Libraries

Library and Cultural Services

The prime purpose of Islington Library and Cultural Services is to enable people to realise their full potential by providing them with full and equal access - appropriate to their various needs - to information, ideas, knowledge and creative works.

There are ten public libraries in Islington, providing a mixture of materials and services for library users of all ages. Click the Local Libraries link, on the left side of this page, to view details about all of them

Contact

You can renew online books or music that you have borrowed from us, at the Online Library Catalogue. 

For borrower services, call us on 020 7527 6900 or email library.informationunit@islington.gov.uk.

If you have any general enquiries about Islington Library Services, please contact Rosemary Doyle, Head of Islington Library and Cultural Services:
Email: hlcs@islington.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7527 6905

Library Services and PIN numbers

From April 1 2008 you will be required to use a PIN number to get access to all of the services available through the My Account section of the library catalogue (Prism). Many of you have already got your PIN number to use the PC Booking system in libraries and this will still be valid.

If you do not have a PIN Number, you will need to bring your current library card, or proof of ID, along to your nearest Islington library and ask a member of staff to give it to you. If you have been given a PIN number, but cannot remember it, please ask a member of library staff to give it to you.

Once you have your PIN number, you can reserve items, renew them, check if you have any outstanding fines or charges on your card, and also change your PIN number to one that is easier for you to remember. You will no longer be able to do these things without your PIN number.

What You'll Find at your Library

• Local history - the history and development of Islington and its people
• Books and graphic novels, music and DVDs, story tapes, CD-ROMs and Playstation games
• Newspapers and magazines
• E.lis (Electronic Library and Information Services)
• Lifelong learning - free self-help, computer-based training
• Free internet access - search the web, check your email
• Free online databases - for research and study
• Word and Excel on PC
• Online Catalogue - all the items in stock in Islington libraries, and details of what you have on loan
• Reading groups - have fun discussing books
• Children's services - books, music, games and toys; under-fives and baby and toddler sessions; computer clubs, homework clubs
• All you need for leisure and study
• Services for disabled people
• Home library service - library services to your door
• Blind and visually impaired services - large-print books, spoken word cassettes, optical character reader (OCR) which converts text into speech, internet with magnified screen and sound
• Hearing impaired services - subtitled DVDs
• Reference and Information services
• Study spaces and extensive information resources
• Experienced staff, welcoming enquiries by phone, fax, in person or by e-mail (please see the address below)