On 22 December the University Court gave the final go ahead for the £13.9 million project to transform the library. By the summer of 2010, the University will have on the Stirling campus a 21st century library to support the learning and research activities of all students and staff. As it is the existing building which is being transformed, there will be some disruption to library and other services while the construction work is underway. Information Services is committed to minimising the disruption to students in this period and maintaining services.
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During this semester, the construction work is mainly confined to the “backroom” areas such as staff offices and storage areas. One study area and part of another one will be closed, but the number of study spaces and IT facilities will be maintained by an increase in the accommodation in the Electronic Information Area on level 2 of the library and by the opening of a new open access computer lab in Cottrell 2Y corridor. There will be no significant disruption to the normal activities of borrowing or referencing of books in the library. Therefore there should be little disruption to students’ normal use of the library this semester.
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The builders will be aiming to keep noise levels down while they work and Information Services’ staff will monitor these levels carefully. Outside the hours of 9-5 Mondays to Fridays, it is expected that there will be no noise; Information Services will advertise any expected changes to this well in advance.
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Those students wishing to use the University’s archives or special collections for projects may experience some disruption as these have generally been relocated because they are normally housed in the areas where the builders are working first. If you are considering using these collections your are recommended to check the up to date details of availability of these services which can be found at:
http://www.is.stir.ac.uk/libraries/collections/spcoll/index.php
The statistics and EC collections have now been moved to store, but most of these are available online; please contact the Information Centre for assistance.
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A team has been established to oversee the management of the project; this includes the SUSA President and the Director of Information Services, either of whom will be happy to raise concerns and problems expressed by any student when using library services during this time.
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The major construction work in the library will start in the summer and is due to last for twelve months. During that period special arrangements will be in place for library services. Top priority is being given to ensure the 110,000 books, journals etc which appear on reading lists and which have been issued in the past year are available for students to reference or borrow. Access to PCs and study spaces will be maintained although some may be in different locations to usual to avoid disruption by the builders. Fuller information on the detailed services for next academic year will appear in due course.
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Information Services has a web site which has background information on the library transformation project and contains up to date news on its progress. Bookmark it now!
http://www.is.stir.ac.uk/newlibrary
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Mark Toole
Director of Information Services