Often the Library is not that busy, and sometimes you might find that you are the only library user. However, we still believe calls should not be taken in the library (on a mobile or a video call on a laptop)– another library user might walk ‘into your phone call’. Calls can betaken in the corridor outside the Library, or if not inconveniencing others in the Cana Room (at the end of the basement corridor).

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More questions

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Which membership options do you offer?

Paid-for membership (full)
If you do not qualify for free membership (see below), but have a serious interest in studying theology or philosophy, you can apply for paid-for membership. This costs £60 per year and includes the benefit of borrowing any of our borrowable books (on-site at the London Jesuit Centre, ca. 8,000 books), as well as over 140,000 modern volumes. Please use our full membership application form to apply.

Reference-only membership fees
‍For just using the reading room at Mount Street, with its ca. 8,000 books, we also offer the following reference-only membership fees: £5 per day, £10 per week, or £30 per month. Please note these reference-only membership fees will need to be paid in cash, in person (and in British Pounds). These reference-only memberships do not entitle the member to borrow any books or request books from the offsite stores (ca. 140,000 volumes). Please use our reference-only form to apply for this reference-only membership.

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‍Free membership
‍Free membership is available to certain categories of readers including members of the Society of Jesus and other religious, any lay partners working full-time in a Work of the Jesuits in Britain, former Heythrop College faculty staff, priests and seminarians, teachers of religious education, London Jesuit Centre students, current HE & FE students and sixth-form students, and those unwaged. To make initial contact about becoming a member of the Heythrop Library, please get in touch. Please use our full membership application form to apply.

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If you are an early-career or mid-career scholar, please see our news item on The Professor Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter scholarships.

Become a memberContact us

How do I know how often a book has been automatically-renewed?

To check the books on your account, and to see how many times they have been renewed, please do the following:

1. Go to our catalogue (https://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/search~S3/‍)

2. Click on "Login to your account"

3. Use your first name and surname (with a space, so "Joseph Bloggs")

4. The Heythrop Library card number, without spaces: 019.... (see the back of your Heythrop Library card)

5. Click on '[x] Item currently checked out' [x being the number of books you have borrowed]

  1. See column "Status" of the list of the books.
  2. If a book has not been renewed yet, this column will just give you a due date.
  3. If a book has been renewed it will state "DUE [date] plus Renewed [x] time".
Screenshot of Heythrop Library account, showing books borrowed.
Screenshot of a Heythrop Library borrowing account, listing books on loan.

Do you offer a document supply service?

If you are a member of any university library in the UK, you can access the Heythrop Library through your university's inter-library loans (or documents) services. They will need to contact Senate House Library's ILL department.

Some public libraries in the UK might also offer inter-library loans (or documents) services, please enquire with your local public library.

Who can use the library?

Heythrop Library is open to anyone with a serious interest in theology or philosophy and the related academic disciplines represented in the collection. We welcome enquiries about using the library’s collections and reading room at the London Jesuit Centre. The next two sections of this FAQ answers most membership questions, or download the most current Reader's Guide (link below).