Libraries
Following extensive renovation works, Exeter’s beautiful Victorian Gothic library reopened in 2023. The restored library has been modernised while preserving and enhancing the Library’s beautiful architecture.
The Library is now fully accessible, with step-free access, a lift and a wheelchair-accessible toilet. Lighting, heating, ventilation and environmental performance have been significantly improved. There are now electric plug sockets at every desk, and some desks can be raised or lowered electronically to meet different needs and modes of studying. The number of reader spaces has been increased, original architectural features have been restored, as have the original oak bookcases, and stonework and woodwork cleaned and restored.
The result is a truly magnificent study space that fulfils the needs of current students and academics.
The Library is open 24 hours a day throughout the year (with occasional brief exceptions such as at Christmas or Easter), and has around 35,000 books on its shelves. All books on the Library’s shelves are catalogued on the University’s SOLO website (which also provides free access to online journals), making it easy to find and locate a book. Students are also actively encouraged to suggest possible additions to the library’s collections. The Library is located at the heart of the Turl Street site, just a minute’s walk from first year accommodation, the dining hall, and the JCR (the common room for all undergraduates at Exeter).
Exeter is also in extremely close proximity to the Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Camera and Weston Library. The Social Science Library and other departmental libraries are also just a ten-minute walk away.
IT Facilities
Exeter has well-equipped computer rooms at both the Turl Street and Cohen Quad, with modern PCs and colour printers for students to use. The college also benefits from comprehensive Wi-Fi coverage throughout its sites.
Cohen Quad Special Collections Room
The Special Collections Room holds Exeter’s fascinating collection of 30,000 rare books and medieval manuscripts, along with the College Archives dating back to the College’s foundation over 700 years ago.
Learning Commons
The Learning Commons at Cohen Quad is a communal space split over several different levels next to the Dakota Café. It provides a great space for students, fellows, staff and visitors to socialise and work together, with a flexible layout of chairs that can be rearranged to suit different groups’ needs. In doing so, it aims to recreate the social aspect of a traditional Oxford quadrangle, albeit in a modern setting.
