ELISA Edinburgh visit to Edinburgh College of Art Library

On Tuesday 2nd June I went on a visit to Edinburgh College of Art Library which was one of the programme of visits organised by ELISA training and development group.
The College of Art is on Lady Lawson Street in Edinburgh Old Town and has an old building at the front and a new building at the back leading onto West Port. The library is in the new part of the building.  I have visited before in 2012 but it was better going as part of a group especially as we had an interesting talk from the librarian Jane Furness.
The library is based on 3 floors although as we were vising at the same time as the degree show was on, the top floor was being used for the exhibition.  Each floor is sort of separate as it was originally going to be an office building so you come out of each floor and use the lift or stairs to get to the next.

On the main entrance floor is the Help Desk / Service Desk, some PCs and printer, lots of journals and magazines, the short loan collection and a collection of DVDs.

There is a variety of seating - comfortable seating and seating at tables and chairs.

On the lower floor there is the main book collection and some desks with PCs.
The whole area is light and bright and has a good feel to it.  It feels like a good place to work and the book collection is very interesting.
Jane explained about the collection and about the links with other Edinburgh University libraries and how the students use the resources.  Although there are some electronic resources, due to the nature of the subject it is important to have paper based books and artifacts that are accessible and appealing.

There are display cases containing exhibits and artists stories.

More information can be found about the library on the university website 

After we had looked round the library we looked round the rest of the building and the degree show. There is a great view from the top floor.

Billingham Library

There is still a week to go to National Libraries Day but as there is a new library in Billingham and we were passing, we went for a look round. Billingham town centre is being revamped as part of a regeneration project and the library is a new building.  It is replacing the older libraries that existed in the town and that I visited and blogged about in April 2012 http://donlanlibraries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/billingham-libraries.html

 There has been lots of work done to the town centre to improve it and the library building looks great.  It is a shared service building with other council services.

The library part is bright and welcoming with good signage.  Modern, practical seating with places for sitting and reading.  Access to PCs at clusters of 4 alongside the windows.  Self service issue and return machines.

A very good selection of book stock, lots of fiction, local history, graphic novels and some categories that I haven't seen before....paranormal....

Sustainable Libraries

Sustainable Libraries

• Saving Energy - more sustainable buildings 
• Reduce energy consumption - replace boilers
• Ventilation systems and controls 
• Lighting systems -- light bulbs and fittings
• Library Catalogue machines
• Save space and transport - ejournals
• Printing and photocopying - doublesided printing and pull printing
• Donate and recycle books and journals
• Green roof, solar panels

http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/insrv/aboutus/sustainability/ourinitiatives/sustainablelibraries.html

http://www.designinglibraries.org.uk/

http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/

http://greenlibraries.org/

My library visits for National Library Day NLD13

Usually my library visits for NLD are in the Durham area but this year I'm in Edinburgh. I started yesterday as I was at work and needed to check out a few library buildings anyhow. At the Kings Buildings site of Edinburgh University there is a brand new library - the Murray Library. There is still some of the library areas in other buildings but mainly study areas and teaching and learning clusters. This is in the Darwin Building.




There is also a library store with older books and journals




The Murray library is in an impressive new building with a cafe on the ground floor. It is a mixture of books and computer spaces.








It is great but not that spacious I don't think and they have a sort of 'atrium' (inevitably) and so the noise comes up from the cafe. It's well used and there is an outside balcony space with seating for in the warmer weather.
Later in the day I went back to George Square and to the main library. It is a brilliant library, large with a variety of different areas and different resources. It is well used by students and an ideal university library for many people. But it's not for me - I prefer the library at Edinburgh College of Art or the Divinity Library at New College - luckily there is a choice. (When I was in the Main Library I asked if they were doing anything for National Libraries Day - they replied no, nothing - I wonder why not...)




Today I was with my friend Kate who has come to visit. It's a bit mean of me to expect my guests to do what I want when they have made the effort to come and stay so a bit of compromising was needed :) We walked to Fountainbridge Library. It is in an impressive building.








There was a lot going on in the library - lots of people of all ages, plenty of activities, it was fairly noisy but in an upbeat happy way. The staff were friendly and efficient. There was a mixture of books and other resources including newspapers. There were computers in the main area and in a separate area.




It had a good community feel, as if it was part of other support services and mutually beneficial.
We then walked to the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art. Beautiful buildings and interesting art although some of it was too outlandish for me - I'm not interested in angry, explicit stuff. I like the buildings and the 'everything is going to be alright' and the 'no miracles'.








A surprise was that there was a library there The Gabrielle Keiller Library - Surrealist artists, authors, poets etc.




Next we headed back into the city centre then George IV Bridge to the Central Library. I visit here quite frequently so it was just an extra visit for NLD. I like this library, I'm not that keen on self service as I think you lose that relationship between the reader/borrower and the librarian and I don't think it is any more economical but it's not a deal breaker for me.




I love the shelving in this library.
We went upstairs with the intention of going to the reference library but instead went to the Fine Art library - it was lovely. Lots of great books and interesting artifacts.








Hinder a librarian at your peril!




Book sculptures
Finally onto the National Library of Scotland for a quick look round








Then it was time for tea and cake. I enjoy visiting libraries - they are a vital resource for many people and should be supported by us all.