University of Exeter – students and staff
We offer a limited number of complimentary memberships for current academic staff and students at the University of Exeter.

The University of Exeter and the DEI have a close working relationship. The Institution is a small independent library and educational charity and not part of the University, but we enjoy a long-standing and positive partnership.
The DEI offers a limited number of complimentary University memberships for students and serving academic staff. Administrative staff, and honorary or retired academic staff are not eligible for this type of membership. Students and staff also join us as volunteers, interns and through special projects and taught modules. University members do not have AGM voting rights and are not able to borrow books.
Complimentary University membership is subject to a one-off £15 joining fee and is renewable at the start of each new academic year, irrespective of when you join.
To become a University member of the DEI, you can either pop in and sign up in person, or you can do it online here.
If you join online, please make yourself known as a new University member when you first visit the DEI, so that we can check your Uni ID and give you your Welcome Pack. If you would like a 15-minute library orientation session (including an introduction to the library catalogue, as well as an overview of the collections and how to access them), please contact [email protected] in advance.
To search our collections, click here.
If you would like to make a research appointment to view a collection item, please follow the instructions here.
“The Institution is, to me, an essential learning and studying space that I have been honoured to use since I joined the university. To be able to enter a space filled with beautiful heritage that is calm, quiet and completely free from the distractions of the university campus is a huge privilege. I will never forget the times spent with my fellow students on dark cold evenings in December, where working on essays in such an incredible building becomes a joy rather than a chore.” English Literature Student, Second Year

“I Will Never Consent” – Enys Tregarthen’s Powerful Padstow Mermaid
Mermaids are woven throughout South-Western folklore, but are rarely considered as "hidden histories" of marginalised figures. In this Book of the Month blog one of our volunteers, Becky Rae, explores Enys Tregarthen's fascinating forgotten tale, "The Legend of Padstow Doombar."

An intricate and arduous undertaking: George Montagu (1753-1815) and his collection of shells
Beautiful, intricate and varied, shells have adorned our clothes, our homes and our objects of art for centuries. From the end of the 17th century, natural scientists began to collect, organise, observe and draw them in earnest. George Montagu’s Testacea Britannica (1803) is one of the most important works of natural history to come out of the Age of Enlightenment – and it has a special significance for Exeter.

Why we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover
In this week's guest blog, Beth Howell reveals the fascinating contents of an unassuming volume of poisonous and noxious plants.