As of Monday 7th November 2022 day visitors must be over the age of 18. Visitors will be required to show proof of age if requested by library staff.

This is as a result of a spate of recent incidents of misbehaviour. The Library is working on a new process to enable access for under 18s who wish to use the Library for study purposes.

In the interim period the Library reserves the right to decline entry to visitors, entry will be granted for study purposes only and all visitors are reminded of the need to abide by the Library Regulations.

Just as resting your eyelids makes you feel sleepy, opening your eyes wide and looking upwards sends signals from the muscles around your eyes to your brain telling it to wake up, making you feel almost instantly energised. Like most behavioural techniques, it sounds laughably simple but works almost instantly like some kind of black magic.

We don’t so much blame the person who failed to file an objection to the arrival of a kebab truck opposite the library entrance as continue to stab an effigy of what we imagine they might look like on a …

No takeaways, please. It’s a library, not a kebab shop. Read more »

The library can get very busy and nerves are easily frayed when people feel under pressure.  Even a whispered conversation can carry far and wide in a quiet, confined and echoey space.  At the other extreme, people working in splendid …

Keeping the peace (or how not to have arguments) Read more »

Imagine if you will that you are riding in a train carriage (or a car, or a  plane) and there is a crying baby a scant few seats away.  Now imagine that babies came with a convenient switch that could …

Screaming for silence: the damaging and antisocial effect of loud ringtones on others’ study Read more »

There has been some confusion over the zoning arrangements in the Postgraduate Study Suite.  Room 0.39 in the corner of the building, together with the two small rooms attached to it (0.40 and 0.41) comprise an Individual Silent Study zone; room 0.38, …

Zoning in the Postgraduate Study Suite Read more »

As deadlines and exams fast approach, an age-old problem will soon flare up once again. And as ever, the divisive issue will anger some and annoy others. Before too long the Library will see students packed in tightly, with inevitable debris scattered far and …

“Beach towels at dawn” or “musical chairs”? Read more »

Everyone likes to work differently and most people like to work alone for much, sometimes nearly all, of the time.  Many people also want to get away from noise and distractions to work more efficiently.  This is why we have …

Of group meeting pods and individual silent study Read more »