Library Help

The Institute of Education Library holds an extensive collection of historical British school textbooks that reflect teaching practices and curriculum development across all educational levels, from nursery to sixth form. The collection is particularly strong in geography, history, science, and technology. While many of the textbooks are catalogued, the records are often basic and use broad subject headings, which may not fully capture the underlying themes or biases within the texts. For this reason, it is often most effective to examine individual books directly. The instructions below will guide you on how to search for these textbooks in the catalogue and request them for your research.

1. Start at Explore and sign in.

2. Type in the phrase 'historicaltextbooks' (as shown below) and click the Search icon.

3. Refine your results first by Library and then by Date, by using the filters on the left-hand side of the screen.

4. Browse the list and click on a title to see the full bibliographic record, inlcuding the shelfmark.

5. To view the book, note the author, title and shelfmark, and email this inforation to the ioelibrary@ucl.ac.uk, along with the date and time you are able to visit the Reading Room. 

Please note: Rare and fragile books such as these textbooks can only be consulted in the Reading Room, which requires an appointment. The Reading Room opening hours are normally Tuesday to Thursday 10:00-16:00. These may vary during the vacation so please check the opening hours before sending in your request.