Decolonisation and the Library: Suggest a book!

You are invited to request new books that will increase representation of diverse voices in our library. We want our collections to reflect the diversity of the student body at Warwick and capture the lived experiences that are missing from, or overlooked by, typical curricula.

In order to support our broader mission to enable the university's world-leading research and teaching, we want world-leading collections. This means including diverse and marginalised voices from across the disciplines, so that researchers can access the widest range of material. To that end, if you spot a gap in our holdings, or a book by a marginalised scholar in your field that we have not purchased, please send us your suggestions and we will do our best to buy them.

Your input on this will both further diversify our holdings, and ensure that our collections -- and, therefore, the university's research and teaching -- are world-leading, with curricula that reflect the diversity of voices across the disciplines that we study and research. 

Suggest a book using this form. 

Suggestions will be reviewed by the library team who will check our existing holdings and purchase subject to factors including cost, availability of space, and originality. We will contact you once we have reviewed your submission. 

How has it worked so far?

We first piloted this campaign from 23 January 2018 to 9 February 2018, calling out to all students to tell us which books were needed to enhance their studies. We received almost 200 requests in total, and spent nearly £10,000 during the three week campaign! We were impressed by the breadth and seriousness of the suggestions, and were very happy to receive positive feedback from participants.

We felt convinced that More Books – Your Books! was a good idea, and ran the campaign again in Term 2 and Term 3, 2019. In Term 3 we particularly asked for requests which would support initiatives across campus to decolonise the curriculum.

In March 2020, following the closure of all Library buildings due to the coronavirus outbreak, More Books – Your Books! became More Books – More E-Books! and students were invited to tell us which e-books they needed to support their studies. Over 1000 requests were received and processed, and we hope the e-books added to our collections will be useful for students now and in the future.

We are now continuing to ask for requests to further develop the decolonisation of the curriculum.  

'Cogito': Black Power edition, c. 1968; Papers of Bob Purdie, Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick (MSS.149/2/2/12).

Angela Davis Defence Committee poster, c.1960s; Miscellaneous Series, Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick (MSS.21/3369/45).

Images reproduced by permission of the Modern Records Centre.