College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TL

Departments:
Music and Drama Library
Lending Library
Business Library
Learning Centre
Art Library
Children's Library
Reference Library

Opening Hours:

Getting there: By bus: The library can be accessed from College Green bus stops and from any buses stopping on Anchor Road.

Parking: Cycling: There are bicycle stands at the front of the library. Pay-and-display parking is available at both the front and rear of the library. There are nine spaces in College Square on parking meters, plus an area set aside for motorcycles/scooters. Disabled parking is in front of the library near the ramp entrance. Badge holders may park free.

Accessibility: The main entrance is on College Green and via a flight of steps. A level ramp for full wheelchair and pushchair access is accessible at the far end of the front of the building. Inside there's a wheelchair accessible, talking lift between services on the ground and first floor. The Lending, and music sections are on two levels, with a ramp connecting them. Low level counter at all desks. Tactile signposting in key areas. Every part of library accessible to readers using disability vehicles.

Accessible to a wheelchair user travelling independently
Induction Loop
Lift

Resources and Activities
All libraries have the following activities or resources: fiction and non-fiction books for all ages, a children's area with a range of picture books, books in large print and reference books. Branch libraries offer free use of computers with internet and email access, and scanner.

In addition this library has:

Book collections
Barrington Stoke (for people with dyslexia) for adults
Barrington Stoke (for people with dyslexia) for children
Books on prescription
Fast Backs - popular titles; one week loan
Graphic novels for children
Graphic novels for young adults
Large print
Quick reads

Books for adults in African languages
Somali

Books for adults in Asian languages
Arabic
Bengali
Chinese
Farsi (Persian)
Gujurati
Kurdish
Pashtu
Punjabi
Urdu
Vietnamese

Books for adults in European languages
Czech
French
German
Italian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Serbo-Croat
Spanish

Books for children in African languages
Somali/English
Yoruba/English

Books for children in Asian languages
Arabic/English
Bengali/English
Chinese/English
Farsi (Persian)/English
Gujarati/English
Hindi/English
Japanese/English
Kurdish/English
Punjabi
Punjabi/English
Tamil/English
Urdu
Urdu/English
Vietnamese/English

Books for children in European languages
Albanian/English
Czech/English
French/English
German/English
Hungarian/English
Italian/English
Polish/English
Portuguese/English
Serbo-Croat/English
Spanish
Spanish/English
Turkish/English

Children's activities and storytimes
Baby bounce and rhyme - every Wednesday 10 to 10.30am. Free. No need to book. Run all year round.
Pre-school children's storytime - every Wednesday 11.30am to 12noon. Free. No need to book. Run all year round.
Rhymetime - action songs for all, Saturdays 11.30am to 12noon. Free. No need to book. Run all year round.
Rhymetime in the afternoon - Mondays and Fridays 2 to 2.30pm. Free. No need to book. Run all year round.
School holiday activities - contact the library for details

Console games
PS2 and X-Box
Wii games

DVDs - hire from £1 per week
(Most DVDs carry subtitles in English and other languages, plus extras such as audio commentaries)
(See also the videos section)
In English and other languages - see separate listings for Asian and/or European languages

DVDs in Asian languages - hire from £1 per week
(Most DVDs carry subtitles in English and other languages, plus extras such as audio commentaries)
(See also the videos section)
Arabic
Cantonese
Gujarati
Hindi
Japanese
Punjabi
Urdu

DVDs in European languages - hire from £1 per week
(Most DVDs carry subtitles in English and other languages, plus extras such as audio commentaries)
Czech
French
German
Italian
Polish
Russian
Spanish

For sale
Book tokens
Bristol Branch of the Historical Association - selected local history pamphlets - price as marked
Greetings cards
Library carrier bag - jute fibre (planet-friendly hessian) - £2.00
Local history books and magazines (see below for full details)
Local illustrations by Edwardian artist Samuel Loxton
Magnifying glass
Maps and prints - selection, A3/A4 size - £1.00/£0.50
Postage stamps
Reading glasses
Venue magazine
Writing pen - £0.30

Free newspapers and magazines to take away
Bristol Review of Books - quarterly
Folio - monthly
The Bristol Magazine - monthly

Help and advice
Community legal service - assisted information
Community Legal Service leaflets
Police surgery - first Tuesday of the month - 11am to 1.30pm - cafe area

Internet and computers - equipment
(Free Internet and computer use, please book in advance)
Braille embosser and software
Braille keyboard
Jaws screen reader
Large keys keyboard - two available in the Disability Resource Centre
Large screen computer monitor
Magnifier monitor that magnifies print or objects onto a PC screen
SuperNova combined screen reader and magnifier
Trackerball mouse
Wheelchair accessible computer desk
Wi-Fi

