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
Christmas vacation arrangements for 2022–2023
Borrowing from the Library
Current students may borrow up to 10 Items for the vacation. Anything borrowed from now on will be due back by Wednesday 18 January 2023 unless recalled before the end of Michaelmas Term. Reservations/recalls/requests will be turned off on 29 November, so that no loans can be recalled during the vacation. Our "click & collect" service will remain in place until Friday 16 December.
Opening hours for the Library
The Library will be open its usual Full Term hours (9am–11pm) until Sunday 4 December. Thereafter, opening hours for current members of the College will be:
Monday to Friday only
9am–5pm, with an hour closed for lunch.
However, it may also be necessary to close for short periods, depending on staff availability. If planning a journey specifically to use the Library, it would be worth contacting us in advance — tel. 01223 338970 or email library@girton.cam.ac.uk.
*** The Library will CLOSE for the holiday period at 5pm on Wednesday 21 December and will reopen at 9am on Wednesday 4 January 2023. ***
Full Term opening begins again the weekend before Lent Full Term (14 – 15 January 2023).
Please note: anyone who is not a current member of College is asked to make an appointment before visiting.
Opening hours for the study rooms
The group study rooms on Hyphen corridor will remain available for booking until 6am Wednesday 21 December but will then be closed. They will re-open from 10am on Tuesday 3 January 2023.
Seats in Middle Chapel Study Room and Top Chapel Study Room will remain available for booking until 8pm on Tuesday 20 December but the rooms will then be closed. They will re-open at 10am on Tuesday 3 January 2023.
Other nearby libraries
The Moore Library will be closed from 24 December 2022 to 2 January 2023 inclusive. Its opening hours during the vacation will be 9am–5pm on weekdays and 9am–1pm on Saturdays.
The West Hub Library will be closed from 24 December 2022 to 2 January 2023 inclusive.
Changes to borrowing from Girton College Library for students
From Monday 3 October 2022, Girton College Library is implementing changes to its borrowing policies that bring us more into line with other colleges.
These are the key points for students to note:
- You may borrow up to 10 items at a time.
- The standard loan period is up to 14 days, although this will be extended in vacations to cover the whole of the vacation.
- If you have an SSD (or have declared a disability but are waiting for the paperwork) with a recommendation for longer loans, you can borrow items for up to 28 days. You can also discuss with your Tutor if you feel you would benefit from borrowing more than 10 items at a time.
- You may renew your loans up to 3 times. However, if someone else is waiting for an item you have on loan or it is already overdue, you will not be allowed to renew it. Please return it to the Library as soon as possible.
- If someone else has an item on loan that you need, please RESERVE it. (In other libraries, this might be called a request or a recall.) That person will be asked to return the item within 4 days (in Full Term) or at the end of the vacation (outside of Full Term). They will not be told who you are but they will be told that someone is waiting for that item.
- If someone else reserves an item that you have on loan, you will be asked to return it within 4 days in term time. You will not be asked to return items during a vacation.
- If you receive a message from us asking you to return an item to the Library for any reason, please do so! If you can’t, please contact us as soon as possible. You will not be asked to return items during the vacation.
As a trial for 2022–23, the bulk of libraries across the collegiate University have agreed not to charge fines for the late return of loans. However, if we find that people do not return their loans without the threat of a financial penalty, we will need to go back to charging fines for late returns.
If you have any queries, please get in touch with us. You will also receive emails from us when it is time to return or renew your loans.
Thank you.
Michaelmas Term 2022
Library opening hours for current members of College
Daily
9am – 11pm
Please note: anyone who is not a current member of College is asked to make an appointment before visiting.
Study rooms on Hyphen corridor (D33, D34 and D35)
- Room D33 is a group study room with an interactive white board. It can seat 2–4 people.
- Room D34 is a group study room with a small general book collection. It can seat up to 6 people.
- Room D35 is a group study room with an interactive white board. It can seat 2–4 people.
The group study rooms all need to be booked prior to use. Please note that when you place a booking, you are booking the whole room.
We have installed CO2 monitors in these rooms. Please follow the instructions if the monitors turn amber or red, and open more windows to increase the ventilation
Study rooms on Chapel Wing (Middle Chapel Study Room and Top Chapel Study Room)
- There are four seats available: two in the study room on the middle floor of Chapel Wing and two in the study room on the top floor. Please note which room you are booking for, as well as the times you have booked!
- You may book for a maximum of two consecutive sessions. You do not need to vacate for the 15 minutes between the two sessions.
- Within each room, whoever arrives first can pick which seat they want.
- You are encouraged to wipe down all shared equipment before and after use.
- At the end of your booked session, please open the window so that the room can ventilate before the next session.
- As Chapel Wing is a residential corridor, these rooms are not available for use between midnight and 8.15am.
Seats in the Chapel Wing study rooms all need to be booked prior to use. Please note that when you place a booking, you are booking one seat.
If you're not sure what you've booked, please email library@girton.cam.ac.uk and we can check for you.
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