Floor Plan

Floorplan

The Working Library's collections are arranged over six floors, including a basement. The table below shows the location of the different subject areas within the Library. The letters in brackets after the subject relate to the Library of Congress Classification Scheme used to arrange the majority of the Library's books and journals.

Floor Map (PDF)

Ground floor
  • Reference books
  • Unbound periodicals
  • Tripos examination papers (last 3 years)
  • Very Short Introductions
  • Maps
Mezzanine
  • Maths and Science (Q)
  • General Interest collection
First Floor

Garden Wing:

  • Philosophy, Psychology and Religion (B)

 

Penrose Section (linking Main and Turret stairs):

  • Language and Literature (P)
  • Audio-Visual collection

 

Chapel Wing:

  • Education (L)
  • Music (ML)
  • Art and Architecture (N)
Second Floor

Garden Wing:

  • Geography and Anthropology (G)
  • Social Sciences, including Economics (H)
  • Political Science and International Relations (J)

 

Penrose Section (linking Main and Turret stairs):

  • Archaeology (C)
  • History (D-F)

 

Chapel Wing:

  • Medicine (R)
  • Agriculture, including Veterinary Science (S)
  • Technology, including Engineering (T)
Third Floor

Garden Wing:

  • Law books and Statutes (K)
  • Criminology and Social Welfare (HV)

 

Chapel Wing:

  • Law books and journals (K)

Basement

Some older volumes are shelved in the open access store in the Basement, which is accessible 24 hours a day. Please ask a member of the Library staff if you need any assistance. More fragile items, some special collections, and books published before 1850 are kept in the closed access store. If you wish to consult any items from there, please ask a member of staff.

Library of Congress Classification Scheme

The Library arranges its collections of books and bound periodicals according to the Library of Congress Classification Scheme. Each book has a classmark consisting of letters and numbers, which indicate its subject and determine where it is filed on the shelf.

The code usually begins with two letters:

  • The first letter indicates the broad subject. For example, all D books (History) are on the Second Floor.
  • The second letter specifies a narrower subject area within the broad subject. For example, within History (D), DA indicates British History.
  • The next part of the classmark is a number, which gives a more precise definition of subject matter. Within a subject section, books are filed numerically, so DA 84 comes before DA 86, which comes before DA 226.
  • The final part of the classmark refers to the author's name. It normally consists of a letter and a number. This part is filed in alphabetical order by letter, then by number in a decimal sequence, i.e. DA 84.C3 precedes DA 84.C35, which precedes DA 84.C4.

In practice, classmarks may be more complex, with extra letters and numbers giving a more precise definition of subject matter. In each case, read along the classmark, taking each element separated by a full stop as a separate unit.


The following list gives a more detailed breakdown of subjects and their classmarks

Subject

Class

Location

Anatomy QM Mezzanine
Ancient history DE - DG Second Floor
Anglo-Saxon language and literature PE First Floor
Anthropology GF - GT Second Floor
Archaeology    
- theory and methods CC Second Floor
- specific countries D - F Second Floor
Architecture NA First Floor
Art N-NX First Floor
Astronomy QB Mezzanine
Atlases REF 5 Ground Floor
Biblical studies BS First Floor
Bibliography Z Rare Books Reading Room
Biochemistry QP Mezzanine
Biology QH Mezzanine
Botany QK Mezzanine
Cambridge local history
- county DA 670.C2 Second Floor
- city DA 690.C2 Second Floor
Cambridge University LF First Floor
Celtic language and literature PB First Floor
Chemical engineering TN - TR Second Floor
Chemistry QD Mezzanine
Church history BR & BX First Floor
Civil engineering TA - TH Second Floor
Classics PA First Floor
Computer science QA Mezzanine
Constitutional history JN Second Floor
Criminology HV Third Floor
Dictionaries REF 2 - 4 Ground Floor
Earth sciences QE Mezzanine
Economic history HC - HD Second Floor
Economics HB - HJ Second Floor
Education L First Floor
Encyclopaedias REF 1 Ground Floor
Engineering
- Chemical TN - TR Second Floor
- Civil TA - TH Second Floor
- Electrical TK Second Floor
- Mechanical TJ - TL Second Floor
English language PE First Floor
English literature PR First Floor
Environmental studies GE Second Floor
European history D - DR Second Floor
Film studies PN First Floor
French language PC First Floor
French literature PQ First Floor
Gender studies HQ Second Floor
Geography
- Human GF Second Floor
- Physical G - GC Second Floor
Geology QE Mezzanine
German language PD First Floor
German literature PT First Floor
Greek language & literature PA First Floor
History
-African DT Second Floor
-American E - F Second Floor
-Asian DS Second Floor
-British DA Second Floor
-European D - DR Second Floor
-Russian DK Second Floor
History & Philosophy of Science Q Mezzanine
International relations JZ Second Floor
(also see the country) D - F Second Floor
Italian language PC First Floor
Italian literature PC First Floor
Latin language & literature PA First Floor
Law K Third Floor
Linguistics (general) P First Floor
Linguistics (individual languages) PA - PM First Floor
Management studies HD & T Second Floor
Maths (pure & applied) QA Mezzanine
Mechanical engineering TJ - TL Second Floor
Medicine R Second Floor
Microbiology QR Mezzanine
Music
-Scores M First Floor
-Books ML First Floor
-CDs & Videos Audio-Visual collection First Floor
Natural history QH Mezzanine
Norse language & literature PD First Floor
Oriental languages & literature PJ - PM First Floor
Philosophy B First Floor
Physics QC Mezzanine
Physiology QP Mezzanine
Politics
-Political science and theory JA & JC Second Floor
-Political administration JF-JS Second Floor
Psychology BF First Floor
Reference books REF Ground Floor
Russian language & literature PG First Floor
Social history HN Second Floor
Social welfare HV Third Floor
Sociology HM - HX Second Floor
Spanish language PC First Floor
Spanish literature PQ First Floor
Theology BL - BX First Floor
Veterinary medicine S Second Floor
Videos Audio-Visual collection First Floor
Women's studies HQ Second Floor
Zoology QL Mezzanine