Internet and computers - programs for use in the library
Audacity (audio editing)
Microsoft Office 2007 (Access, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher and Word)
Moviemaker
Photostory 3
Serif Photoplus X2 (Drawplus, Pageplus and Webplus)

Local history books and media for sale
100 Women of Bristol - S Brown & D Dyer - Bristol City Council - £2.50
100 Years of Campaigning For A Better Bristol - Bristol Civic Society - £4.99
A Catalogue Of Bibles - Bristol Libraries - £0.50
Bristol: three architectural walks (Victorian Society walks #2) - D Lloyd - £0.50
Bristol Bibliography - E R Norris Mathews - £50.00
Bristol Central Library and Charles Holden: a history and guide - Anthony Beeson - £5.00
Bristol In 1807: Impressions of the city at the time of Abolition - Anthony Beeson - £7.50
Catalogue of English Books, 1641-1700 - Bristol Libraries - £5.00
Early Bristol Newspapers - Bristol Libraries - £2.00
Early Printed Books And Manuscripts - E R Norris Mathews - £20.00
Early Printed Foreign Books - (1473-1700) - Bristol Libraries - £5.00
Government Of Bristol (1373-1973) - E Ralph - £0.50
MV Balmoral, celebrating 60 glorious years - DVD - Augenblick Publications - £9.99
Saints Of Patronage And Invocation - M Gibson - £1.95
Slavery, Abolition & Emancipation: a reading list - Bristol Libraries - £2.00
The Bristol Slavery And Abolition Trail - B Drummond - £2.99
The Kelvin Players Theatre Company - 1929-2004 - R Jones - £12.50
The Stuckey Lean Collection - Local art history - E R Norris Mathews - £30.00

Meetings
Bristol Central Library Next Meeting 13th June 2013 with Raymond Carver's What we talk about when we talk about Love

Music CDs - hire charges may apply
(See separate listings for African Caribbean, Asian and European music)
A broad range of music to suit all tastes from the following genres
Blues
Classical music of all kinds
Dance
Easy listening
Jazz
Pop
Reggae
Soul
Soundtracks

Music CDs of African Caribbean cultures - hire charges may apply
A selection of folk, popular and traditional music

Music CDs of Asia - hire charges may apply
A broad range of folk, popular and traditional music in the following languages
Arabic
Bengali
Chinese
Farsi (Persian)
Gujurati
Hindi
Kurdish
Pashtu
Punjabi
Urdu

Music CDs of Europe - hire charges may apply
A broad range of classical, folk, popular and traditional music in the following languages or cultures
Bulgarian
French
German
Greek
Irish
Italian
Latin
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Scottish
Spanish
Welsh

Newspapers and magazines (full list of Central Library holdings)
1 To see lists of periodicals in the Central Library follow the link above
2 See separate listings for African Caribbean, Asian and European titles

Newspapers and magazines for African Caribbean communities
Black Beauty & Hair - every two months
Pride - monthly
Somali Eye - irregular
Voice - weekly

Newspapers and magazines for Asian communities
Al-Ahram - weekly
Daily Jang - daily
Des Pardes - weekly
Eastern Eye - weekly
Epoch Times - weekly
Garavi Gujarat - weekly
Gujarat Samachar - weekly
India Today - weekly
Janomot - weekly
Kayhan - weekly
Sahil - monthly
Saudi Aramco World - every two months
Sikh Review - monthly
Sunday Jang - weekly
UK Chinese Times - weekly
Urdu Magazine

Newspapers and magazines for European communities
El Pais - daily
Le Monde - daily
Polish Express - weekly

Other resources
Colour photocopier (A4/A3)
Magnifying glass for use in the library
Radio/cassette/CD player for Visually Impaired people for use in the library
Wheelchairs for use in the library

Reading groups: play reading
Holden play readers - meets the second Tuesday of every month from 5.45 to 7pm

Reading groups for adults
Meets second Thursday of the month 5.45 to 6.45

Reading groups for children
Chatterbooks - for 8 to 10 year olds, meets monthly on Saturday mornings

Reading groups for Visually Impaired people
Meets on the third Wednesday of the month from 10.30am to 12 noon

Spoken word audio books - hire charges may apply
(See separate listing for Asian language)
Cassettes for adults and children - in English
CDs for adults and children - in English
Playaway - digital audio books

Videos
A selection of documentary videos - in English and the following languages
Hindi
Punjabi
Urdu

Facilities
Breastfeeding Welcome
Fax Machine
Photocopier
Public Toilets
Wheelchair Accessible Toilet