Category Archives: Vacation information

Easter opening hours at your Library

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With the Easter vacation approaching, make sure you know our upcoming opening hours and borrowing policies for the break!

Easter chicks

The Library building will be closed for the University Easter Closure from Thursday 1 April to Tuesday 6 April.

Between Monday 29 March and Wednesday 31 March the Library Building will be open from 08:30-19:00.

From Wednesday 7 April until Friday 16 April, the Library will be open 08:30 – 19:00 Monday to Thursday and 08:30-17:00 Friday to Sunday.

Remember that there will be no Closed Access or Store collections on Bank Holidays. The last Closed Access collection before Easter will be Wednesday 31st March.

Outside the University Easter closure, the PC Labs in the Palmer and Agriculture buildings are also open 24/7. They are accessible with your Campus Card and you do not need to book them.

Please see our opening hours web page for more information. Opening hours for the Summer Term are not yet confirmed – we will post them as soon as possible.

Christine Milne, Library User Services

Library closed until Monday 4 January

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A Christmas tree bauble

The Library building has now closed for the University Christmas closure period. Our building and services reopen on Monday 4 January at 08:30.

We hope you have a relaxing and responsible Christmas break, and look forward to 2021 – we hope it will be an easier year!

Online resources still available

While the Library building and services are closed, our online resources are all still available – you can access them as usual via the Library website.

Renew your loans until January

No items are due back during the closure period. However, please make sure you renew your books before they are due. Most loans are due by Tuesday 12 January –  including Short Loan and 7-day items. We don’t want you to rack up a fine while you’re away!

Happy holidays everyone!

Library User Services

 

Using the Library over the Christmas holidays

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Paper angel on top of book tree in the Library foyer

Be like our book angel and stay on top of your library books this Christmas!

Whether you’re heading home soon or staying on campus over the vacation, this summary of available Library services can help you plan ahead. We wish you happy holidays and effective studying – stay safe everyone!

Library opening

Term ends on Friday 11 December, so after this date the Library will be operating reduced opening hours. This will affect the times that you are able to book study space, Click & Collect loans, book IT Service Desk appointments and use the Library Cafe.

From Saturday 12 December till Monday 21 December, the Library will be open from 08:30 to early evening on weekdays only. There are no weekend services available.

Along with the rest of the campus, the Library closes completely on Tuesday 22 December until Sunday 3 January for the University Christmas closure.

From Monday 4 January till Friday 8 January, we resume vacation-hours opening, and from Saturday 9 January we’ll be open for term-time hours again.

Borrow until January 2021

To help borrowers heading home early due to UK government guidance, we’re lending everything to all Library members until Tuesday 12 January. Any items borrowed or renewed from Monday 30 November will issue until 12 January. These vacation loans include standard, 7-day, overnight loans and journals.

Store and Closed Access requests

If you need materials from the off-site Store or from our Closed Access shelves, be aware of the final dates of collection and make sure you place your request in time.

  • Store collections finish for Christmas on Thursday 17 December – get your request in before 08:30 on this day.
  • Closed Access collections will finish for Christmas on Friday 18 December – get your request in before 13:45.

We will next collect from Closed Access on 4 January and from Store on 7 January (these dates might be subject to change if there is a shortage of available staff). For more information, see Requesting items from Store and Closed Access.

Online help

All our expert staff are available online to help and advise you throughout the vacation (except during the Christmas closure period).

If you have a general enquiry, email library@reading.ac.uk or phone 0118 378 8770.

More info

Check our Current Library Services guide for up-to-date information, especially if there are changes to current government guidelines.

Library User Services

Borrow until January for Christmas!

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A Christmas tree made of books

Our Christmas present to you! Borrow all vacation, 30 November to 12 January.

To help borrowers heading home early due to UK government guidance, we’re lending everything to all Library members from Monday 30 November until Tuesday 12 January.

These Christmas vacation loans will include standard, 7-day, overnight loans and journals. We hope this will make things a little easier for everyone!

What about holds?

If other Library members have already placed a hold on a 7-day or standard loan item, we will only lend you the item for 7 days. If someone is already waiting to use a Short Loan item we will only be able to lend you the item on overnight loan, so that everyone gets the chance to use the material they need.

If you need an item before January, you can still place holds as normal and we will contact the borrower and try to get it back for you.

We may need to recall your Library books during the vacation if another person requests them, so please check your email regularly. If you have difficulty returning items or any other questions, then please email library@reading.ac.uk for help and guidance.

Vacation hours

See our opening hours for full details of Library opening times over the vacation. No items will be due back between Monday 21 December and Sunday 3 January, the University closure period.

Rebecca Ashley, Library User Services

COVID-19 update: Library services move fully online

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Silvery-gold clad University of Reading Library buildings in distance, surrounded by green trees, green grass in foregroundIn line with the University’s move to online teaching, the University Library moved services fully online with effect from Monday 23 March 2020.  Please be assured that we will continue to provide you with our services.  We will ensure that all online resources and additional online help are available to you during the current, unprecedented public health situation.

