Using the online library catalogue is very easy and you no longer have to be in the library to do so, simply follow the link below and it will take you to the catalogue. You’ll have to log in to reserve a book, but anyone can search the catalogue to see if we have something in stock. Please note that the catalogue is not perfect! 90% of the time it will give you an accurate position of where books are located, but it does occasionally throw up the odd error, feel free to call ahead to double check before you make a visit to the library.
When you are searching for a book, please make sure you note the format of the copy you are looking for when you get the results; one common error is made when not noticing that the results might just show an audiobook, or a hardback copy, when a paperback is required. Sometimes the results look favourable but when you look closer you’ll find that there is no paperback edition available at all!
Once you have found what you are looking for, you can click on the cover image of that book and it will give you more information about availability.
If you do reserve a book, and it is on the shelf in the library you usually visit, then generally that title will be available for you to collect the same or next working day. If it has to come from another Lewisham Library it may take a couple of days depending upon that library’s opening hours. If it is coming from out of borough then it might take a little longer, but that isn’t always the case, we’ve had reservations placed one day that have turned up from Luton on the next working day! There is no definitive answer to how long a reservation will take unfortunately, it is based on the number of reservations already on a book, how many copies are in circulation as well as where it is coming from.