General Description
University of Bahrain Library: a brief description
Established in 1986, the University of Bahrain emerged from two separate institutions, The Gulf Polytechnic and The University College of Arts, Sciences, and Education. Comprised of three campuses, the Isa Town campus is located approximately 10km from the capital of Manama. The Sakhir campus is located just 15 minutes-drive south of the Isa Town campus. The Salmaniya campus is located in Manama.
The Library aims to promote high academic standards among undergraduate and graduate courses and university researchers by providing relevant collections and services.
The University of Bahrain Library is made up of five libraries and a number of specialised branch libraries.
- The Central Library, at the Sakhir campus, serves the staff and students of the Colleges of Business and Arts.
- The Engineering Library at the Isa Town campus accommodates materials and services to support the College of Engineering.
- The Science and Information Technology Library, at Sakhir campus, accommodates materials and services to support the Colleges of Science and Information Technology and the College of Applied Studies.
- The Law Library provides materials and services to the College of Law.
- The Ahmed Al-Farsi Library, at Salmaniya campus, serves the staff and students of the College of Health Sciences.
- Specialized branch libraries include the American Studies Centre Library, the French Studies Centre Library, the Japanese Studies Centre Library, the German Studies Centre Library, English Language Centre and the Centre for Transport and Road Studies Library and the newly established Education Library at the Bahrain Teachers College.
The Library’s organizational structure includes the following divisions:
• Public Services Division
• Technical Services Division
• Digital Library Division
• Library Instruction Division
• Library Quality & Marketing Division
Public Services
Circulation Unit
The Circulation Unit manages lending, re-shelving of book stock, and borrower enrolment.
Information Unit
This Unit is responsible for providing assistance to users in identifying appropriate library resources, formulating research strategies, answering general and in-depth questions, and providing instruction on library resources.
Special Collections Unit
The Special Collections Unit contains materials with a primary focus on Bahrain. Documents are collected, in Arabic and other languages, from international organizations, governments and research centers. The Special Collections Unit includes publications from the University of Bahrain, the Arab League, the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other regional and international institutions. This unit also collects theses and dissertations of students and faculty of the University of Bahrain. Materials in Special Collections are for reference only and may not be checked out of the library.
Periodicals Unit
The Periodicals Unit provides assistance to students, faculty and staff who are in need of the most current research available in the periodical literature. The department maintains a collection of periodical titles from a vast number of academic disciplines.
Technical Services
Cataloguing Unit
The Cataloguing Unit processes several hundred items in many different formats and languages each month. Every item receives a catalogue record in the online catalogue that accurately describes the item and reflects its subject content.
Collection Development Unit
The Collection Development Unit is responsible for acquiring all of the library materials contained in the University of Bahrain Libraries. Among the tasks of the unit are the management and processing of orders.
Recommendation of Books
Digital Library Division
The Digital Library Division coordinates the library's technology-based services, including their development, operation and maintenance. It manages and integrates the Library system catalogue, the various IT services and databases content, and the digital library portal.
Library Instruction Division
The Library Instruction Division works with students and faculty to identify and use information resources needed for learning. With special attention to advancing users’ information literacy skills, the division provides a variety of services. Teaching one-on-one and group information literacy classes, developing students’ life-long learning skills, advocating for information literacy and academic honesty are all part of the Library’s Information Literacy Programmes.
Library Tour Request Form
Library Quality & Marketing Division
This division’s role is to ensure that library work and services are delivered according to international library quality standards, and are continuously assessed and benchmarked at the regional and international levels. It also plans and manages the marketing programmes of services to internal and external users.