Using Library online services

A significant proportion of our resources are already available online. There will be no change to this service and everything that you previously used will continue to be available. A simple way to find existing and new resources in your subject is to check our online subject guides: the new COVID-19 tab lists extra resources provided to UoR during the lockdown period.

Online resources

Undergraduate and post-graduate taught course students: you can still access UoR online reading lists directly and via Blackboard. Many of the items on your reading lists are accessible online, with some lists fully available online.

For your research, you can still access e-resources through the Library website, to find our extensive collection of e-books, e-journals and databases. The following tools will help you:

Online Library help and assistance

All Library staff are still available to help and assist with your studies and research.

Library materials currently on loan

Whilst the Library building remains closed the printed book collection will not be available.  If you currently have books on loan that are due back do not worry!  We will automatically renew them for you so that you do not get fined.  And if you incur any fines during this period of online working you will not be charged.  Books that you currently have on loan will not be recalled and you will not be expected to return them whilst the building is closed.  If you want to place a reservation (hold) on a book you can continue to do so and we will seek to satisfy your request.  For loan and general enquiries, please email library@reading.ac.uk

Interlibrary loans

You can still request Inter-Llibrary Loans in the usual manner, completing the online request form.  If you currently have Inter-Library Loans (books) from another library do not worry, we will arrange for the return date to be extended for you.  For Inter-Library Loan enquiries, please email ill@reading.ac.uk.

Other enquiries

If you have any other enquiries or require any additional support, please email library@reading.ac.uk.

Look out for further Library service updates on the Library website, University Library News blog, Twitter and Facebook.

Stuart Hunt, Director

Library refurbishment: return to a single Library building

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Chairs in front of a long enquiry counter where on the other sides a librarian sits talking on phone. Two people are talking across the far end of the counter.

Come to the Library building Welcome Desk where Library staff have relocated to assess all your library-related queries!

Library refurbishment has reached the significant point where services and study space return to one single building! Most services are already up and running in the Library building, with our contractors moving study space furniture and PCs back from the Library@URS building over the next days. The Library@URS building is now closed, as of 2 July 2019.

Services in the Library building

Books on shelves to left of table and chairs with packing crates sticked to right.

Overnight loan books moved back to the Library building to form Short Loan (formerly Course Collection) on the Ground Floor. You also collect ‘Holds’ here now.

Services now returned to the Library building include Library User Services’ Ground Floor Welcome Desk; the Short Loan collection of overnight loan material (formerly Course Collection); and the Holds shelf where you can collect requested material. Come to the Library building once more to receive Study Advice and Maths Support, or help from your subject’s Liaison Librarians.

Small beared-person behind counter helps long-haired person sitting on a stool infront of him.

Receive IT help in person at the IT Service Desk on the Library’s 1st Floor!

The IT Service Desk is now restablished on the 1st Floor, where more and more PCs will arrive to create an area for individual and group PC study, with two teaching rooms.

People sit on seats outside large building with glass front and metalic brown cladding.

Try out communal benches for groups or single seats for individual reading outside the Library Café this summer!

You may already know the well-established Library Café, but do try out the smart, new outside seating which includes communal benches for groups, and single seats for individual reading.

Coming to the Library building soon!

Quiet and group study area seating is due to return to the 3rd and 4th Floors over the next weeks. (We anticipate refurbishment of the 2nd Floor to be completed in time to reopen in August.)

View of construction site from above,. One shelter is roofed, another has beams raised above a concrete pad.

New cycle shelters are under construction, in line with the University’s environmental policies.

Work continues in several areas, including on new cycle shelters – which can be viewed from the new lift stairs – so note that there may still sometimes be noise and disruption in the Library building. Although the Library@URS is closing, a variety of alternative study space options remain across campus.

Further information

Library refurbishment forms part of the University’s ambitious 2026: Transform capital investment programme, which focuses on improving campus facilities and supporting the student experience by the University’s 100th anniversary of its charter.

To keep up to date with the latest Library refurbishment news, please visit the Library refurbishment webpage and look out for posts on this Library blog.

Rachel Redrup for University Communications

Getting help out of staffed Library hours!

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Blue and grey web icon used for Virtual Enquiry Service online chat

Did you know that if you have a library-related problem when University of Reading Library staffed services aren’t available you can chat online via the blue ‘Virtual Enquiry Service’ box on the Library webpage?

The Virtual Enquiry Service is available outside of normal staffed hours (See our opening hours webpage for more information).

The service is staffed by professional librarians from around the world working remotely to answer your queries from our website and other information we’ve supplied. So please don’t be alarmed if you find yourself chatting with a Librarian from the United States!

You can keep an email transcript of the chat. If they can’t resolve a particular issue they’ll refer you back to us during our staffed hours.

During staffed Library service hours, please do continue to contact UoR Library staff to help with your enquiries!

Matthew Pearson, Library User Services.

Library refurbishment update

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Room of empty circular and hexagonal desks with chairs

Next session, the Library’s 1st Floor will become a PC area for individual and group study, with PC teaching rooms and the IT Service Desk. PCs will be installed over the summer, arriving soon.

