The aim of the Education Library is to provide the Faculty with an up-to-date collection of material which reflects and supports the current teaching and research needs of both academic staff and students.
The Library Team acquire both print books and ebooks on education and subjects such as psychology, philosophy, counselling and sociology that relate in particular to education. Textbooks, artefacts and resource material for use in primary and secondary schools are purchased for the PGCE courses and there is also a collection of children’s fiction (see the Children's Literature Collections at Cambridge Guide for further details). Other specialist material includes a small physical archive containing a selection of materials relating to Education and the history of the Faculty, a National Curriculum Archive and a psychological test collection for use by Education Faculty academic and research staff, Doctoral & MPhil students of the Faculty.
The majority of Education students study at a distance via blended learning or are undertaking part-time courses and there are relatively small numbers of full-time students. This is taken into account when making purchasing decisions as most students are not able to access the print resources available at the University Library or elsewhere in Cambridge. Consequently, material in ebook format is often the preferred medium particularly when needed by those students who do not regularly attend the Faculty for teaching sessions.
The Education Ebooks Collection is a unique resource developed specifically for Education staff and students. It provides access to thousands of ebook titles, covering all areas of Education and related disciplines and is carefully curated by the Education Library Team. Subjects can be 'browsed' in the same way that you can browse the physical shelves in the Education Library. Large subject sections are divided into manageable subsections making it even easier to find the material you need. Links enable you to access the full text via iDiscover.
The Education Ebooks Collection is available via the Library Moodle Site to current Education staff and students.
The Education Library is home to several special collections which support the teaching and research needs of the Faculty:
Teaching Resources & Artefacts | A large collection which supports both the Primary and Secondary PGCE courses. From Roman helmets and rings to multicultural musical instruments, the collection includes a variety of resources covering many areas of the curriculum. |
Children's Fiction Collection | A teaching/demand led collection of approximately 1,700 items which supports students on the Undergraduate, PGCE, Masters and PhD courses. It includes fiction, short-stories, fairy tales, poetry and comics covering a wide age-range from picturebooks to young adult fiction. The collection is complemented by a large number of critical texts covering all aspects of children's literature. |
Psychological Test Collection | Includes a range of tests purchased in liaison with Faculty Academic staff to support the Undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral courses as well as Faculty research. Access is restricted to Education Staff & Students. |
Education Archive | Includes a selection of materials relating to Education and the history of the Faculty as well as publications written by current and former Faculty academics. |
National Curriculum Archive | Includes the official documentation from the initial creation of the National Curriculum in 1988 through the revisions and changes of the National Curriculum Council to the Department for Education and Skills. |
Reading Schemes | This collection, used by Faculty Academic Staff in teaching sessions, features a selection of books from the 1960s to the 1990s, including titles from reading schemes such as Ladybird, Oxford Reading Tree and Storychest. |
Professor Madeleine Arnot's Gender Collection | Collection of material on gender donated by Emeritus Professor in Sociology of Education, Madeleine Arnot. More details about Madeleine's work can be found here. |
We welcome recommendations for new material from current Education staff and students - just click on the Suggest a Purchase icon on the Library Moodle Site.
There are other Libraries in Cambridge that may hold relevant material. These include:
SPS (housed in the Seeley Library)