Certificate of Higher Education and Extra-Mural award students
Joining the Library
To join the Library, when applying to enrol on your course include a passport sized photograph; or you can upload a jpeg to your MyBirkbeck profile. Your Birkbeck ID is your Library card. Your card will be posted out to you and will be valid at least one week before your course begins.
The College Library is located at Malet Street, entrance via Torrington Square. The Library's holdings can be borrowed from at least 7 days before your course begins to the end of your course.
Duration of access to the Library
How long you have access to the Library and IT Services facilities will depend on the total number of CATS the courses you are enrolled on comes to:
- If the courses you are studying total is less than 60 CATS then access to the Library will be to the end date of your course + 28 days.
- If the courses you are studying total is equal or greater than 60 CATS then access to the Library will be to the end of the academic year (end of September).
Entitlements for Certificate of Higher Education and Extra-Mural awards students
This entitles you to the following facilities and services:
- You can have up to 10 books on loan at any one time. 3 week and 1 week loans can be renewed if another reader has not reserved them. 1 day loans cannot be renewed. Click to find out How to renew.
- Your ITS username and password are also used for accessing e-resources - once activated you can access electronic resources off campus - and to use the PCs and electronic resources on campus whilst in the college Library and ITS workstation rooms.
- SCONUL Access scheme entitles registered Birkbeck Library users to join libraries for borrowing or for reference - Certificate of Higher Education and students completing extra-mural awards that is equal or greater than 60 CATS are eligible to join this scheme. See the link on the left entitled "Using Other Libraries" for further information
- Consult the Reading Room Collection
- Inter Library Loans: a £1 charge will be made for each satisfied Inter Library Loan request.
Please help us by:
- bringing your College ID card with you. It is needed to activate the turnstile at the entrance and for borrowing books.
- turning off your mobile phone - we get more complaints about this than anything else!
LIFE (Library Induction For Everyone)
An online tutorial that tells you about library services including the catalogue.
Who to contact
Get to know who your subject librarian is - this is the person to contact if you find all your classmates are after the same book and the library only has one copy! Click on the Contacts tab at the top of the page.
