Our 9 centres in India are a key platform for delivery of our cultural relations ambition in South Asia. Our collection reflects our core priority areas of English, Arts, Education & Society, and also brings the best of contemporary UK to you, our Indian audience.
You can use our collection* to access content to open up new professional opportunities through English teaching and learning, enrich your professional life in the Arts, develop new understanding and partnerships related to UK Education, and engage with Contemporary UK.
Each of our 9 centres** boasts a vast collection of print books, DVDs and audiobooks, and 50 of the best UK periodicals and newspapers, covering the core subject areas. In addition, our customers can access a vast collection of online resources covering a wealth of subject areas, including 80,000 e-books and 14,000 e-journals. Our exciting plans for 14-15 include the launch a new online literature offer.
When selecting materials for purchase, our team shortlists titles against the criteria below and forwards selections to our Selection Committee, who make the final selection. We encourage you to make suggestions for purchase: these will be reviewed against the same criteria.
Alongside the programme and collection policy and the strategic priorities of our Strategic Business Units (SBUs) in the areas of English, Arts, Education and Society, we use the following criteria for selection and development of our collection:
- Does the title fall within the areas of English, Arts, Education and Society, or Contemporary UK, as defined in the Collection and Programme Policy?
- How well does the title meet the needs of users, within the current strategic objectives of the British Council?
- How does the title add value to the collection?
- How well has the title been reviewed?
- What is the reputation of the author?
- What is the reputation of the publisher?
- How widely is the title recommended by reputable sources (subject-specific reading lists, lists of top titles in a subject area, etc.)?
- Does the title fall within a reasonable price range for its type?
The collection is regularly reviewed to ensure titles are up-to-date (less than seven years old), and that worn or lost titles are replaced where possible.
Please visit the website or contact your local centre for the complete coverage of our collection and for more information on how to access the resources***.
*The British Council reserves the right to change entirely at its discretion any or all the stock, electronic, virtual, paper etc.at any time during the term of membership
** mylibrary (Library and Information Services Mumbai) is an online library service in Mumbai where books can be ordered from a real time web-enabled catalogue and does not include DVDs, UK periodicals and newspapers. mylibrary gives members access to 25,000 books, 100 audio books plus 80,000 e-books
***Terms and conditions apply