Library refurbishment: latest news and progress

Tuesday, 12 June 2018

Work on our major refurbishment of the University Library is progressing well, with the project currently on track to meet its target completion date in late 2019.

Much of the work over recent months has focused on the Library’s exterior, in addition to the basement, ground, first and third floors. Work will continue in these areas and other floors over the coming months, which will inevitably include periods of noisy work. Over the next few weeks, noisy works are expected around the ground floor and the exterior of the Library, with a cherry picker on site to carry out important works. 

One of the biggest phases of work recently has been the move of books from the second and fourth floors to the third floor, which was reopened in early May. The moves were completed ahead of schedule on Wednesday 6 June, with the Library catalogue updated daily to show the correct locations for moved books.

This floor is not currently furnished with study space while refurbishment work continues. Library staff are available on the floor to help with any enquiries about finding books, using the catalogue, or subject queries. 

With the books now removed from it the fourth floor, it is now closed for refurbishment.

Much of the work taking place over the summer vacation has been designed to meet our goal of reopening the refurbished ground and first floors in September 2018, including some study space. This will be a key milestone for the project ¬– however, please note that work will continue on these and other floors, and will include periods of noisy work. The URS building will therefore continue to be used in its current capacity for the remainder of the project. 

For the latest information and updates, please visit the Library refurbishment webpage and Library blog.