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What we stock

Portsmouth City Council's Library Service has a wide variety of materials that you can borrow to either help you with your studies, learn a new skill, or for when you just want to relax with a good book.  Not all libraries stock all types of material, but you can request items from other libraries and we’ll send them to the branch of your choice.

• books – we’ve got thousands of titles covering a vast range of subjects for all age ranges and abilities.  We regularly buy new copies of bestsellers, literary prizewinners, Richard and Judy’s book club and summer reads, as well as more specialised materials and books in a variety of languages.  If you’re not sure what to read next, we’ve even got books and websites which will help you choose.
• Rapid Reads and Skills for Life - the library service provides books in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and resources for adult learners. A collection of Rapid Reads (simplified, shorter versions of popular books, both fiction and non-fiction) is available. Some even come with audio tapes, so you can listen while you read. For more information on our Skills for Life stock, navigate to the link under 'Internal links'.
• talking books – we stock a broad range of books on tape and compact disc. The perfect alternative for people who have difficulty reading print, but also for listening in your car, or even whilst you do your ironing.
• language packs - have you ever fancied learning a new language? We’ve got educational packs in a wide variety of languages for beginners, or for the more experienced linguist. Packs contain both a book and cassettes or CDs to help with the learning process.
• recorded music – most branch libraries have compact disc collections covering a wide variety of musical tastes. Whether you’re into opera, musicals, world music or thrash metal, we’ve got something you’ll like. New titles are bought regularly from both current releases and record company back catalogues. Please note: libraries are bound by licensing restrictions and we’re unable to loan most new titles until three months after they’re released, but you can place a request to reserve a new title when it becomes available.
• videos and DVDs – there are DVD collections in all our branches. We cater for a broad variety of tastes and you’ll find everything from cartoons to classics and blockbusters to Bollywood.  We also stock a wide range of educational titles to help you learn new skills or discover new facts. Please note: We aren’t always able to obtain titles as quickly as rental shops. Generally, videos become available for borrowing in line with availability at high street retailers - subject to the title being ordered for Library Service stock.
• CD-Roms - These are available from selected branches and we offer a range of titles such as driving hazard perception tests, learning a new language and discovering your family history.