Schools and colleges

A picture of the Adsetts Library on City campus.

Sixth form and college students (years 12 and 13 equivalent only) are welcome to visit our libraries for independent study.

For all membership categories, please ensure you have read and understood the Hallam Library Access Policy and the Hallam Library Code of Conduct.

Before visiting, you must register as a 16-17 (Reference) Member. From 30th October 2023, you will only be permitted entry to the library for independent study if you have successfully registered and received your membership card.

How to get help when in the library.

If you need help while you're in one of the libraries, please ask at the Hallam Help Point.

• The Collegiate Hallam Help Point is on the ground floor next to the main entrance.
• The Adsetts Hallam Help Point is on Level 4.

Sheffield Hallam University has two campus libraries.

Each library contains the print resources e.g. books and journals based on the courses that are taught at each campus.

Where is the campus and the libraries?

You can find out more about the campus layout and the location of the libraries using the campus maps.

How to find a book on the library shelves. 

You need to find out which library it is in, the shelfmark and, for Adsetts library, which level it is on.

How Hallam Library shelves its books.

Each book in the library has a shelfmark (a number and at least two letters displayed on the spine) which indicates exactly where to find it in the sequence on the shelves. Books are arranged in number order - lowest numbers first. We use the Dewey Decimal system to organise and shelf the material in the library.

The image above, shows you a Library Search listing for a specific book: Towards a social architecture with essential parts of the listing underlined to show you the information you need to find the book in the library.

• This book is shelved in the Adsetts Library.
• The book is shelved at 727.0941 SA. 727 is for Educational buildings and 0941 after the decimal point means that it's also dealing with British history. SA is from the first two letters of the author's name though sometimes the letters are taken from the title.  Books with the same number are shelved in alphabetic order by these letters.

When reading shelfmarks, remember that the numbers can include decimals. The number reflects the content of a book so similar books are shelved together.

• This book is shelved on Level 5.

Here's an overview of how subjects are divided up in the Dewey system.

Shelfmark number     Subject area
000-99                       Computer science and information.
100-199                     Philosophy and psychology
200-299                     Religion
300-399                     Social sciences
400-499                     Language
500-599                     Science
600-699                     Technology
700-799                     Arts and recreation
800-899                     Literature
900-999                     History and geography