There are theological libraries in each of the Institutions of the Federation
and they are available to all members, and to external users on payment of
a small annual fee, but we do have to control access because of security. During
office
hours
Federation Membership Cards or Library Access cards are needed to gain access
and these can be obtained from the library staff. The Federation Librarian
and Assistant are available if users
have any problems finding books or need help with the computers. Users with
disabilities are asked to contact the Librarian prior to their visit to ensure
that any required assistance will be available.
All of these libraries buy important course books that are in heavy demand for essays, but they co-operate in buying more specialised works. The specialist collections are:
Eastern Region Ministry Course:
Rural studies, located at 5 Pound Hill.
Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies:
Materials relating to the Orthodox Church, located at Wesley House.
Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology:
Roman Catholicism documents from the Vatican and Bishop's Conference of England & Wales.
Ridley Hall:
Biblical Commentaries, New Testament, Evangelism, Faith & work, Apologetics, Christianity & the Arts and Christianity & Science.
Wesley House:
Methodism, Study & Theology of Religions, Sociology of Religion, Ethics, Early Church History, (Pastoral Studies).
Westcott House:
Liturgy, Spirituality, Feminist Theology, Anglicanism, Christian Education, Roman Catholicism including the Catholic Reformation, Liberation Theology, Medieval Church History, Pastoral Studies. The Centre for Ecumenical Studies is also situated at Westcott House.
Westminster College :
Judaism, Jewish-Christian Relations, Reformed Tradition including the Protestant Reformation, Old Testament, Philosophy of Religion, Psychology, Ecumenism, Systematic Theology, Hymnology, Church History from 1789.
Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations:
Judaism, Jewish-Christian Relations, Literature, Film and Biblical Interpretation. The Centre is located at Wesley House.
Henry Martyn Centre:
Mission , Christianity in Africa and Asia, housed in Westminster Library.
Borrowing Rights
All the Libraries, with the exception of the Margaret Beaufort Library, are fully automated and have a self-issuing and returning system. In order to borrow books a University Library card or a Federation card is required. Reference books and dictionaries are confined to the libraries and some books are shown as having a restricted loan period. External users may borrow a maximum of 5 books at a time. Research students and staff wishing to exceed these limits should negotiate this with the Federation Librarian.
Periodicals and Journals
The libraries subscribe to a wide range of theological journals and in the main the periodicals relate to the specialist subjects of each library. Periodicals (current issues and bound volumes) may not be borrowed and may only be removed from a library for the purpose of photocopying relevant pages. (NB: the laws of Copyright must not be breached). They must be returned to their correct location after use and should not be left out on the Library reading desks. Reading space should be available in all the Libraries to enable you to read and make notes from specific articles.