4 – Friday 8 April | 9am – 5pm |
| Saturday 9 – Sunday 10 April | Closed |
| Monday 11 – Thursday 14 April | 9am – 9pm **Longer hours* |
| Friday 15 – Monday 18 April (Easter weekend) |
Closed |
| Tuesday 19 – Friday 22 April | 9am – 9pm **Longer hours** |
| Saturday 23 – Sunday 24 April | 9am – 11pm |
If planning a journey specifically to come to the Library, it would be worth contacting us in advance – tel. 01223 338970 or email library@girton.cam.ac.uk.
Books and DVDs borrowed for the vacation will be due back on Wednesday 27 April.
Library study rooms: booking required
| D33: Group Study Room (Hyphen corridor) Book at https://calendars.libraries.cam.ac.uk/calendar/girton Interactive white board Suitable for up to 2 people at a time. |
||||||
| 8am-12noon | 1pm-5pm | 6pm-10pm | 11pm-6am | |||
| D34: Group Study Room (Hyphen corridor) Book at https://calendars.libraries.cam.ac.uk/calendar/girton Small general book collection Suitable for up to 3 people at a time. |
||||||
| 9am-1pm | 2pm-6pm | 7pm-11pm | 12midnight-6am | |||
| D35: Group Study Room (Hyphen corridor) Book at https://calendars.libraries.cam.ac.uk/calendar/girton Interactive white board Suitable for up to 2 people at a time. |
||||||
| 10am-2pm | 3pm-7pm | 8pm-12midnight | 1am-6am | |||
| Top Chapel Study Room Book at https://calendars.libraries.cam.ac.uk/reserve/Girton-TopChapel Quiet study room with 5 spaces to book separately |
||||||
| 9am-2pm | 3pm-7pm | 8pm-12midnight | ||||
Please note:
- If you wish to check whether a study room is available for use, please look at the booking software. Popping your head round the door to see if the room is empty is very disturbing for the person already using it!
- Each room has slightly different opening hours. Please pick the one that suits your needs and use the confirmation emails to remind yourself of which one you've booked. If you're not sure what you've booked, please email library@girton.cam.ac.uk.
- The group study rooms on Hyphen corridor are not guaranteed to be quiet; you may be able to hear voices from the other rooms, from the corridor or from Campbell Court. If you need somewhere quiet for a video interview, for example, you are recommended to contact the Conference Office:conferences@girton.cam.ac.uk.
- We are gradually installing CO2 monitors in these rooms. Please follow the instructions if the monitors turn amber or red, and open more windows to increase the ventilation.
Changes to opening times for the Library from Monday 21 March 2022
Library
As part of the on-going assessment, we would like to explore what happens to our ventilation if we don't close for an hour at lunchtime and in the early evening, starting Monday 21 March. We shall also stop using the online booking system on the same day, i.e. you will be able to enter the Library at any time that we are open without booking.
Our Easter vacation opening hours will therefore be:-
- Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March: 9am to 12.30pm; 1.30pm to 5pm; 6pm to 11pm
- Monday 21 to Friday 25 March: 9am to 9pm
- Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 March: closed
- Monday 28 March to Friday 1 April: 9am to 5pm
- Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 April: closed
- Monday 4 to Friday 8 April: 9am to 5pm
- Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April: closed
- Monday 11 to Thursday 14 April: 9am to 9pm
- Friday 15 to Monday 18 April: closed (Easter weekend)
- Tuesday 19 April to Friday 22 April: 9am to 9pm
- Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 April: 9am to 11pm
We are grateful to the postgraduate students who work as Graduate Library Supervisors for enabling us to stay open until 9pm for three out of the five weeks of the Easter vacation.
We will be continuing to check CO2 monitors and Library usage so please don't be surprised if you see us wandering around with a clipboard. We shall do our best not to disturb you if we need to open more windows.
We strongly encourage you to continue wearing face-coverings in the Library, as in other communal spaces within College. If you are sharing a table with others, please check that everyone at the table is happy to remove face-coverings.
If you are unable to come to the Library to borrow books or DVDs (e.g. because you are in self-isolation), you are still welcome to use our https://girtoncollege.wufoo.com/forms/click-collect-request/">click & collect service.
Study rooms
Even pre-pandemic, the Library's study rooms used a booking system and this will continue: you can book to use one of the group study rooms on Hyphen corridor or book a seat for quiet study in Top Chapel Study Room.
Please note:-
- If you wish to check whether a study room is available for use, please look at the booking software. Popping your head round the door to see if the room is empty is very disturbing for the person already using it!
- Each room has slightly different opening hours. Please pick the one that suits your needs and use the confirmation emails to remind yourself of which one you've booked. If you're not sure what you've booked, please email library@girton.cam.ac.uk and we can check for you.
conferences@girton.cam.ac.uk.
We are gradually installing CO2 monitors in these rooms. Please follow the instructions if the monitors turn amber or red, and open more windows to increase the ventilation.
If you have any queries about the Library or its study rooms, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Wednesday 9 March 2022: Girton College Library End of Lent Term and Vacation arrangements.
All items on loan from Girton College Library are due to be returned by 11pm on Monday 14 March, except:
- If we have already agreed a later date with you.
- If you have a supervision or work due later that week — if you are, please email library@girton.cam.ac.uk as soon as possible to agree a new date with us for the return of your loans.
- If you are in self-isolation or quarantine — if you are, please tell us as soon as possible by emailing library@girton.cam.ac.uk.
- If you are a member of staff or Fellow — if you are, we will be in touch separately.
There will be no borrowing via "click & collect" between Friday 11 March and Wednesday 16 March (until 1.30pm). Any online forms submitted between these dates will be disregarded. Please, email library@girton.cam.ac.uk to make a special arrangement. You can continue to borrow in the Library between these dates.
Vacation borrowing starts from 1:30pm on Wednesday 16 March.
You may borrow up to 10 items for the vacation. No vacation borrowing is permitted until all term loans have been returned.
From 1:30pm on Wednesday 16 March 2022 you can borrow via "click & collect".
From 1:30pm on Wednesday 16 March, you can borrow in-person in the Library. Please book a seat or a browsing session in the usual way.
Please note that there is no borrowing from the study rooms.
Anything borrowed for or during the vacation will due back by 11pm on Wednesday 27 April 2022.
Library’s Vacation opening hours:
Library opening hours will be 9am to 9pm, weekdays only (closed weekends) for the first week and the last two weeks of the vacation (Monday 21st March – Friday 25th March; Monday 11th April – Thursday 14th April; Tuesday 19th April – Friday 22nd April).
For the remaining weeks of the vacation, opening hours will be 9am-5pm, weekdays only.
Full Term opening hours begin again the weekend before the Easter Full Term (23-24 April).
Hyphen study rooms (D33, D34, D35):
Study rooms opening hours are as follows:
|
D33 |
D34 |
D35 |
|
8am–12noon |
9am–1pm |
10am–2pm |
|
1pm–5pm |
2pm–6pm |
3pm–7pm |
|
6pm–10pm |
7pm–11pm |
8pm–12midnight |
|
11pm–6am |
12midnight–6am |
1am–6am |
Current members of College should book to use the study rooms during these timed sessions.
We also strongly encourage you to continue wearing face-coverings in the Library, as in other communal spaces within College. If you are sharing a table with others, please check that everyone at the table is happy to remove face-coverings.
Thank you.
Tuesday 18 May 2021
We are please to announce that researchers can now make appointments to use Girton College Archive: please see the full information at https://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/about-girton/library-archive/archive-special-collections#archive-re-opening.
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