MMLL Library

A comic strip on Leonardo DiCaprio.

Miss Merkel alongside a magnifying glass.

Via e velo per Plasch e Flurina, held in front of Sidgwick Site bike racks.

Chesnok held in the MMLL Library.

#WorldBookDay faves from the MMLL Library!
 
A comic on Leonardo DiCaprio's dating history, German cosy crime 'Miss Merkel', a guide to cycling in Switzerland (in Romansh!) and culinary heritage from across the post-Soviet diaspora.

A poster for the book launch alongside flowers and food in the MMLL Library.

Chairs lined up in the MMLL Library alongside a bookcase covered in fairy lights.

A spread of food on a table in the MMLL Library.

The book Digital Media, Memory and Heritage in Contemporary Rio de Janeiro: Reproducing the Past for the Present by Victoria Adams alongside flowers in the MMLL Library foyer.

About last night…📚🍷

We were delighted to host a book launch event for ‘Digital Media, Memory and Heritage in Contemporary Rio de Janeiro: Reproducing the Past for the Present’ by Dr Victoria Adams.

Victoria completed her PhD at Cambridge and spent a year working with us in the MMLL Library!

Best suggestion so far is Jules Ferne!

A plant at the issue desk in the MMLL Library. A label on the plant pot reads 'Madame de Leafayette'.

A plant on a shelf in the MMLL Library. A label on the plant pot reads 'Primo Leafi'.

A plant on a shelf in the MMLL Library. A label on the plant pot reads 'Plante Alighieri'.

A plant on a shelf in the MMLL Library. A label on the plant pot reads 'Miguel de Cerplantes'.

Meet some members of the extended library team🤝🪴

Any punny suggestions for us?

#UnivesityofCambridge

🌍 The new MMLL Faculty website has launched!

www.mmll.cam.ac.uk/library

@mmll-cambridge.bsky.social

Ambivalent Archives visits….the British Library - CRASSH Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities

On Tuesday 24 February, join the Ambivalent Archives research group on a visit to the British Library to consider a range of print material, practice hands-on engagement, and consider the British Library's role in archiving in the UK today. 📚

Find out more about the visit: https://bit.ly/3ZmM7Af

A laptop connected to an external monitor, alongside a travel cup of tea.

A comic on a sofa in the MMLL Library Student Room, alongside a mince pie and iced coffee.

Books, ear defenders and blankets on a beanbag in the MMLL Library.

An exam paper on a writing slope alongside a pencil and water bottle at a desk in the MMLL Library. The window is covered in window film displaying the Alhambra in Granada.

POV: you’re studying in the MMLL Library…

Everyone’s study set up looks different and we can help make yours work for you. We can lend you laptops, chargers, adapters, headphones, ear defenders, book rests, writing slopes and laptop stands.

And books too, obviously! 💻📚🎧

LGBT+ History Month exhibition in the MMLL Library. A poster reads 'LGBT+ history across the MMLL collections'.

The novel The Wolf and his King by Finn Longman is held in front of the LGBT+ History Month exhibition.

LGBT+ pin badges from the 1980s in Homosexualität_en / edited by Birgit Bosold, Dorothée Brill, Detlef Weitz

An excerpt from Ovida Delect's La vocation d'être femme : itinéraire d'une transsexualité vécue.

February marks LGBT+ History Month, and at MMLL we have gathered material tracing queer history across the MMLL collections!🏳️‍🌈
 
Across criticism, theatre, fiction and memoir the exhibition touches upon Nazi persecution, queer exile in fascist Italy, LGBT activism in Eastern Europe and more.

A page from Pinocchio in Emojitaliano, showing a page of text in Italian and its translation into Emojitaliano.

Can you decipher anything from the photo below?🤷‍♀️💭📷

As well as stocking commonly taught languages like Spanish, German and Russian, the MMLL Library hold books on Basque, Romansh and even ‘Emojitaliano’!

#UniversityofCambridge

Span (1967) by Philip King is seen on the RFB grass, covered by a dusting of snow.

