Main Library increases opening hours to 8am-2am all week
From Saturday the 11th of October, the Main Library is changing its opening hours during semester from 8am-2am Monday-Thursday, 8am-midnight Friday, 10am-midnight Saturday and 10am-2am Sunday; instead the building will start opening 8am-2am 7 days a week.
Assistant Director of Library Services Ewan McCubbin said:
“Since early 2010, there’s been a gradual increase in the Main Library’s opening hours to meet the growing demand of its users, recognising that different people work in the Library in different ways. We’ve also recognised that there’s less and less difference between weekdays and weekends in terms of footfall and in actual fact, Sundays are frequently our busiest day of the week for visitors.”
“Extending opening hours in the Library is not as straightforward as many people may realise and we have worked really hard in the last few years to make these improvements. Since 2010 we’ve seen a 30% increase in Main Library hours during semester and just under a 50% increase during vacation periods.”
“This progress has been dependent on not only the recent improvements to the building from the £7m refurbishment project but also the University’s continued investment in our frontline staffing and the willingness of these employees to work an ever-increasing range of hours.”
“We are incredibly grateful to our own team of Attendants, colleagues in Estates for their efforts to increase cleaning service provision and also to the Students’ Association and the SRC for the sterling work they’ve done over the last year to keep the issue of opening hours at the forefront of our discussions with them.”
“We intend this change to be permanent but will of course be keeping an eye on usage. Our gates are great at telling us how many people are in the building at any time – now wonderfully indicated on a large screen at the front door! – and this data will help inform any future decisions we make about operating hours. Hopefully the improvements starting this weekend will be well-received by students and we’d be delighted to hear their thoughts in our new online survey which will be launching on Monday of next week.”
If you have any comments or suggests about the Library opening hours or any of our other services, please get in touch: [email protected]