The University of Lincoln GCW Library has recently come under criticism from students about the closure of its “More Books” service.
The library posted on their Facebook page: “Just an FYI: More Books has finished for the year. Thanks to everyone who requested books and we hope you enjoyed the service. More Books will return in the next academic year.”
The service was introduced by the library early last December, and has been widely subscribed to by students at the university to aid their studies.
The service was branded as “your chance to tell the Library what resources you need for your academic study. More Books is an easy and straightforward way for you to influence what we buy”.
Nevertheless, its abrupt closure has garnered criticism from some University of Lincoln students. Postgraduate student Gemma Cobby who has been using the service frequently since its inception: “More Books is a fantastic scheme run by the university’s library to ensure students get the books that they need for their assessments without having to spend X amount of costs from a retailer for minimal use.
“However, the scheme is only run during a certain time of the year and the time that they run it is no use to postgraduate students who undertake their dissertations or final research projects over the summer months.
Cobby continued: “The majority of postgraduate students have no idea what they will be doing their final projects on until March or the end of April, which is too late to request books from the More Books scheme.
“Not all postgraduates have enough money to fork out tonnes of books for their assessments and it is a shame that these great schemes forget about postgraduate students at the university.”
The university’s head librarian Ian Snowley responded to the criticism: “More Books is a service where we specifically encourage students to submit suggestions for book purchases.
“The service has come to an end as planned for this academic year. This is because the lead-in time it takes to purchase books means we have to set an end date so we can focus on getting all existing orders fulfilled by the end of the academic year.”
Snowley added: “We will be re-launching the More Books service in the 2013/14 academic year. In the meantime, students can continue to make purchase recommendations to their Academic Subject Librarians as normal.”
Another postgraduate student Michael Passingham mirrored the concerns that Cobby raised: “It’s a shame it lasted for such a short time. As a post-grad student, my final research project takes place over the summer, but More Books won’t be available during this crucial period.
“It’s not an absolute disaster as inter-library loans still run, but it means there won’t be such quick access to our already relatively limited library of eBooks.”
Students also voiced complaints about the library’s 24/7 opening hours coming to a close. Snowley responded: “Library 24/7 opening has come to an end as planned for this academic year. We schedule 24/7 opening to coincide with hand-in periods, which have mostly passed now.
“We take the view that the library shouldn’t be open around the clock during exam periods, since it’s important that students rest as well as revise. We are of course receptive to feedback from students, so we have promised to look again at opening times during exam periods early next year.”
‘More Books’ is a specific campaign that runs at a set time of year – but its just one of the ways that students can ask the Library to buy books to support their studies. All students, especially postgrads, are encouraged to contact their Academic Subject Librarian (ASL) to request specific books are purchased for their studies, and to get any other form of ‘Support for Academic Success’ that they need. Contact details for ASLs can be found on the Library website ‘www.library.lincoln.ac.uk’ or in the Library.
Ian Snowley
University Librarian