Borrowing titles from Cambridgeshire libraries

You can now borrow titles from Cambridgeshire Libraries’ stock, as well as Suffolk’s.

We work with Cambridgeshire Libraries, and refer to this partnership as SPINE.

Note: Borrowing titles from Cambridgeshire incurs a £2 charge. Borrowing books from Suffolk remains free.

This may be useful if you can’t find a book in Suffolk, or you’re looking for a different edition.

How to look for titles in Cambridgeshire

When you can’t find the title in Suffolk’s stock

If you search for a title in Suffolk and we don’t have it, the website will give you an option to expand your search to include Cambridgeshire’s service.

Note: you can’t just search Cambridgeshire’s titles. You have to search Suffolk and Cambridgeshire’s titles at the same time.

A page with no search results

If you click this link we’ll present you with search results from Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. If you find the title you want, you can go on to reserve it.

If you can find the book in Suffolk but you’d like to expand your search to Cambridgeshire

Sometimes your search results don’t contain what you want. If you’d like to see if Cambridgeshire has what you’re looking for, click the ‘Expand this search to include Cambridgeshire Libraries (SPINE partner)’ link:

We’ll then show you Suffolk and Cambridgeshire’s results. If you find the title you’re looking for you can then reserve it in the normal way.

Reserving titles from Cambridgeshire

Once you’ve found a title you want to reserve from Cambridgeshire, click the ‘Place reservation’ link at the top of the page.

You’ll then see the reservation confirmation form.

You can choose your pick up location as per normal.

Note: If you reserve a title from Cambridgeshire you’ll be charged £2.

Sometimes, the same title is available from Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Should you place a reservation on one of these titles, you can choose which service to reserve the title from. To avoid a charge, choose Suffolk:

You can choose which service you borrow a book from.

Once you’ve completed your reservation we’ll tell you when it’s available in the normal way and you’ll be able to collect it from the library you chose earlier in the process.

If you have any questions about this process email help@suffolklibraries.co.uk or call 01473 351249.