Park Square LRC - Air Conditioning

I have had several complaints (8) regarding the temperatures in the LRC, IT Suite and Social Learning Space 19 - 24 May.

The air circulation systems in place were under extreme pressure with the unseasonably hot weather at that time. That coupled with a large concentration of people inside the building resulted in very uncomfortable temperatures for customers to study in.

I can only apologise for this discomfort. English weather is challenging at the best of times and when the pressure of dissertations and revision are the focus of your time it doesn't help to have any kind of distractions. The systems we have have to cope with large areas which make them slow to respond to changes in temperature. By the time the air circulation responded to initial rise in external temperatures a lot of heat had already built up and been trapped in the building.

Air conditioning may seems like a simple (if an extremely expensive solution) but it would not be in keeping with the University's budget or energy efficiency strategy so is not a possibility at this time.

Thanks

Park Square - Opening Hours

I have had the greatest number of complaints received during one week on - virtually - the same thing for the first time ever. I have received 19 complaints regarding the opening hours during exam week. ie week beg: 24 May 2010. The request is for 24 hour opening.

During exam time the IT Suite is used for exams for one week. During this week the IT Suite is closed. This year that week was week beginning 24 May.

After Easter every year we have a period of extended opening to accommodate revision and dissertation writing. This year Park Square mirrored Polhill by having the extended opening: 19 April to 7 May. Although this was appreciated by many students a lot of students were disadvantaged by the IT Suite being closed for exams with normal LRC opening hours. Next year we will try to have the extended opening for the last weeks of May and to have the IT Suite open after the last exam of the day (but this may not be possible).

The University does not have the financial resources to allow 24 hour opening but having the IT Suite and Social Learning Space open until 2am does offer quite reasonable provision.

Apologies for the inconvenience caused we will try to address this next year.

Thanks

Behaviour post 10pm

I am a third year student that is currently studying in my final year. I was thrilled to know that the entire Luton library would be open until 2am. Studying on the other levels ensure silent studying which is crucial at this time for many. I was disappoint to find out at 9.45pm yesterday that the upper levels are now closing at 10pm, we were told that we could study in the IT suite and in the area adjacent to the IT suite. I went down stairs in the IT suite, and found it very similar to a school playground or a common room. People were being loud, and generally 'messing' about. I went into the other area and found that it was just the same. Many people are unable to work under these conditions especially when carrying out the final major project which people are still working on. I am very disappointed that the upper floor late opening times have not accommodated for all students and would request that consideration needs to made for all students. Extending opening time for a further couple of weeks would really be beneficial for ALL.

Thank you for your comments. I am glad you found the three weeks of extended opening for the library floors at Park Square beneficial. I am sorry but resources will not extended to continuing with the extended opening for the library floors. I will pass you comments onto our security team to ensure that some level of working environment is maintained. Please pass your concerns onto the security teams if you find behaviour unacceptable.

I finished my course can I still use the LRC?

I finished my course... and would very much like to use the guest pc to watch news programmes on the internet... could the pc be upgraded with a sound card.

Congratulations on finishing your course. You have access to the LRC and your University network files for 3 months after the completion of your course. I would advise that before those 3 months disappear that you copy all your work from the student network onto a USB or CD so you can continue to have access to those files should you need it.

The guest pc is offered to external users to the University's LRC for study purposes. I do acknowledge that as a Journalism student you may have needed to watch television news and other programmes. Now that your course is complete using the LRC as a television lounge is not appropriate as we only have one guest pc and it is high demand. We may be able to get a sound card for the guest pc in due course but it is not a priority at this time.

After the 3 months has gone by post graduating, you may join the LRC as an External User as an Alumnus, have a look at our web pages to see if your are interested:

http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libinfo/exusers

Reservations Waiting Lists

... I can't even get a book which I have already hold 3 weeks ago...

Thank you for your comment and - if it helps - I share your concern. At this time of year particularly key books get reserved for revision, end of year assignments and dissertations. The University's reservation process should ensure that everyone gets an equal opportunity to use the materials available. Customers are not able to re-new books which have been reserved by other people.

People do - out of desperation - occasionally let books overdue, as they would rather pay a fine than give the book back. They then get shocked when they are issued with a replacement bill for the book that usually bring the book back. This year there has been a slight worsening in availability as some students were stuck on holiday (due to the ash cloud) with their library books. Hopefully that will have settled down by now. If you continue to have problems with availability may I suggest you contact your subject librarian to see if they can help in some way.

http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/contact/alls

Loud Speakers/Tannoy

... Whenever the library is about to close .. staff go to all floors to inform students that the library is closing ... the University should consider installing speakers...

This suggestion has been made before and is a very sensible one. Unfortunately when the project was priced up the costs were prohibitive in the extreme. I am sorry we will have to stick with the personal touch, with staff walking round at closing time to advise customers that the library is about to close.

Dedicated Printing pc

Some students only bring hardware in to print, would it be worth have a pc reserved just for those who wish to do this?

Thank you for this suggestion. Some investigation is being done into how many students only come into the LRC just to print off their assignments. Dedicating one pc as a "print" pc can give rise to confusion but - if the demand is great enough - could help at busy times.