Regardless of your subject, as a University of Cambridge student you will find the resources that you need to complete your course and explore your research topic as well as support, encouragement and guidance from library staff.

There are over a hundred libraries in Cambridge, which normally fall into one of three types:

(1) The University Library (or the UL): an enormous, extraordinary research resource, with reading rooms, study space, extensive special collections, assistive technologies, and more. In case you arrive there unawares, you will likely need to put bags in a locker before you go into the UL and some reading rooms (Special Collections) you can only use a pencil for writing. The main Read Room is beautiful and worth trying out for quiet focused study time.

(2) Subject libraries: often known as faculty or departmental libraries, these are located within faculties or departments, and tend to relate to a specific subject or set of subjects. They are mostly focused around providing resources and support tailored to what people in your subject need. You can register at, and use, nearly all the subject libraries.

Library Clusters: there are different clusters of libraries on the Downing Site (or close by), Sidgwick Site and the UL), and West Cambridge. There are also lovely outliers to the ones mentioned. All our libraries can be found on Spacefinder or details via our Library Directory.

(3) College libraries: if you're a member of a college, you'll have access to its library. College libraries may not have all the resources you need for your course, but they often have extensive opening hours, lots of study space, and take great pride in their welcoming, inclusive atmospheres.

Cambridge University Libraries are always open online.

With your Raven login and using iDiscover you can access more than 800,000 e-books, 120,000 e-journal titles and 400 databases. In addition, the Cambridge Digital Library has more than 500,000 images of more than 35,000 objects from our world-class collections freely available to everyone.

Lots more information about our services are available on the University Library website and if you have questions you can email library@lib.cam.ac.uk.

Libraries across Cambridge contribute to a series of online resources to help you find what you are looking for. Cambridge LibGuides are available for different libraries, different subject areas, types of resource (such as e-books, newspapers, or official publications such as parliamentary papers), and skills such as reference management. In addition, many college libraries have dedicated pages on college websites.