Library Regulations

These regulations are listed in section 14 of the booklet "Information and regulations for Junior Members" (the Blue Book), and represent the official statement on the rules of the library.

Throughout these regulations, the term Junior Member refers both to undergraduate and graduate students. The term undergraduate includes those graduates of other universities who are studying for an undergraduate degree.

1. You must not bring friends into the Library, which is reserved for members of the House and for visiting scholars. Members must identify themselves to a member of staff if requested to do so. You may find it useful to carry your University Card for this purpose.

2. You may take up to four guests to visit the Upper Library on Fridays from 2 to 4.30 p.m. in weeks 1 to 7, on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and at most other times on weekdays by prior arrangement. Before going up you should report to the desk. Anyone interested in the Library's collections of early printed books and manuscripts should consult the Library staff.

3. Resident Members of the House may borrow books from the Library: the borrowing must be properly registered in the Member's name on the computer, or, if it is temporarily out of action, a correctly completed borrowing slip must be handed in at the desk.

4. Junior Members may not normally borrow books printed before 1800. Books from the reference sections, and any other volumes marked with a red sticker on the spine, are also confined to the Library.

5. No undergraduate may have more than twenty books on loan and no postgraduate may have more than forty books on loan at any one time.

6. You may keep a book for seven days, and should normally return it thereafter. However, you may keep it for a longer period unless a notice is received requiring the return of the book. All such notices must be promptly obeyed.

7. Recall notices will be placed in the pigeon holes at Tom Gate. During Full Term all Junior Members with books on loan should check their pigeon holes frequently, or if absent from college should either return all their books to the library or make other arrangements for carrying out recall requests promptly.

8. Bound periodicals may not be borrowed from the Library for more than seven days, and if required earlier must be returned at once. Unbound periodicals are confined to the Library.

9. Returned books must not be replaced on the shelves, but placed in the area in the foyer provided for the purpose. No book may be removed from this area without the consent of the Library staff.

10. Those who are not resident in Oxford during term are not permitted to borrow books, and should return any books they have on loan by the beginning of term.

11. All books borrowed by undergraduates during term must be returned on or before the last Monday in each term. Graduate students are not normally required to return books until the end of June, unless the book is specifically recalled. Graduates should check their pigeon holes frequently, especially in the eighth week of term when many books are recalled for undergraduate use during the vacation.

12. Undergraduates wishing to borrow Library books for the vacation may reserve up to ten books for collection on the last Friday in term. Forms to do this may be obtained from the library, and must be returned by the last Tuesday in term. Periodicals may not be borrowed for the vacation.

13. You may not borrow for the vacation a book already allotted to someone else. Postage on books for the vacation which have to be sent by post because of delay in their return to the Library will be charged to the Junior Member responsible for the delay.

14. All books borrowed for the vacation must be returned before 6 p.m. on the Friday of the week before Full Term.

15. No book may be transferred from one Junior Member to another. The Junior Member who borrows a book is responsible for that book until its return. Members must not lend books from the Library to any person outside Christ Church.

16. Members should take good care of Library books at all times. Anyone found to have mistreated Library books may be fined. You should not write or make marks in library books. You should not fold over corners of pages or use paperclips or post-it notes on the pages of the books. Avoid straining the bindings of books; use a bookmark to keep your place rather than leaving the book open. Please protect books from damage by water, food and drink.

17. If you lose a book you will be fined according to the cost of its replacement. Junior Members who fail to comply with the rules concerning the return of books or periodicals may be fined.

18. Junior Members may usually bring bags into the ground floor reading rooms, but should be prepared to show their contents to the staff on request.

19. Readers must not smoke, eat or drink in any part of the Library. Any food or drink brought into the library must remain unopened and in a bag.

20. Mobile phones should be turned off upon entering the library. Portable computers may be used at the tables with sockets provided, but should be silent in operation. If a computer is judged to be excessively noisy, the library staff may forbid its use. Please be aware of other users of the library and keep conversation to a minimum.

21. The Law Library is for the use of members of the House reading for any degree or diploma (undergraduate or graduate) in Law, and those reading other subjects who require books shelved in the Law Library. Other rules which govern its use are posted there.