Work is continuing in the Main Library on a programme of works to bring significant improvements for library users through increasing the number of study spaces by 350 and providing additional power and data facilities at study desks.

Work underway this week (22^nd – 31^st August)

1^st  floor – construction and electrical enabling work will now begin in what was the ‘New Book Area’ and ‘Reception Desk’ to transform these area into new study spaces. In addition to these works, study desks adjacent to accessible study rooms 8 – 11 will also undergo upgrade which will include desk top power being installed to these desks. Please be aware that whilst these works are being carried out,  temporary diversions will be put in place to both the meeting room suite and south side study area.  Directional signage providing alternative access to these areas will be placed on 1^st floor to assist you.

Lower Ground Floor – construction work has also now started in this area and will continue throughout the rest of August.

Apologies for the continuing noise and disruption – thank you for your patience while work is underway.

Work is continuing in the Main Library on a programme of works to bring significant improvements for library users through increasing the number of study spaces by 350 and providing additional power and data facilities at study desks.

Work underway this week (1^st-8^th August) and updates

2^nd floor – Construction work to remove empty shelves and carry out electrical works is underway on the north side of the 2^nd floor. The collections JV-PB are currently cordoned off and access to these items is through consultation with Helpdesk staff located on the 2^nd floor or Ground Floor 9.15-4.45 Monday to Friday, or through emailing collections-management@ed.ac.uk at other times.

Move of collections 3^rd floor to 2^nd floor

Collections from the 3^rd floor now permanently located on the 2^nd floor are:

• All P Pamphlets
• All P Folios
• P books
• PA books
• PB books

Signs

The updating of shelf-end signs is currently underway and we expect this to be completed this week.

We are also working on updating the main Library signs and will have accurate signs in place at the completion of the Main Library works.

DiscoverEd Search Points

We are currently updating the information in DiscoverEd and the information retrieved will then reflect the new location of items that have moved from the 3^rd floor to the 2^nd floor.

Compression of Compressions

The addition of new study spaces on the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th floors is made possible through the compression of the collections on the shelves to provide free shelving that can be removed. This compression of collections is now complete.

Apologies for the continuing noise and disruption – thank you for your patience while work is underway.

Work is continuing in the Main Library on a programme of works to bring significant improvements for library users through increasing the number of study spaces by 350 and providing additional power and data facilities at study desks.

Work underway this week (25th – 31st July)

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The Main Library is embarking on a programme of works to bring significant improvements for library users by increasing the number of study spaces by 350 and providing additional power and data facilities at study desks.

The period of works is planned to be from 11^th July to 31^st August 2016 and is to be phased over the different floors.

Unfortunately, this will bring about temporary disruption to users in affected areas, involving noise disturbance, restricted access to some print collections and study areas being out of use.

Phase 1: Floor 4. The first phase of works is on the 4^th Floor.  As a result, some of the collections on the 4^th floor of the Main Library (print journals, newspapers, the Centre of African Studies (CAS) Collection and the Serjeant & Watt Collection) will be inaccessible from Monday 11^th July to Friday 22^nd July.

If you need an item from one of these collections during this time, please email us at collections-management@ed.ac.uk. Items will then be retrieved and be available for you at the Ground Floor Help Desk within 24 hours (Mon-Fri) of the request being placed. Requests placed on Friday evenings and over the weekends will be satisfied on Mondays.

When placing a request, please include your own contact details and full details (title, shelfmark, journal volume number etc.) of the item required.

For further information about the subsequent phases of works, dates and areas affected, please see blog [http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/libraryredevelopment/]

As part of the Main Library work over the summer to create additional study spaces for Library users, the existing New Journals and New Books displays on the first floor are being removed. We are currently looking at options for a new collections display on the ground floor where we would aim to vary our displays between new books and thematic displays throughout the year.

The current displays will be cleared by 8^th July 2016, from which time new journal issues and newspapers will be available within their sequences on the 4^th floor and new books will be interfiled directly into the book sequences on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors.

A number of soft seating areas within the library will undergo upholstery work during the summer – these include stools within the study pods on the ground floor, 1^st floor and café area as well as other soft seating areas in the mezzanine level and break out areas on some floors.

The colour samples below represent the new colour scheme within the group study pods.

Over the summer, we will also be upgrading the audio-visual kit in the Student Study Pods on the ground and first floor of the Main Library. The refresh will increase the size of the screens as well as moving from analogue to digital, improving the screen image quality.

The Pods will also have Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) connectivity allowing users to wirelessly connect their laptops and smart devices to the screens to show content. The work will be completed before the start of Welcome week.

We have started on a programme to upgrade all PCs on floors 3 & 4 to new HP EliteOne 800 G2 Models. This work will continue over the summer.  The PCs on the 3^rd floor have already been replaced and we will now be concentrating on replacing PCs on the 4^th floor.

We will also be upgrading a number of DiscoverEd search points on levels 2 to 6 and within the library café.

During summer 2016 358 additional study spaces will be created in the Main Library. 

This blog will be updated weekly with information about what is happening in the building. We will let you know which areas of the Main Library will be unavailable or potentially noisy. 

Check out the overview page to find out what will be happening and when.

If you have a specific question about the changes in the Main Library go to the FAQs page or contact us.