Joining the Library

We welcome applications to join the Library from alumni. As an alumni member you will have continued access to selected online resources, where licences allow this. You will be able to borrow up to 5 books at a time if you visit the Library in person with a Library card.

There is no fee but please note: A library card is not required for the online access provision, so please do not request a Library card unless you are able to visit the Library in person to make use of it.

Please apply by email to library@bath.ac.uk providing the following information:

• your name
• date of birth
• year of graduation
• subject of study
• a personal email address other than your University (@bath.ac.uk) address
• your postal address for Library records (only if an Alumni Library card is also required for borrowing and access to the Library building)
• an image attachment showing your face in a "selfie"/passport style format (only if an Alumni Library card is also required for borrowing and access to the Library building)

Please allow at least 2-3 working days for us to setup your membership and get back to you with confirmation. However, if you have not received any email confirmation after a week please check your Spam email folder for any missed mails. Or contact us directly via Library Chat from the Library homepage or by telephone: 01225 385000

Your library membership will be for a period of five years, with an opportunity to renew at the end of this time.

Your name, address and email are used for registration, contact and resource access purposes. The other data requested is only used to verify your graduand status.

Online access to books and journals

We are pleased to offer free access from your home to some of the Library’s online subscription resources:

• Bentham Science
• Business Expert Press (BEP) eBook Collections
• Henry Stewart Talks: The Business and Management collection
• Journal of Neuroscience
• MIT Press journals
• OECD iLibrary
• Portland Press
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
• Project Muse
• The Royal Society
• SAGE Journals

To access these resources, you will need to use the email address you provided when joining the library as an Alumni member.

The Library is not permitted to provide alumni with access from home to all our online resources because of the terms of the licence agreements with most publishers.

Access to additional online subscription resources is possible from dedicated public-access catalogue computers in the library building. These are positioned near the information points on Levels 3-5. Please note that no printing or downloading is possible from these computers.

Borrowing books from the library

If you wish to visit the library building to borrow books, a library card is required in advance.

Please attach a passport-style digital photograph to your e-mail when you apply for membership and provide a postal address for contact and card delivery purposes.

You may borrow up to five books at a time as an alumni member.

The fee for replacing a lost or expired library card is £5.

An Alumni card is not required for access to online resources.

Finding open access resources

In addition to the subscription resources the Library is permitted to provide, a great deal of scholarly research is available for free online, thanks to the Open Access movement, and a Creative Commons licence may permit the reuse of the research. To help you get started, the Library curates a list of recommended free online resources.

Access to other libraries

Public libraries including Small Business Research + Enterprise Library (London) and the British Library are open to the public.

The British Library offers a range of electronic resources to registered 'readers' that are accessible remotely.

Registration needs to be done in person with photographic ID and proof of address. Full information is provided on the British Library website.

See also our guide to Using other Libraries