Student led change

Building on strength

We are delighted to report that a full four years after we first received Customer Service Excellence Standard recognition, our award has been fully reviewed and re-accredited. The Library was once again found to be fully compliant in all areas, bar one point of partial compliance, with several areas being scored as "Compliance Plus",  indicating we exceeded the already high standards expected and demonstrated good practice. The assessor highlighted our particular strengths in empowering staff to “go the extra mile” and in the commitment of the Library's leadership team to embedding improvements to the customer experience across the board.

The assessor had glowing praise for everyone with whom she interacted, concluding that: "Evidence of many unprompted compliments about staff friendliness, helpfulness and speed of response were provided."

 

Delivering what matters

Every year, our students have told us that our resources were one of the things they liked most about their courses.  Learning from the experiences of providing meaningful changes to clients during lockdown, when all our clients were working remotely, we streamlined access to our eresources and worked with suppliers to bring more eresources than ever before delivered straight to your desktop in a digital-first approach intended to offer optimal support for blended learning for clients on campus and beyond and ultimately help us create more study spaces in the Library. 

 

Space for all

We took the opportunity to refurbish the library entrance with better toilets, sliding doors, and modern environmental controls that keep the cold air out while reducing our carbon footprint.  Better lit and warmer, the library foyer is now comfortable and welcoming.  

We are carrying our space enhancements further into the building, moving the Book Nook from beneath the stairs to occupy a warm, secluded corner of the library near the café.  Fresh, brightly upholstered sofas and chairs now offer many more people a chance to gather and collaborate or relax in comfort.  The leather upholstered seats from the old Book Nook have meanwhile found a new home replacing the well-loved curved seating frequented by our law students on the first floor, giving this popular meeting space a luxurious new feel.

We understand that, at peak times, there is still competition for study space.  We have increased the amount of study space repeatedly and continue to look for innovative new ways to maximise the study space available within the confines of what remains the most popular study space on campus.  

 

Supporting you wherever you study

We re-imagined our Subject pages, making each a tailored learning path guiding you through the learning process needed to engage fully with each discipline while still serving as an easy reference directory for the best eresources for those subjects. 

Website improvements, powerful search tools and single sign-on access to eresources from anywhere using the VPN make finding what you want faster and more reliable.  Our friendly and expert staff are also on hand in person and online to help you get started and improve your searching, digital, media and information literacy, and your referencing.

 

New and intuitive

We have enhanced our virtual tour and created a guided video tour, comprehensively redesigned our referencing advice pages to be both more streamlined and comprehensive and wrote a simple overview guide for you to download that introduces how the APA 7th edition referencing style works.  We made our website simpler and more intuitive to use, studded with video shorts showing how everything works, and enhanced the library catalogue with a system that links everything to a 3D floor plan showing where to find it.

We realise you might only have time to collect the printed books you need to read, and not to browse the shelves to find them, so we continued the Click & Collect service first introduced during lockdown.

 

Convenience on demand

Not everything is available electronically and not everyone enjoys reading exclusively from a screen.  That's why we introduced automated book loan renewals and postal loans for everyone staying in the UK.  Now everyone can read our print books, no matter where in the UK they are staying.  We still strive to offer ebooks for everything our distance learners need to read, as well as for all essential reading for other courses, so you can read or listen to your core materials at home or on the go without delay.

 

Art and recreation

We are proud to buy and display our students’ competition-winning art to stimulate and inspire future generations, as well as curating regularly changing displays by and for staff and students',m showcasing their talents, hobbies, interests and projects.  There is nothing like the feeling when we see the burgeoning confidence of students seeing their work exhibited in public for the first time. 

 

Tell us what you think

The library service has always been client-led, developed in response to feedback from people like you!  We really admire how well you adapted to living through one of the most challenging times in recent history and are tremendously proud of all you have achieved and accomplished. 

While we actively engage with students and watch keenly for trends so we can anticipate your needs, there is no substitute for hearing from our clients.  Your comments and suggestions fuel change and help us meet your emerging needs.  You can post ideas (we'll supply the postcard!) anonymously into our retro red suggestions post box on the ground floor near the IT Desk, leave us a review on Google or Facebook, message us on social media, suggest things in person or stop by one of our pop-up events around campus, or simply drop us a good old fashioned email!  There is even a suggestion box on our website!  The library service you see now developed as a result of comments, suggestions, ideas and criticisms we received from previous students, just as your needs, insights, and creativity will help shape our future.