Newcastle University Library

Newcastle University Library is the main library service for students and staff at Newcastle University, UK. It is split into three sections:

• The Robinson Library, the main University library
• The Walton Library, specialising in services for Biomedical Sciences in the Medical School
• The Law Library, specialising in resources relating to law

Altogether, these three libraries make up the University Library, and it is the only such library in the United Kingdom to receive the Charter Mark award for excellence five times in a row.

Some schools within the University also have their own smaller libraries with smaller highly-specialised collections.

Robinson Library

The Robinson Library is the central library for Newcastle University, and is located on Jesmond Road West. It is named after Philip Robinson, a bookseller in the city following a bequest in the will of his widow Marjorie in 1989. To date, the £8 million donation remains the largest sum donated to a UK university library.

The library allows students and members to access a wide variety of material, including:

• Special Collections: spanning from the mid-15th Century to the 21st Century, the special collection includes over one hundred rare books, manuscripts, illustrations and woodblocks.
• E-Journals and databases: access to electronic journals and databases is provided via the University's subscription to the Athens system, allowing students to access research papers and journals from a large number of sources.
• Books and papers: over one million books and ten thousand periodicals are available, and access is given to Parliamentary papers and journal collection.
• Computer access: the Robinson Library has four computer clusters available with over two hundred computers.

The Robinson Library had a large refurbishment was completed in 2009. The Robinson Library also has its own computer cluster, as well as an open working space for students, named "Your Space".

Walton Library

The Walton Library, located in the Medical School, specialises in texts and resources relating to biomedical sciences, although students of any discipline are allowed to use it for study. It is named after Lord Walton of Detchant, former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Professor of Neurology. The library has a relationship with the Northern region of the NHS allowing their staff to use the library for research and study. In addition to book loans and computer access, the Walton Library also has a number or workstations connected for NHS users to access databases and journals.

Law Library

Located in Newcastle Law School, the Law library specialises in providing texts for law students, although students from all disciplines may use it. Specialised student text collections exist for books that are heavily in demand, and a computer cluster is also available.