University of Roehampton celebrates opening of new library
- Sunday, September 3, 2017
The University of Roehampton's new £35 million Library opened on Monday 4 September.
Staff and students at the University of Roehampton celebrated the soft opening of the state-of-the-art Library on Monday 4 September with tours of the new facility and refreshments.
The five-storey building houses 1,200 brand new study spaces and hundreds of thousands of books and research materials across nearly 8,000 metres of shelving. It has electronic versions of text books, laptops available on loan, online journals and databases, a school-experience library, as well as an extensive children's literature collection. It also has a new eatery, the Walsingham Garden Room and Café which overlooks a newly landscaped Digby Stuart College campus.
Most significantly for students, more seating and student space is available than is usual within academic libraries, with a study space for every eight students (compared with a national average ten students per space). There are also dedicated group-study areas with computers for presentation practice and power points at every desk, as well as Wi-Fi throughout.
Students will have views from the top floor of the Library over iconic London landmarks, including Wembley Stadium, the London Eye and Canary Wharf.
Susan Scorey, University Librarian comments, "Libraries today are more than just about borrowing books. They are a comfortable and aspirational place to study, with multiple online and printed resources. We've worked hard to create a library which is a motivating and inspiring place to study, with plenty space and natural light.
"We know that everyone studies in their own way, and to accommodate everyone's different styles, there are group areas in the lower floors and as you move up through the building there are quieter areas for individual study.
"Students have been instrumental in the design and build of the new Library over the last four years, telling us what they need and how they work. We're looking forward to hearing what both students and staff think after visiting the Library today".