Join the libraries

Who can apply for a Bodleian Health Care Libraries Card?

We are taking registrations for:  

  • OUH Hospitals NHS Foundation staff
  • staff and students in the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences at Oxford Brookes University

How to apply for or renew your Bodleian Health Care Libraries membership

Before applying, please read our Privacy Notice (PDF) and the Bodleian Libraries Rules of Conduct.

Apply in person

In-person registrations for those who are entitled to a Bodleian Health Care Libraries card are normally available at one of the Bodleian Health Care Libraries during the following times:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 9am to 5pm
  • Wednesday: 10am to 5pm

There may be times when we are unable to offer registrations in-person during these hours. Please contact the relevant site to ensure a member of staff will be available to take your registration, advising us of the time and day you would like to come. Contact numbers for our sites can be found on the library webpages.

Online registrations

You will need:

  • a completed application form (see below)
  • a passport-style photo saved in a JPG format (please do not scan a copy of your actual photo in your passport)

For both your form and photo, the file name should include your name and your month and year of birth – eg JackJones_Apr1986.

Email your application form and photo to hcl-renewals@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

When you send us your application, please let us know if you wish to collect your card from the Cairns Library at the John Radcliffe, the Girdlestone Memorial Library, the Horton Hospital Library, or the Knowledge Centre on the Old Road Campus (near the Churchill Hospital).

Application forms (for both new applications and renewals)

Please use the correct application form in one of the available formats. You only need to fill in the first side of the form, but please email both pages to us.

We ask for an email address on the form. This is used to send courtesy reminders for any items you may borrow, and for password resets requests for Bodleian Reader PCs.

If possible, please physically sign the form and scan it. Otherwise, type in your name where the form asks for a signature at the bottom of the first page. Please remember to date it.

Oxford University NHS Hospitals Foundation staff

Oxford Brookes Faculty of Health & Life Sciences staff and students

Collecting your card

Applying in person

If you apply in person at the Cairns Library and NOC Library, we will do our best to provide your card straight away where possible. 

If you apply in person at the Horton Hospital Library or Knowledge Centre, your card will be printed at the Cairns Library. You will be asked which site you wish to collect your card from, and you will then receive an email to let you know when your card is ready to collect at the relevant site.

Applying online

Once your card is ready, we will email you using the email address on your application form to let you know how to collect your card, as well as information about how to access the Bodleian Reader PCs within the Cairns, NOC and Knowledge Centre libraries.