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School of Geography

The library

Believe it or not, the one place that you’ll eventually end up spending most of your time will be the Mile End Library! It’s not just used as a study area but as a social space too. You’ve got comfy sofas and the Learning Café, where the baristas always friendly and you can grab a fantastic coffee or a quick snack. This does mean that the ground floor can get a little noisy although it is quiet if you go early in the mornings. There are also two floors dedicated to silent study when you need to get your focus on. Here’s a quick breakdown of the library (in case you missed the tours!):

Ground Floor: There are around 90 computers located here along with lots of empty tables and desks with power sockets in case you’ve got your own laptop. We’ve also got the Learning Café that serves hot drinks and food in case you want to take a break from studying. In the corner you’ll find the Teaching Collection which houses books and DVDs that have been recommended by lecturers and professors. Stations for borrowing and returning books are also found on the ground floor. If the machine refuses to let you borrow or return a book, simply head over to the front desk and they’ll sort it out for you.

First Floor: This floor and the one above are known for their silent study areas. This is a fantastic space for getting your head down, churning out essays and digesting some heavy literature. On this floor there are computer rooms, and you’ll be able to find your course books which are separated into the North and South reading rooms. Here’s the subject guide where you can find what you’re looking for. All books are given a specific code and are arranged in the shelves alphabetically using that code.

Second Floor: Here is where you have to come to borrow Geography books (North reading room to be exact). Unfortunately this floor has only reading tables and desks so is convenient only if you’ve got your laptop or just want to read.

So now that you know where the books are, here’s how you find them. You simply search the title of the book here – for example type in Researching Human Geography. You’ll find the code which in this case is GF21 HOG and you can use the subject guide to find out which floor it would be located on. In addition, you can also use the search bar to search for books on certain topics or even other works of a particular author. The library not only gives you access to books but also electronic copies and journal articles.

I hope this is a useful short breakdown of our library but feel free to ask around if you have any more questions or you get stuck. The staff are very friendly and seem to be able to track down every single book that you can’t find. Finally, don’t forget to keep your student ID on you or else you won’t be able to enter the library at all!

Happy studying,

Mishma Abraham (Environmental Science BSc, class of 2017)

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