Library Services
Cranfield University Library Services aims to provide all customers with a quality service and experience which meets, if not exceeds, expectations. We also promise to treat customers openly, fairly and with empathy for the individual situation.
The Library Regulations apply to all customers.
Both libraries are open to all University staff and students.
Partners of students are also welcome to borrow items from Kings Norton Library's leisure (fiction) collection and will be issued with their own library card. Please contact us for more details if you are interested in this.
Students from other universities (using the SCONUL Access Scheme) and members of the public are also welcome to visit by appointment during core hours.
Cranfield Defence and Security staff and students are automatically entitled to use the Barrington Library. Membership and access is also available upon request and by appointment only for Cranfield University staff and students, JSCSC members, MoD and serving UK service personnel, and the general public.
Please see our Information for visitors page for full details of who is eligible to use our libraries.
On the Cranfield campus, your University ID card is also your Library card. At Barrington Library, you will be issued with a Library membership card.
Library cards may not be lent to or used by another person. Loss of a card must be reported immediately.
Customers may borrow all library material, except items for reference use only. The number of items you can borrow will vary depending on your status. Please respect the loan period of any item you borrow and show consideration for other users by returning it by the due date.
Interlibrary loans (items obtained for borrowers from another library) are subject to the conditions and loan period imposed by the lending library. They must be returned to us before the due date or you will risk being invoiced for the cost from the lending library.
Any item you borrow (except interlibrary loans) can be renewed unless it is required by another customer.
You are responsible for the items you borrow. If they become damaged or lost while they are on loan to you, you may be invoiced or required to provide a replacement. You must return all items to us before the end of your course, contract or posting.
You must not borrow stock on behalf of others or lend an item to another person while it is on loan to you.
Access to, and use of, the Library Reports Section at Barrington Library is governed by regulations issued by the Defence Academy.
Please comply with any request from library staff while you are in our buildings.
Work in the area of the library that most suits your needs and with consideration for other users. If you create noise and disturb others we may ask you to be quiet, or to move to a more appropriate area of the building.
Hot food is not allowed. You are welcome to bring cold food, and hot and cold drinks, but please be careful with them and use the waste bins provided.
Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome, but otherwise animals are not allowed.
Children under the age of 12 are not permitted in our libraries.
Do not leave computers unattended in ‘locked’ mode for longer than 15 minutes.
Smoking and vaping are not allowed anywhere in our buildings, or outside within three metres of the doors.
Copyright law must be observed in all copying of library material and in all copying carried out in the libraries, whether by reprographic or any other means. Current copyright licensing rules are displayed next to the library photocopiers.
Use of information technology facilities within the Library is governed by the University conditions of use (and also that of the Defence Academy at Barrington Library). Please read the University’s IT Users’ Policy.
You must also comply with our conditions of use when you use any of the online resources to which we subscribe: Our online resources: Conditions of use
Access to individual online resources will be based upon type of membership, e.g. some customers are only eligible for walk-in access.
Barrington Library only:
The Defence Academy documents ‘Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for IT and Telephones’ and User security operating procedures (SyOps) for workstations connected to the network’ are both available on the DAIS.
For security reasons, the use of USB sticks is strictly prohibited on site.
Use of personal IT equipment is permitted but power supplies must have been PAT tested on site. Customers may have this done during normal working hours via the Cranfield University Workshops.
All visitors to our libraries have a personal responsibility to be aware of evacuation procedures, but in the event of an emergency (or evacuation practice) library staff will ensure you are directed from the building to the appropriate Evacuation Assembly Point. Please comply with their instructions.
If there is an accident or incident in one of our libraries, please report it to a member of the library staff. If an accident occurs in the Kings Norton Library outside core hours and staff are not on site, please call Security (2222) on the Welcome Desk telephone.
Do not leave personal possessions, such as bags or mobile devices, unattended. They are your responsibility and we have the right to remove them if we think they pose security threat or they are preventing someone else from using a study space. Any lost property will be disposed of after three months.
We hope all our customers will be satisfied with the service they receive from us. However, if this is not the case we want you to tell us. Please read our suggestions, comments and complaints policy.
The University Librarian has authority to prescribe, to alter and amend as necessary, specific regulations concerning the circulation of books and the use of the Library.