Specialist Libraries at the University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham holds one of the largest academic libraries in the country and boasts an outstanding research collection, incorporating an astonishing 2.7 million books and scholarly periodicals – as well as 3 million manuscripts – across 10 sites, along with more than 16,000 electronic resources.

The collections are located primarily in the Main Library, with subject specific site libraries for medicine, law, fine art, music, education, dentistry and other disciplines. 

The Shakespeare Institute Library at Stratford-upon-Avon contains about 60,000 volumes (including 3,000 early printed and rare books), archives and manuscripts, and audio-visual collections. The library aims to collect every significant publication for the study of Shakespeare and Renaissance drama and the supporting collections cover literary, cultural, political, religious, and social history of the period.

This video also features the Barber Fine Art Library, the Barber Music Library, the Cadbury Research Library – Special Collections, the Harding Law Library, the Barnes Library and the Orchard Learning Rescource Centre (OLRC).