1.1. Carrels may be booked on a Monday-Saturday basis. Where the Library is closed during a Monday-Saturday period, the rental fee will be adjusted pro-rata.

1.2. Where a user books a Monday-Saturday period that has already started, no refund or price-adjustment is available for unused days.

1.3. Carrels must be booked via the University of London Online Shop, with payment taken at the time of booking with a debit or credit card.

1.4. Booking a Carrel does not guarantee occupancy of a specific Carrel. Carrels are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis when the user collects the key.

2.1. The Research Carrels service is available throughout the year to members of the Library.  Priority, which includes being able to book a carrel for up to six months at a time is given to those:

Employed by the University of London in an academic capacity
Engaged in a research degree with the University of London

However, all members of the Library, including all University of London  postgraduates, undergraduates, academic staff and students from other Universities and private researchers may also book a carrel but only for one week at a time

2.2. Bookings made by any other user will be cancelled by the Library and the amount paid refunded, in accordance with 4.1.

3.1. Academic staff and research students may book any and all weeks available in the Online Shop at any given time, which will usually make it possible to book up to 24 weeks in advance.

3.2. All other members of the Library, including all University of London post graduates, undergraduates, academic staff and students from other Universities and private researchers may book for a single week at a time only and must wait until Thursday before booking the following week. Monday-Saturday periods booked prior to the preceding Thursday will be cancelled by the Library and the amount paid refunded, in accordance with 4.1.

4.1. Where a booking is cancelled by the Library in accordance with 2.2 and 3.2 the payment card used to make the payment will usually be refunded within 10 working days.

4.2. In the event that Library business has prevented a user from accessing their Carrel, the payment card used to make the payment will be refunded on a pro-rate basis for the affected day(s), usually within 10 working days.

4.3. Except in accordance with 4.1 and 4.2, payments for Carrel bookings are non-refundable.

5.1. Bookings are extended via the Online Shop in accordance with 1.3.  Academic staff and research students may extend at any time and book any and all weeks available in the Online Shop, which will usually make it possible to book up to 24 weeks in advance.

5.2. All University of London post graduates, undergraduates, academic staff and students from other Universities and private researchers must wait until the Thursday before the week they require to extend their booking for an additional week.

6.1. Keys are collected from the Service Desk when the user is ready to take up occupancy; no refunds are available for unused days if a user collects their key later than the first day of the period booked.

6.2. Carrels are allocated to a named individual and are not transferrable.

6.3. The Library accepts no responsibility for theft and/or damage to personal property left in the Carrels. It is the user’s responsibility to lock the Carrel when not in use.

6.4. For health and safety reasons, Carrels must not be locked from the inside.

6.5. Occupancy will be deemed to have expired if the applicant fails to extend their booking and the Carrel will be made available to other eligible users.

6.6. Any personal property left in a Carrel after the end of the occupancy will be boxed up, retained in lost property for one month and then disposed of.

6.7. Carrel keys should be returned to the Service Desk during staffed hours or to the small black box on the security desk next to the exit gates during unstaffed/self-service hours, on or before the final day of occupancy. Loss of a Carrel key will result in a £20 replacement charge. Keys returned later than the due date will incur fines at the daily rental rate for each day overdue. 

6.8. Library staff reserves a right of access to Carrels in order to ensure that these Terms and Conditions are adhered to or to conduct Library business.

6.9. The Library Regulations apply to Carrel occupants – including but not limited to provisions relating to food and drink, noise, fines, renewals and mobile phone use.

6.10. Library materials may not be left in Carrels unless they have been issued to the occupant’s Library account or Carrel Allowance account.

6.11. Occupants are entitled to have up to 20 circulating items issued to the Carrel at any one time. These items must remain within the Carrel while issued. Items are issued for 1 week, and can be renewed in accordance with the Library’s normal renewal policy.

6.12. During the occupancy of the Carrel, the occupant is expected to keep the Carrel reasonably neat and tidy. Occupants should place their waste in the recycling bins located at the entrance of each reading room. Carrels will be routinely cleaned once a month.  A deep clean will take place once a year during the library summer vacation operating hours.  Access to the carrels will be restricted during this period.

6.13. The Library reserves the right to terminate a user’s Carrel occupancy without refund at any time if any of these terms and conditions are breached.