Picnic benches between the Raised Faculty Building and Lady Mitchell Hall are seen covered in snow.

The Criminology Faculty and nearby bike racks in snow.

Snow on Sidge❄️

A wintery welcome back as we reopen! Pop by 9am - 5pm on weekdays for the remainder of the vacation.

An image of the Raised Faculty Building with yellow Ginkgo leaves in the foreground. Superimposed text reads 'Opening Hours: After Friday 5th December, our vacation opening hours will resume. We will be open 9am - 5pm on weekdays.'

An image of autumnal green, red and yellow crisp leaves on the ground. Superimposed text reads 'Library closures: The library will close from 20th December - 4th January inclusive. We look forward to welcoming you back on 5th January!'

The library itself will be open on weekdays for anyone staying on into December, until we close for Christmas from 20th December - 4th January.
 
Enjoy these autumnal shots of Sidge, and a summary of our vacation borrowing policies!🍂

An image of pink and purple skies on the Sidgwick Site on an autumnal evening. Superimposed text reads 'Vacation borrowing at the MMLL Library: December 2025'.

A photo of leaves piling up alongside bike racks looking out over the Criminology Faculty and the Law Faculty. Superimposed text reads 'Requests: Requests are turned off from 2nd December so that nobody can recall your items whilst you're away from Cambridge.'

A photo of a tree outside the Raised Faculty Building in Cambridge, with leaves turning orange and yellow. Superimposed text reads 'Loans: Apart from short loans, all items will auto-renew throughout the vacation. You don't need to take any action.'

The end of another term is in sight! Well done to all those finishing up on essays, articles and teaching!

You may be wondering what to do with your library books as you head off for the holidays - except for short loans you can keep them all over the vacation!

A poster from the La Noire de... symposium on display in the MMLL Library foyer.

An exhibition on Ousmane Sembène in the MMLL Library foyer.

Relive the recent symposium on La Noire de… at the MMLL Library with our new exhibition!

Put together in collaboration with Dr Doyle Calhoun for the symposium, it combines Ousmane Sembène’s films and literary works, along with relevant scholarship.📚

A snowman made out of black and white books in the MMLL Library foyer. It has a red crochet scarf and paper buttons and nose. Paper snowflakes decorate the window in the background.

Happy Bridgemas!⛄️

Look out for multilingual crocheted Christmas trees around the library foyer, and for some festive treats at Tea & Biscuits!

Thalassopoetics: Ocean readings in French Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities

Call for papers 🌊
Thalassopoetics: Ocean readings in French

When we consider French literary traditions from the sea rather than the land, what perspectives does it give us, and what questions are we prompted to ask?

20-21 April 2026
Murray Edwards College
Deadline 31 Dec 2025
bit.ly/47S2nyb

A side-on view of the Black History Month exhibition in the MMLL Library foyer.

An up-close shot of a still from Touki Bouki, directed by Dijbril Diop Mambéty in The African gaze : photography, cinema and power / Amy Sall.

An up-close shot of the page captioned 'Whitney Houston performing at Wembley Arena' in Diva  / edited by Kate Bailey, available at AZ.12.2 in the MMLL Library.

An up-close shot of a page in Stéphane Martelly's Comme un trait. The page is covered in handwritten French, with colourful drawings on top of the text.

Our current exhibition is based around events happening locally to mark Black History Month, with a focus on audio/visual culture, from music and art to black divas throughout history.🎨🎼

Find out more about the events still happening across Cambridge via the link in our bio!

If you've been in the library recently you may have noticed the cabins for the Stirling Building refurbishment blocking some windows. Not to fear - we've replaced these with some sights we'd all much rather be looking out on!
 
Can you identify these dream Year Abroad destinations?

Good morning. We are aware that selective ebooks platforms are down. These include JSTOR, EBSCOhost, Taylor & Francis and BorrowBox (audiobooks). We believe that a major contributing factor is the disruption to Amazon Web Services, health.aws.amazon.com/health/status

Autumnal trees near the Alison Richard Building.

