The Library provides access to a wide range of books, both as ebooks and in print. We work with academic staff to ensure that you have the key resources for your course. The easiest way to search for books is via Discover@Bolton.
You can search Discover@Bolton from the Library homepage or the search box below.
Once you have a list of results you can refine them to ebooks or print books held in the Library. Our Discover@Bolton guide has more information on how to filter your search results.
The Library provides access to over 200,000 ebooks and our collection is growing all the time! You can access ebooks online 24/7 : our Ebooks Guide has detailed information on our main ebook platforms, incuding how to search inside ebooks and make notes and annotations.
The Library provides a collection of over 100,000 print books at the Peter Marsh and Queens Libraries.
Loan periods other than three week loans are indicated by coloured labels on the spine of the book as follows:
Some books are held in our High Demand collection which is a two hour loan. Ask at the Help Desk for these.
Items can be borrowed via the self-issue machines in the Link Zone. You will need your ID card in order to borrow. The machines print receipts: keep hold of these. If you are borrowing a DVD, remember to unlock the case on the way out. Any member of Library Staff will be pleased to help you with finding and borrowing items.
Discover@Bolton will link through to the Library catalogue, enabling you to check the availability of Library items.
Once you've found a Library item on Discover@Bolton that you want to borrow, make a note of the shelfmark. This will help you locate the item in the Library. See our guide to finding items on the shelves
Undergraduates
10 items
Postgraduates
15 items
(Education students on postgraduate courses are limited to 10 items)
Researchers
15 items
University staff
15 items
Automatic renewal: if an item you have borrowed has not been reserved by another user, it will be renewed automatically the day before the item is due. You will receive an email to let you know that the renewal has happened or if you must return any reserved items.
You don't need to wait for automatic renewal; you can renew any time:
You can check the items you have on your account, and see that they have been renewed, by accessing your Library Account.
There is further information about renewing print items here, and our guide to using the Library catalogue may also be of use:
Return items using the Self Service machines within the Link Zone. Always check the receipt to see that all of your items have registered.
When the Library is not open, use the Book Return Bin, outside of Eagle Bistro.
Reserving items
On the library catalogue, find the item you need and click on the Reserve button. Enter your student number (the eight-digit number on your student card) and Library PIN. We cannot accept reservation requests by telephone.
An email will be sent to your university email account when your reservation is ready for collection from the Library Desk.
You can check the status of your reservation by clicking on the 'My Account' link from the Library Catalogue and logging into your borrower account.
Your reservation will be kept at the Library Desk for one week, after which it will either be made available to the next borrower in the reservation queue or returned to the shelves if there is no queue.
If an item becomes overdue because we were unable to renew automatically, we will send an overdue reminder to your university email account after one week. If you fail to return the item we will then send you two further reminders. If items are still not returned you will be sent an invoice for the cost of replacing them. If you do receive an invoice please act on this immediately as the matter is then referred to the Finance Department.
If you think you have misplaced an item please contact us as soon as possible.
Your fine needs to be less than £5 in order to borrow or renew items.
If you have accrued fines because you were away from the University due to some mitigating circumstances please contact us.
You can view the items you have on loan, track Inter-Library Loans requests and find if reserved items are ready for collection.
A help guide on getting the most out of your library account is available:
The Library provides access to two key online reference sources which are ideal for looking up definitions of concepts, key events, people, statistics and more. You will find ebooks from these reference sources on Discover@Bolton or by searching each platform directly.
Multi-disciplinary reference database providing access to full-text reference material.
Full-text reference works from Oxford University Press from a wide range of topics and including over 100 dictionaries.
Both Credo and Oxford Reference provide an alternative to online reference sources like Wikipedia.