Trip to Imperial College Library

Imperial College London Library

On 24th May 2011, the London Library graduate trainees, accompanied by Gill, made their way to Imperial College Library on South Kensington Campus (http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/library/usethelibrary/central) for what was to turn out to be an extremely informative visit. As a newly separate University library which is essentially spread across six campuses throughout London, its structure was certainly very different to that of the London Library. Whilst our visit was only based in what is known as the “Central Library,” it would have been hard for anyone to not be impressed by the size, available work-space for students and technological resources on offer. With over five floors, broken down into computer rooms, projector rooms, “group study” “silent study” and “quiet study” areas, the library offers a workspace for everyone. As a fairly recent graduate myself, it was also interesting to see how Imperial College Library functioned and responded to student demand, particularly in light of recent government plans to increase student tuition fees to up to £9,000 per year, of which Imperial has decided to charge the full amount.

After proceeding through electronic gates (which students, staff and even alumni must swipe their ID card through in order to enter – a useful way, I was told, of monitoring statistical usage, demographic data, and busy study periods), we were greeted by two self-service circulation machines, and an enormous plasma TV screen informing us of the number of seats available in each of the different computer suites. It was explained to us that whilst the self-service machines certainly help reduce the sheer volume of books coming in and out of the library, as always, there are disadvantages to relying on technology. As there is no separate “book drop” for books which have been requested by other students, staff frequently have to duplicate the discharge of all items scanned through this system to not only double-check they have been returned properly, but also to catch any books that have slipped through the virtual net. The Reader Services staff (a small team of thirteen full-time and five part-time workers), also have to sort the books onto their respective trolleys, and re-shelve them. Thankfully, the library’s initiative to switch to Dewey (as opposed to UDC) has made locating and replacing books a lot easier – both for staff and students.

What struck me upon entering the building, however, was a sense that the library wanted to be perceived as a nice, friendly and most of all, welcoming place to work. Indeed, the atmosphere was not only geared towards a new generation of students, with its emphasis on all things digital, but the use of bright colour and artwork really helped to reinforce this impression. Ignoring my ever-so-slight pangs of jealousy when remembering my old (or, as I’d like to think of it, endearing) University library, I was even more impressed by the late opening hours of Imperial library, which, from October to July, is open 24 hours, six days a week, with the summer period (following exams) offering reduced hours of 8.30am – 8pm.

As a recent graduate, I remember only too well the daunting experience of having to use the library for the first time, desperately struggling to find my way around the collections and being too embarrassed to ask for help. Imperial had an excellent solution to this problem, however. During the first couple of months of the Autumn term, they hold “treasure hunts” for their users – which consist of a long list of questions which encourage individuals to use their initiative to find out the answers. Questions like, ‘How much does it cost to print an A4 page?’ and ‘Whereabouts in the library can you locate the statue of Einstein?’ (yes, really!), are designed to test students in a fun and interactive way. The incentive to take part is fuelled by the offer of a prize if you complete the “hunt” – what this prize was, I do not know, but I know one thing for sure - Imperial College clearly understand their target audience!

In terms of library stock, Imperial possesses a wealth of material (and not just printed, for that matter, but also electronic resources and ebooks as well). Whilst there is not an awful lot of rare material on the open shelves (any requests for such are passed onto the on-site Archivist or to the Science Museum, which has a whole floor dedicated to its library and archive collections), it seems that most of the students require more up-to-date material for their degree courses. Aside from standard book loans, the library also has a “Core Text” room, which offers a copy of every book listed on an academic reading list for an overnight loan period only, a feature I thought was particularly impressive, as it ensured that no one user could hold onto the books for any given length of time. The amount of workspace available is also very impressive. There is ample provision for students who wish to bring in their own laptops (these must first be registered with I.T so that usage can be monitored), and there were hundreds of computer terminals for students to use on-site. In light of the University tuition fees, I think we all felt that Imperial College Library certainly measured up and provided for its students.

The way Imperial College library deals with requests for books contrasted quite dramatically with the London Library’s, however, in that they will not allow users to request material that is actually available on the shelves in the library – indeed, items can only be retrieved if a copy has to be shipped from another of Imperial’s libraries, or is already out on loan. With students as their primary target audience, Imperial also has a strict policy when it comes to damaged, missing or lost books. Whilst the London Library is relatively relaxed when it comes to imposing fines, it was explained to us that the most effective way of dealing with unresolved disputes was to actually block a library user’s account (a punishment worse than death for some students, who already have far too many essays to write and not enough time!)

As recent briefings regarding London Library etiquette have highlighted, there is an increasing need in libraries to prevent members from taking food and drink onto the premises. Whilst the London Library offers a “Members Room” for this purpose, Imperial College has realised that, being open 24 hours a day, a different sort of compromise had to be made. Following the recent refurbishment, a distinctly separate (although adjoining) space in which students can eat, drink and socialise has been built, and has proven to be an extremely successful way of preventing food and drink entering the library.

In conclusion, our trip to Imperial College Library was an extremely interesting one, and I think we all learnt a lot from witnessing first-hand how a University Library deals with the needs and demands of its users on a daily basis. As an area of Librarianship in which I am interested in specialising, Imperial was an excellent example of a library which has considered its priorities, and restructured and refurbished in order to bring themselves into the twenty-first century.