Lauren Berlant reading group 📚

Join CRASSH Fellow @darlingorlaith.bsky.social in tracing Berlant’s understanding of normative fantasies and their role in maintaining and critiquing the social and political orthodoxies of given eras

From 13 October, Alison Richard Building, CB3 9DP
bit.ly/4nFi9C0

The Stirling Building seen from the MMLL Library, surrounded by construction materials.

A display of foreign-language cookbooks in the MMLL Library foyer.

A plant pot on top of a shelf in the MMLL Library. The plant pot has a label reading 'Miguel de Cerplantes'.

- Foreign-language cookbooks to borrow🍳
- The Stirling Building is being refurbished.
- Punny plants around the library!

A poster of an Italian village on a concrete pillar in the MMLL Library.

A workspace in the MMLL Library where an external monitor sits on the table.

Flyers for booking library tours are held in the MMLL Library foyer. The text on them reads 'New to MMLL or fancy a refresher? Book a library tour via the QR code.' ' Tours will be held at 11am and 2:30pm on weekdays between 6th and 17th October.'

- External monitors for connecting to your laptop💻
- Posters using photography from students' years abroad.
- Library tours throughout early October.

The Q collection in the MMLL Library Student Room.

A yoga mat is held up in the MMLL Library foyer.

The Greek section in the MMLL Library.

- An expanded and reorganised collection on wellbeing, popular fiction, activism and more.
- Yoga mats for borrowing🧘‍♀️
- A growing Modern Greek collection, now located near the Medieval sections.

A photo showing a tree outside the MMLL Library where leaves are turning yellow. The following text is superimposed: 'What's new at the MMLL Library: Michaelmas 2025'.

A lamp and bookcase in the MMLL Library Student Room, accompanied by the text 'Cozy lighting'.

A photo of English-language fiction in translation. Titles shown include the Hunger Games in Italian, and Twilight in Polish.

Welcome to all those arriving in Cambridge for the new academic year!🍂📚

Here's a quick rundown of what's been happening at the MMLL Library in advance of the new term🧵

- Cozy lighting in the Student Room.
- English-language fiction translated into Tripos languages.

Over the holidays we’ve been busy with book moves and collection expansion at MMLL! 
 
We’ve added a selection of foreign-language cookbooks and popular fiction translated from English into MMLL Tripos languages - look out for speech bubbles marking this on the books’ spines💬

#UniversityofCambridge

If you desperately need an MMLL book during this time, you are welcome to email / ring the doorbell on the off chance that a staff member is in the library and can help - we cannot guarantee that this will be the case though!

Happy holidays to all☀️

The UL will be open during this period, and some Faculty libraries on the Sidgwick Site may also be open.

Two ginkgo trees outside the library in spring, with green leaves.

Two ginkgo trees outside the library in autumn, with yellow leaves.

Two ginkgo trees outside the library in winter, with no leaves.

At MMLL we’ve been tracking the beautiful ginkgo trees outside the library throughout the seasons!🌳

As we come to summer, the library will be closing to allow for staff annual leave and book move projects. We will be closed from 4th-26th August inclusive.

CRASSH at 25! Anniversary open calls, submit your ideas on the theme of 'Knowledge in a Fractured World'.

💥 CRASSH at 25!
Be part of our 2026 anniversary programme!

Submit your ideas in response to our anniversary open calls for a special annual lecture and a series of funded half-day events on the theme of
'Knowledge in a Fractured World'
buff.ly/MdzMVzX

Tell us about ‘Reimagining Ecologies in Italian Visual Culture’ - CRASSH Visual culture has profoundly shaped and shapes societal attitudes toward nature and non-human animals since the of the earliest images

🎤 in this Q&A, CIRN Fellow Pietro Agnoletto tells us about his upcoming event ‘Reimagining Ecologies in Italian Visual Culture’, which takes place on 11 June at CRASSH, and explores how environmental humanities can engage with the value placed on 'nature' and environmental issues
bit.ly/43HcXok

Thanks to Newnham College Library and @theseeleylib.bsky.social for their stamp contributions🤝