Library Response:

Thank you for getting in touch with us regarding the Marjorie Robinson Library Rooms opening hours. In response to university-wide budgetary constraints, the library has undertaken a detailed review of staffing levels and service delivery. As part of this process, we carefully considered opening hours across all our library sites, using rich occupancy data and student feedback to guide our approach. While we know these are busy times, our data shows that after 5pm there continues to be space available in the Philip Robinson and Walton Libraries for everyone who wishes to study later in the day. 

Given the Marjorie Robinson Library Rooms are very close to the Philip Robinson Library, the 24-hour computer clusters in the Student Union and Old Library, keeping it open into the evening for a relatively small number of students would not be the best use of resources—financially or environmentally.  Bearing all this in mind, at present, we don’t plan to extend the opening hours of the Marjorie Robinson Library Rooms. 

We’re currently exploring ways that we can better communicate the variety of study spaces on offer in the Philip Robinson Library – including 2 floors for silent study with individual study booths and individual bookable study rooms - as student feedback tells us that there is not full awareness of the different options to suit your study needs across the 4 floors of the building.

Our “Study Well” initiative will also return for the January exam time, and staff will be on hand to help you find a study space. Although the Philip Robinson Library can feel busy or be perceived to be “full”, it’s rare for its occupancy to exceed 95%. We actively monitor usage so we can manage the different spaces effectively and plan appropriate opening hours for our different sites.

Best regards, 

Susan Willcox, 

Assistant Librarian, Customer Services