Further education libraries are an indispensable service in the promotion of learning and having access to a well-stocked library is vital for students at Leicester College.

Leicester College meets the needs of its students and staff with three libraries that are equipped with a wide range of services. These are the libraries at the Abbey Park, St Margaret and Freemen’s Park campuses.

The library at the Abbey Park campus is one of our busiest sites and houses texts on a host of topics including business, travel and tourism, Uniformed Public Services (UPS), sports, childcare, engineering, performing arts, health and social care, and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).

St Margaret’s is our ‘arty’ site and its library holds beautiful books on art, fashion and photography, as well as business, teacher training, ESOL and IT.

The library at the Freemen’s Park campus is dedicated to hands-on courses and has a variety of books on catering, construction, electrical installation, painting and decorating, dentistry, nursing, and hair and beauty.

All of our libraries are equipped with desktop computers, group study areas, HE rooms and laptops, which can be used on the premises. In addition, each library has printers, photocopiers and scanners to help you gather notes and documents. We also have laminators and other stationery, if required.

Room to recharge

In addition to serving as spaces for learning, our libraries are designed to enable you to rest and recharge. If you need a break from your studies, you can drop by one of the libraries and ensconce yourself in a comfy chair for some downtime.

Reading material

Our libraries feature a great selection of fiction including the classics, thrillers, crime, romance, horror and more. We have a growing wellbeing section to help our students and staff and these cover topics such as depression, anxiety, addiction, bereavement, neurodiversity, body image and exam stress, among other subjects. Our general interest section holds many treasures; you might find that book on baking or sewing and finally start your new hobby or you could learn about Leicestershire’s history and discover something new.

If you are interested in graphic novels, then head over to the library at the Freemen’s Park campus where you will find the largest collection of these books. The Abbey Park library has a vast selection of biographies and plays, while the library at the St Margaret campus has a fantastic collection of designer anthologies.

All our libraries have collections of DVDs, CDS and journals and if you fancy watching a film, listening to music or are learning to drive, do drop by and have a browse. If you find something you like in our online catalogue that is available at another site, you can reserve the item and we will send it to the library of your choice.

Students can use any campus library – you are not restricted to just your core college campus. Late closing times across the three libraries will provide you with more opportunities to work well into the evenings.

Our librarians do more than just oversee the various collections of books. You might see them delivering your study skills and e-library sessions. These are mini lessons which teach you all you need to know about researching and referencing, both for college and beyond. We also have an extensive, online research database which will help you find articles that are much more reliable and better researched than anything than you can find on Wikipedia!

We are here to help you and look forward to seeing you at your next visit to one of our libraries.