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Library loves feedback

12 April 2022

We work in partnership with you to create the services you need.

Library internal wall with 'Love is in the air' feedback board

This spring we asked you what you thought about the library.

We received some great feedback. There was a lot of love for the staff, spaces and collections. A particular favourite was a poem:

Love can be a rollercoaster with all its weird nooks.
I love the library just because it has less people than books.

We also welcome your suggestions on how we can improve our services. This helps us build a library around your needs.

You said you wanted the Main Library to open 24 hours.

The Cruciform Hub, Main, Science and IOE Libraries will be open 24/7 from the evening of Friday 25 March until the evening of Friday 27 May (9 weeks in total).

This is in addition to 24-hour access at the UCL Student Centre.

You said you wanted more space.

We have now restored our study space capacity to about 4,500 study spaces after being able to lift social distancing restrictions. We have also removed the requirement to book for most study spaces, although following feedback we will retain some bookable spaces. We have continued to provide additional spaces in 1-19 Torrington Place for this academic year.

Although we are limited due to our location in central London, we are continually seeking to increase the number of spaces available to students.

You said you wanted group study spaces.

We have now made group study spaces available. We had to close these while social distancing was necessary during the pandemic.

You said you wanted space for online meetings or seminars.

You can book smaller group study rooms in the Student Centre for individual use for online meetings/seminars, and the Kenyon Study Room in the IOA Library for this use as well.

We are investigating other options to expand this availability.

You said the Main Library was too cold.

The Library Facilities and Projects team worked with UCL Estates to provide a temporary solution to ensure the Main Library is kept at a suitable temperature while ensuring spaces are ventilated for safety reasons. This temporary solution was installed in December 2021 and will remain in place while extensive infrastructure works are undertaken to replace the obsolete heating system in the Wilkins building over the next couple of years.

You said other users were noisy in silent study spaces.

We encourage everyone to be considerate of other users and use group study spaces if they need to work with colleagues. You can always get library staff to ask other users to be quiet in the silent study spaces. Our service charter represents our agreement with you to provide a high-quality customer service and your commitment to other users and library staff.

You said that you would like library maps to help you find spaces and other resources in the libraries.

You can check our space availability page which provides accurate information on how busy the library sites are. We are working with colleagues in ISD to provide this information on a map.

We are also updating floor plans for all library spaces that can be used to navigate spaces and find the location of specific collections, MFDs, PCs, water fountains and more.

You said the WiFi connection was not always good.

We are speaking to ISD about this.

You said there is not enough charging sockets.

We will speak to UCL Estates about this.

You said the Science Library was closed too much.

Unfortunately, we have to close the Science Library at times for essential maintenance as it is an old building. We choose less busy times and provide fetching services for books and other resources to minimise disruption.

The Science Library will be open 24/7 until the 28th of May.

You said the library spaces were not always as clean as they should be.

We will be stepping up cleaning during the exam period. We also encourage all library members to use the bins provided and to place books back on trolleys when leaving. Wipes are also available for cleaning study spaces.

Sharing feedback

Thank you to everyone who shared feedback during our Valentines campaign. The winners of the prize draw have now been contacted.

You can share feedback with us throughout the year. The easiest way to do this is through our online form.