How to use the Library

We use a unique classification scheme for our library, which you may notice is different from the system used by the rest of Central Library. It is designed to make a small, specialist collection like ours as easy to use as possible. It also avoids the inherent negative biases embedded in other more traditional classification systems, which often replicate the colonial (Eurocentric, middle-class and male) views of their creators.

• Arts, Media and Sport (AR)
• Culture and Identity (CU)
• Education (ED)
• Employment (EM)
• Fiction (FIC)
• Gender and Family Studies (GE)
• Health (HE)
• History (HI)
• Housing (HO)
• Immigration (IM)
• Local Studies (MAN)
• Politics (PO)
• Welfare (WE)

All of our resources can be found through the Manchester Libraries catalogue Advanced Search. Select 'Race Relations Resource Centre' in the Location field.

• Visit the Manchester Libraries Online catalogue

You will need to be a member of Manchester Libraries to borrow resources from our library. This is free of charge for anyone who lives in the UK.

• Find out more from the Manchester Libraries website

You can borrow loanable items from our library through the Manchester Libraries system, using the self-service machines or issue desks throughout Central Library.

Reference-only books can be accessed in person, during library open hours.

Local studies and oral history transcripts are reference-only. Please ask a member of our staff on the enquiry desk if you’d like to access them.

• Find out more about local studies
• Find out more about oral histories

You can search our archive and oral history collections using our catalogues.

• Search our collections on Manchester Libraries' catalogue
• Search our collections on University of Manchester Library's Library Search

If you can’t easily find what you’re looking for, staff will be happy to tell you more about what is in our collections and help you find material that might be of interest to you.

We need a minimum of one working day's notice to retrieve items from the archives, though it is best to give as much notice as possible.

Archive materials can be studied in the Central Library Search Room. More details about the Search Room can be found on the Central Library website:

• Visit the Search Room page on the Central Library website

You can make copies of archive material for research purposes, using a camera or photocopier, for a cost of £6 per half day. Please speak to a member of staff or contact us for more details.