Neighbourhood Libraries

What can I get at a Neighbourhood Library?
You can join the library, borrow books and access the Internet.

How much does it cost?
Nothing. Joining the library, borrowing books and accessing the Internet are all absolutely free.

Tell me more about self service.
The self service kiosk makes borrowing and returning a book easy. To borrow a book, put your library card into the slot, put your books on the blue-lit shelf in the front of the kiosk, press the Issue button on the touch screen. The kiosk will print a receipt to show you which books you have borrowed and when they are due back. You can put a pile of books onto the blue-lit shelf and issue them all at once.

How do I join?
To join the library, fill in the online form on our website. Here is a quick link to the joining page.

Can I borrow books straight away?
You can borrow two books straight away. You new library card will be posted to you. With your library card you can borrow up to eight books at a time.

Can I use my library card in any other libraries?
there are over forty more libraries in Birmingham and you can use your library card in any of them.

What if the book I want is not on the shelf?
Use the computer to access the online catalogue. Find the book you are looking for and reserve it online. You will need your library card and PIN number. You will also need to choose which library you want to collect the book from.

Can I ask for different books to the ones on the shelves?
We are always glad to get suggestions. Write us a note and put it into the Book Return bin. We'll read and consider your suggestion.

Can I check to see what books I have borrowed?
When you join you will be given a PIN number. Write this down and keep it safe - you will need it if you want to reserve a book or check your details online.

What if I lose a book or my library card?
Just contact your nearest Community Library - we're here to help! You can phone us, email us, come along and visit us or just post a message for us into the Book Return Bin.

How does 'self service' work?

The self service kiosk makes borrowing and returning a book easy.

To borrow a book, put your library card into the slot, put your books on the blue-lit shelf in the front of the kiosk, press the 'Issue' button on the touch screen.

The kiosk will print a receipt to show you which books you have borrowed and when they are due back. You can put a pile of books onto the blue-lit shelf and issue them all at once. There is no need to open the books - the kiosk reads the book details from a special tag inside the book.

Returning books is even easier. Place your books on the blue-lit shelf and press the Discharge button on the touch screen. The kiosk will print a receipt to show you which books you have returned. Put the books into the Book Return Bin - we will sort them out later.

Tell me more about these 'tags'
The kiosk and tags use a technology called Radio Frequency Identification or RFId. The tags in our books only hold the barcode number of the book. When the kiosk reads the tag it connects to our Library Management system which issues the book to you. The tag doesn't hold any information about you. You can find out more about RFID tags here.

Will the tag set off an alarm if I take my book into a shop that uses this system?
No. Libraries and shops use a different frequency of tag so this should not be a problem.

Please note We are not responsible for the content of other organisations' websites.