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The majority of the Romance Languages collections are on open access on the 5th floor of Senate House. If you are planning a visit to consult material, it is advisable to check that this is available using the online catalogue. Please note that if a book is marked as available on the online catalogue and is not on the shelf, it may be in the re-shelving area of that section, or another reader could be consulting it in the Library.

Material not on the open shelves is stored either on site or at the Depository in Egham. Areas which readers cannot access themselves are designated the stack, which includes the Senate House tower as well as the offsite store.

Books and periodicals located in the stack are fetched by Library staff. Where item records include the tag stack, or the letter s, please click on the request button at the top right-hand side of the catalogue record and enter your details. Items are usually available within an hour of the request being made. Items requested online will be acknowledged by an email informing you that your item is ready to be collected. Books are held at the counter for eight days, periodicals are held over to the next day. Items requested an hour before closing time will be fetched the following working day. Items with the location stack service (offsite store) have to be fetched from the Depository facility in Egham. Material is retrieved from the store once a day Monday to Friday. Items from the store are usually available within 24 to 48 hours of the order being placed.

Most books from the stack may be borrowed or photocopied, but please check first with a member of staff. You may be asked to consult old or fragile material under supervised conditions in the Special Collections reading room on the 4th floor.

Readers coming from a distance are advised to check that the material requested is ready for collection before setting out on their journey.