Location

The Birmingham Collection is housed in several locations in Archives, Heritage and Photography:

• Quick reference materials are located on the Quick Reference sequence shelves in the West Mobile on floor 4.
   
• The Birmingham Collection open access sequence features suitable quick reference texts as well as a vast array of printed materials covering a diverse range of topics. All additions to the open access sequence are based upon the tone of the book plus its price and perceived public demand. There is a tendency not to place academic texts on open access as there is usually less demand for these types of text. All open access texts are rebound in hard cover format if not already in this condition at purchase as a means of protecting items from general mishandling. All materials in the open access and quick reference sequences of the Birmingham Collection are predominately duplicate copies of items held in the fifth store area which is only accessible to identified library staff.
   
• Items from the store area form the largest part of the Birmingham Collection and these documents are served via the completion of a requisition slip. Materials are held in four different parts of the stack according to size - octavo, elephant, pamphlet and quarto. Stack items are placed away from direct public access as a means of protecting their conservation along with maintaining their uniqueness and reflecting their cultural and monetary value.