To borrow books and other items, you need to use the self-issue kiosks in the Catalogue Room. You will need to have your University card handy, as you will be asked to scan it to access your Trinity Library account. Once in, just place the books on the scanner and they will be added to your account.

You may borrow up to 20 items from the modern collections. These include books, DVDs, CDs, games, DVD drives, and bookrests.

Yes; we charge 50p per item per day. This is not a money-making exercise, but rather an effort to ensure as much of the Library collection as possible is in circulation, and available for use by all students, at any given time. If there are extenuating circumstances which you feel are going to prevent you from returning items on time, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Library staff either by email or in person. We will consider every case on its merits, and will always try to be as helpful as possible. But the sooner you can let us know the better!

Special collections are not for loan and are marked as such in VuFind. All students are welcome to consult special collections material in the Wren Library. For how to go about arranging access, see our dedicated page here.

If you wish to recall something which is on loan to another user (or be the first in line when it is returned), look the record for the book up in VuFind, click on ‘Recall this’ (next to the due date near the bottom of the screen) and fill in the web form. You will be notified by email when the book is available.

You can keep your books and non-book items for up to two weeks, in the first instance. If you need them for longer, you can renew your loans up to 3 times online, each time for a further period of two weeks. Unlike several other libraries across Cambridge, we don’t operate a policy of automatic renewal, as we want books to be in circulation as much as possible.

The first 45 seconds of this video will tell you how to renew your loans. Read below for a step-by-step guide.

Renewing your books online is a very straightforward process:

• Simply log in to your online Library account via Trinity’s Library catalogue, VuFind:
• Enter your surname and the five-character alphanumeric barcode on the reverse of your University card (the one beginning with a V)
• The option to click on ‘Your Account’ should now appear in the top right-hand corner. Click on this.
• Any items you currently have on loan from the Library will appear as a list under ‘Your Checked Out Items’. From here, you can select individual items to renew by checking the box next to them and then clicking ‘Renew Selected Items’; or you can renew all items on your account by clicking ‘Renew all Items’. The ‘Renewed’ count next to each item will always be ‘ /3’. Once it gets to ‘3/3’, meaning you’ve renewed the item 3 times, you won’t be able to renew it any more and will need to return it to the Library.

Vacation loan period

The standard two-week borrowing period alters prior to, and during, the Christmas, Easter and Summer vacations. On the Thursday two weeks before the end of term, a special ‘vacation loan’ period is introduced so that any items borrowed after this date are not due back until the first day of the following term. In other words, you can keep your books for the whole of the holiday.

Online renewals switched off before term starts

All vacation loans have to be returned to the library by or on the first day of the following term (so, October, January, April), and renewals at this time will not be possible. If you go online and try to renew any items before the beginning of term, even if you have not reached the items’ limit of 3 renewals, the system will not allow you to.