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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
there were many cabinets...
filled with books...
locked in the a cage...
at the back of the boilerhouse...
covered in bits of stage...
with a sign on the door saying
"beware of the leopard"
(well, maybe not the last bit)''
After a dusty and cramped past, the The Institute For Impure Science (IFIS) library of 2,135 books is a fully-functional and well-enjoyed library. Being the only independent library on the Royal Holloway campus we have the happy task of entertaining students who wish to escape text books and chill out. Primarily focusing on the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres we have all the cult classics from Asimov to Zelazny. We have since expanded this to include popular modern classics such as Harry Potter and Terry Pratchett. We endevour to stay up-to-date with what is new and so are always happy to take requests and suggestions. Take a look at what we've added recently.
To get started, just enter in the name of an author or some keywords that take your fancy and we'll see what matches we can find.
To borrow any of the books, just look up their details and you'll find an option to reserve it. We'll then try and arrange to hand over the book at the best possible time - usually at one of our many events. If you did want to visit in person, have a chat with our librarian or drop us an email and if you wanted to know even more about how the library works, the system is explained with more gory details here.
If you're not sure what you're looking for and you just want to browse, then you can view the entire list. Or you can also get a list of authors, book series or genres that populate the library. If you're feeling particularly brave or daring, why not borrow a random library book.
Once you've read, reviewed or rated some books you can also get a list of recommended books based on your reading habits.