Students and staff at the University of Roehampton celebrated the soft opening of its new £35 million library today (September 4) with tours of the new facility.

The five-storey building houses 1,200 new study spaces and hundreds of thousands of books and research materials across nearly 8,000 metres of shelving.

It has electric versions of text books, laptops available on loan, online journals and databases, a school-experience library as well as an extensive children’s literature collection.

In addition, it has a new eatery, the Walsingham Garden Room and Café, which overlooks the newly landscaped Digby Stuart College campus.

For students, there is more seating and student space available and a study space for every eight students compared to the national average ten students per space.

There are also dedicated group study areas. With computers for presentation practice and power points at every desk, in addition to wi-fi available throughout.

Roehampton students will also have views from the top floor of the library over landmarks across the capital, including Wembley Stadium, the London Eye and Canary Wharf.

Susan Scorey, university librarian, said: “Libraries today are more than just about borrowing books. They are a comfortable and aspirational place to study, with multiple online and printed resources.

“We’ve worked hard to create a library which is a motivating and inspiring place to study, with plenty space and natural light.

“We know that everyone studies in their own way, and to accommodate everyone’s different styles, there are group areas in the lower floors and as you move up through the building there are quieter areas for individual study.

Susan also said that students have been “instrumental” in the design and building of the new library over the last four years since 2013, and staff have received feedback on what they needed and how it should work.

She added: “We’re looking forward to hearing what both students and staff think after visiting the library today.”

The official launch celebration of the library will take place in March 2018 with a special guest.

For more information, you can visit: www.roehampton.ac.uk

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