From today you can make bookings for Library study spaces for Monday 14 September and going forwards. We hope that being able to book your slot will help you organise your time, and help us ensure that our study space can be shared as safely as possible.

One of the available study spaces.

We’ve tried to label all the zones and types of furniture in the Library as descriptively as possible so you can choose to book the space that suits you best. We’ve created a document with a list of the labels and pictures of the furniture to help you make your choice. Once you’ve chosen the type of space you want you can opt for a one, two, or three hour slot within the restrictions of the building’s opening hours. You can make a booking up to 7 days in advance.

To make a booking you can use the widget in the ‘booking a study space’ section of our Current Library Services LibGuide or you can use a booking form via this direct link.

Please make sure you make the booking in the same name that is printed on your Campus Card and bring your card and booking confirmation email with you when you come to the Library. You will need both to access the building. Please note that from Monday 14 September you’ll need to have made a booking in advance of coming to the Library and we will not be able to give you access without one.

Please observe the following points of etiquette when visiting us:

• Bring your booking confirmation email and your Campus Card.
• Observe the one-way routing around the building by following signage and checking out the floorplans. (You may move freely in the bookstacks when fetching books, please maintain social distance when doing so).
• Use the stairs if possible. Lifts are for individual use only.
• Sanitise yourself and your workspace using the hand gel and wipes provided on every floor.
• Sit where chairs are sited. They’ve been laid out to ensure everyone can study 2m apart.
• Eat elsewhere to help us keep your study space hygienic and clean for everyone.
• Stick to your booking slot, someone else will have booked the space after you.
• Maintain your social distance from other Library users.
• Be kind and patient with other Library users and staff as we navigate these unusual circumstances

If you have any questions please email library@reading.ac.uk and we will do our best to help you.

Sue Egleton, Associate Director (Systems and User Services)

LGBT+ Guide

LGBT+ is an area of research which can cover a wide range of academic disciplines.  Continuing our celebration of February’s LGBT+ History Month, the Library would like to highlight the online guide to support research into LGBT+-related topics.

Taking the same format as our subject guides this guide focusses on the range of materials available from the Library and Special Collections relating to LGBT+ topics.

It is one of a series of cross-disciplinary research guides we have developed to support research in areas such as disability and inclusion, gender, and race and ethnicity (forthcoming).

It has been created, in consultation with staff and student representatives, to help you find some of the key resources the Library can provide in this area, as well as point you towards other useful online resources, libraries and archives.

We’d love to hear your feedback on the guide, so let us know what you think!

Suggest resources to help diversify our collections

You can also help us to diversify the Library’s collections by putting forward your suggestions for Library materials to help support a more diverse curriculum.

If you would like to suggest other items for the Library, please complete our regular book suggestion form.

You can see all the Diversity fund titles purchased in current and previous academic years on our dedicated Library Diversity fund reading lists.

Tim Chapman, Academic Liaison Team Manager

Please help us share the study space in the URS building fairly. It is fine to pop over to the Library building for a book and return to your desk within a short time. However, we think it unfair for students to reserve desks with their belongings for long periods when other students want to use that space.

If you find unattended study places apparently ‘booked’ with clothes, stationery and the like, please ask Library staff for support at either the URS Reception desk by the main entrance or the URS Information Desk next to the Course Collection on the ground floor. We will give you a timed warning card you can place on the abandoned stuff. Put the belongings to one side and sit down. If the owner returns within the hour, they are entitled to the space back. If not, you can sit there. Also ask staff to help explain, should anyone returning after an hour complain.

Where unattended stuff hasn’t been moved overnight, staff will remove it to URS Reception. If it is not claimed by the next morning, it will be taken to Palmer Reception, the centre for all lost property in the University.

Ruth Ng, Liaison Librarian on behalf of
Sue Egleton, Associate Director, Systems & User Services.