The Rebirth of UHS library
What’s going on with the library?
Hello! As we returned to school at the start of the term, you may have noticed that the space formerly known as the library is now an empty shell and the space formerly known as the hall now has a lot of books in it. Here’s a helpful explainer!
What happened?
Most students would be aware that over the summer break there was a fire in the South Building (the former home of the library) caused by an electrical fault. As a result the building, including the library space, is not currently useable and we have had to find a new home for our lovely library.
Omg are the books okay?
The books are fine. The fire was on a different floor of the building so no books were burned. There was a small amount of water damage to our offices but all of our collections were undamaged, which is so great!
What are we grateful for?
There’s so much to be grateful for in this weird situation! Number one obviously being that no one was hurt and our books survived the fire. But also, we have moved to fancy new digs in the Sharman Hall where we have set everything up so that we can welcome our beloved patrons once more. We had a lot of help to relocate the library and we are so grateful to Ms Foster, Mr Jones, our maintenance team, the techs, OH&S people and removalists for the big efforts they made to get us up and running in our new space so quickly. Also, the natural light in here through the huge windows is fantastic! I’m literally looking at a cloud right now!
What’s changed?
Excellent question! We have tried as much as possible to keep all the great resources and services that the library normally offers. However we do have less space in our new location so we have fewer tables for students to use for study. We don’t have desktop computers for student use as we did in the old space. We have less seating and only have a handful of carrels (the little wooden study pod things). We know that students need a quiet and comfortable place to study so we are working on some solutions to provide more space for this in the near future. We also have a really high ceiling now so the acoustics are a bit echoey!
What hasn’t changed?
Lots of things! The main thing that hasn’t changed and will never change is our commitment to providing you with an excellent library service. Our friendly staff are still here to help you and you are still very welcome to use the library as a study space during class time and a social space during breaks. We are maintaining our normal opening hours (8.15am-4pm). Our excellent fiction and non-fiction collections are 100% available for borrowing. We are still buying new books to make sure that we have an up-to-date collection of interesting and high-quality books for you. Our digital resources are still available for you to use at school or at home. At the time of writing, our printers are being set up and should be online and ready to use by the time you read this! And as always, we encourage you to come and ask us if you have questions about anything!
I have more questions!
That’s great! You can come and see us in person, or you can use our Ask a Librarian form on the library website here: https://unihigh.libguides.com/library