Library refurbishment continues to progress well across all remaining areas.

Outside, you will have noticed the change of access to the Library, with both doors at the main entrance now open. Access will change again as external works progress. Hard and soft landscaping will continue as well as planting of shrubs. Steel work is also being delivered for the new bike shelters, which will be installed shortly.

On the inside the PCs from Library@URS will be move back to the Library building in the next few weeks.

As works continue there may sometimes be noise and disruption. Alternative study spaces are available in the Library@URS building for the time being, as well as a variety of alternative study space options across campus.

This refurbishment forms part of the University’s ambitious 2026: Transform capital investment programme, which focuses on improving campus facilities and supporting the student experience by the University’s 100th anniversary of its charter.

Further information

To keep up to date with the latest Library refurbishment news, please visit the Library refurbishment webpage and look out for posts on this Library blog.

Rachel Redrup for University Communications

Use other libraries with SCONUL Access scheme

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Are you going home for a break but still want to get some research done? Or are you someone thinking of visiting our Library and want your own access card to make your visits here that much easier?

Then follow the instructions below to see if you could join the SCONUL scheme!

What is SCONUL?sconul logo

The SCONUL Access scheme is a reciprocal relationship between many university libraries across the UK and Ireland allowing members of the different institutions to make use of each other’s libraries.

What access can I get?

Depending on whether you are a full or part-time student, an undergraduate, postgraduate or staff member, you could be eligible for borrowing books or reference access to other SCONUL Access member libraries.

How do I apply?

Go to the SCONUL Access participating libraries page and select your status and home institution.  You will then see a list of all the libraries that you are eligible to use. Select the library that you wish to use and click on the ‘apply for access’ button and complete the online form.

You will receive an email authorizing your registration at all the libraries you are eligible to join.  Simply take your email and University Campus Card along to the Library you wish to access and you will be issued with your own access or library card.

Remember you only need to apply once – you can use the same email to join as many libraries as you want!

Note: Not all libraries are members of the scheme, and not all members of the scheme accept all types of users. Each library participating in SCONUL Access chooses which types of users to accept under the scheme. The SCONUL Access participating libraries page will only the display the ones you can use. If you are unsure please contact the Library.

Further information

If you are a current University of Reading student or staff member looking to use another institutions library please follow the link here.

If you are a member of another institution looking to use the University of Readings Library resources please follow the link here

Matthew Pearson, Library User Services

Get ready for summer vacation borrowing

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Term will end on Friday 14 June and standard loans will be extended for all taught students from Thursday 6 June.

Any standard loans borrowed by undergraduates or taught postgraduates will have their due date extended until 1 October or until the end of your course, whichever is earlier and will not be recalled.

For all other Library members standard loans will continue as normal, meaning they can be recalled.

7-day and Overnight loans operate as normal throughout the vacation for all users.  Please continue to check your Library account as fines will accrue on any overdue 7-day and Overnight loan items.

Remember:

  • Standard loans – yours all summer if you are an undergraduate or Masters student!
  • 7-day loans – loan periods remain the same for all users.
  • Keep checking your emails and Library account for any recall notices.
  • Course Collection loans – remain the same, due back at 11:00am the next day.
  • Fines – pay online via the Campus Card Portal, in person at the Information Desk, or over the phone.

More Information

Please visit our website for more information.

Matthew Pearson, Library User Services

Last call for Store and Closed Access requests!

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Get your requests in before our deadlines to collect items in time for the Easter closure that are not found on our subject floors! 

  • Off-Site Store items will need to be requested before 08:15 on Monday 15 April
  • Closed Access items will need to be requested before 10:30 on Tuesday 16 April.

Normal service will resume on Tuesday 23 April with the first Closed Access collection on that day and the first Store collection on Thursday 25 April.

For more information and detailed instructions on how to make Closed Access and Store requests, check out the ‘Requesting items from Store and Closed Access‘ information page or our Store items video guide.

Matthew Pearson, Library User Services

Borrowing and opening hours over Easter

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With the Easter vacation approaching, make sure you know our upcoming opening hours and borrowing policies for the break!

Opening hours

Our opening hours will be changing over the Easter Vacation period.

Between Monday 1 and Friday 5 April the Library Building will be open from 09:00-17:00.

Between Monday 1 and Friday 5 April the Library@URS Building will be open from 08:30-19:00.

Between Saturday 6 and Tuesday 16 April we will revert to normal term-time opening hours. 

Both Library buildings will be closed for the University Easter Closure between Wednesday 17 and Monday 22 April.

Please see our opening hours webpage for more information.

Borrowing

To help with all that revision over the break, it will be ‘business as usual’ with loan periods remaining the same in vacation as all term. However, no items will be due for return between Wednesday 17 and Monday 22 April; during the University closure period.

Please keep up to date with your Library account as due dates could change as items are recalled.

More information

Please visit our website for more information. 

Matthew Pearson, Library User Services.