Postgraduate study
Edinburgh: Extraordinary futures await.

Libraries

At Edinburgh you will have access to vast and diverse library collections, excellent study spaces, and award-winning library staff.

Photo of students using computers in the Main Library

In total, our Main Library, site libraries and library storage facilities hold in excess of 1.8 million printed volumes and provide access to a host of electronic resources, including: 

  • 10 million journal article downloads
  • 8 million e-book chapter downloads
  • 700,000 e-books
  • 100,000 e-journals
  • 700 licensed databases

You can access our electronic resources on or off campus, 24 hours a day.

Access and facilities

We have 10 campus libraries. Each library covers different subject areas, but all hold library collections and offer study spaces and computing facilities.

Some Schools also operate their own libraries where additional resources, and sometimes study spaces, are available.

Our Main Library in George Square is one of the largest academic libraries in the world with more than 2,300 study spaces. It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our other libraries also have extensive opening hours, and award-winning staff available to help. 

You can make use of one of the computers available in our libraries, bring your own mobile device, tablet or laptop, or borrow a laptop from the library.

University libraries

Photo of a man walking through the library's research suite

Centre for Research Collections

Our Centre for Research Collections is unique in the UK, bringing together a collection of more than 400,000 rare books, six kilometres of archives and manuscripts, and our museum collections of art, historical musical instruments and other objects. Many of our Special Collections are digitised and available online.

Centre for Research Collections