Psychology Collections Guide

The Library’s psychology collection contains more than 3000 volumes. These include theoretical works, material on the history of the subject, and biographies.

The collection covers the main branches of psychology, including social, cognitive, comparative and child psychology. Also represented in the Library’s holdings are theories such as psychoanalysis, and interdisciplinary fields including the psychology of religion, war-related trauma (shellshock), and parapsychology.

Most material is in English but German, French and Russian are also represented.

Founded in 1841, the Library’s collection has grown each year and we hold titles from the late 18th century onwards on the open shelves. As a result, our collection reflects the evolution and changes in thinking in a particular subject and does mean that you may come across titles which contain ideas and vocabulary that would be considered abhorrent today. The collection continues to grow with some 5,000 new titles being added each year. As we develop the collection, we seek to ensure that the controversial topics of today are represented from all sides of a debate.