Library survey: your responses

What you told us during the Library survey carried out in November 2021 and our plans to implement your feedback.

The Library survey ran from 8 October until 10 November 2021 and received 872 responses. The responses were from 446 undergraduate students, 170 taught postgraduates, 95 researchers, and 161 staff. 

We carry out a survey every few years to find out if we are meeting your needs, and what we need to do to better support your learning and research.  

Overall, 85% of you were satisfied or very satisfied with the Library. This is great news, as it means we’re providing a service that meets your needs most of the time. However, there were some areas you identified where we can improve: community, study space, academic skills development and communication. 

“We are delighted that so many of you are satisfied with the Libraries and our services. We now begin the work to make the improvements identified by your feedback to give our users the best experiences possible and to cement our library as one of the best in the country.” 

Developing a community 

33% of respondents said that the Library could do more to help you feel like a part of a community, with 25% stating that more can be done to make a positive impact on your wellbeing. 

18% also said that we could improve inclusivity and be more welcoming. 

The bulk of you praised Library staff, prayer rooms, study spaces and accessibility – however, other feedback shows you want more study space, increased staff diversity, more inclusive collections and break-out spaces. 

In our recently launched vision for 2030, Knowledge for All, we include plans for these areas with strategic priorities that include extending access to our facilities, development of our collections, and adopting user experience approaches to make positive differences to both our online and physical spaces. 

Increasing study spaces 

Access to spaces to study has been a key issue during the pandemic and your survey responses have highlighted this – 24% stated that finding study space in our buildings is not always easy, particularly group study spaces. 

The vision outlines our goals to improve access to study spaces, alongside this we'll look at our results alongside recent University-wide surveys to get a richer picture of opportunities for development.  

Academic skills development  

Academic skills development is important so that students have the critical thinking skills and self-knowledge to become effective learners during their studies and on into their lives. While most of you felt that our academic skills offer was helpful and relevant, a small number of respondents indicated that our support could be made more relevant to their needs. 

We’re currently developing new academic skills workshop programmes for the next academic year in consultation with students. 

Improving our communications 

Feedback about satisfaction for our online and in-Library services was generally very favourable, but some respondents reported that they were not aware some of our services, like Special Collections, Document Supply (inter-library loans), our Galleries and support for researchers. 

We could better publicise these services and their relevance for you. We will work with the Library Advisory Panel to develop more effective communications to staff and students. Join the panel now to be notified of opportunities to be involved in these, and other, feedback sessions. 

The feedback you shared as part of the Library survey will inform our future plans and activities, alongside the strategic priorities outlined in our vision for 2030.