Our Library
About our Library
The Earth Sciences Library holds monographs, periodicals, reports, and maps covering all aspects of the Earth Sciences. The library is located across two sites (Downing and the Bullard Laboratories) and is open to all members of the Earth Sciences Department, from undergraduate through to academic staff. During term time undergraduates studying Earth Sciences have priority.
Contact: Please send general enquiries relating to the Library to libraryhelp@esc.cam.ac.uk.
Access and borrowing
Members of the University, visiting scholars, and members of the public are welcome to visit.
All visits must be pre-arranged with the Librarian and all visitors must check in with the Librarian on their first visit.
- University members may borrow material from the collections. Borrowing is electronic and requires registration with a valid University/Library card.
- Members of the public are welcome to consult the collections on site but cannot borrow items and should contact the Librarian to make an appointment. Please give details of requested material, as items from our closed stores, i.e., anything predating 1980, will have to be sourced prior to your visit.
Collections
The library maintains a database of past student mapping and geochemistry projects. You can view a map of these projects here. Contact the library for more information.
Library history
Much of the original collection owned by the Earth Sciences Library, including many rare volumes, was originally collected by John Woodward* and Adam Sedgwick, in whose honour the Sedgwick Museum was built.
The original Library was constructed as part of the Sedgwick Museum building, which opened in 1904 and, with the exception of two bookcases near the fireplace, looks exactly as it would have done in 1904.
The Geophysics Library at the Bullard Laboratories began when the labs were first opened in 1951.
*Founder of the Woodwardian Professorship in Geology at Cambridge, a post held by Sedgwick for 55 years.