On the shelf: half of Durham’s college library books unborrowed

By Isla Mustin

College libraries, one of Durham University’s most distinctive features, provide students with a study space away from the hustle and bustle of the Bill Bryson Library and a wider variety of literature to support essay writing. 

However thousands of their books remain untouched. 

A Freedom of Information request by Palatinate has revealed that almost half of all books in Durham’s college libraries have never been borrowed.

Across ten college libraries, a total of 77,897 books are catalogued, of which 34,997 (or 44.9%) have never left the library according to the Library Management System. 

Some colleges have particularly high proportions of untouched books. St Aidan’s College has nearly 14,000 books, but around 64% have never been borrowed. 

St Cuthbert’s Society holds roughly 9,500 books, with about 60% remaining unread. 

Even in Josephine Butler College, with a smaller collection of just under 1,000 books, almost half have never been borrowed.

A few college libraries showed much higher borrowing rates. Hatfield College has around 5,500 books, with only about 22% unused. Collingwood College holds roughly 1,800 books, of which close to 29% have never been borrowed.  

The University’s system records no books for five colleges: South, John Snow, Stephenson, St Hild and St Bede, and Ustinov. Data from St Chad’s and St John’s is unavailable as they operate independently.

Image: Abigail Tobias