A reminder that there are still places available on the workshops, view on SharePoint – all sessions will be held in 6715 Adsetts and we’ve tried to schedule as many as possible to help staff attend.
You can register for the sessions that suit you here using google docs – just fill in your name, team and then tick the boxes next to the sessions you want to go to.
Adding to this, we are also hoping to organise some tours of the Bryan Nicholson building, to give people an idea of how the working space might look and feel. Once we have some dates and times we’ll let you know.
Hi I have been talking in my team about the proposed L7 moves, and I said that I would pass on a few comments. I hope this is ok
Firstly – if the intention behind the moves is to create more space for students to work – it has been noticed that the entry statistics suggest that the footfall into the building is actually falling as students find other places to work? Are we still getting comments about lack of space?
Secondly – Concerns about Professional Status and feelings of being devalued. What does it say to the students if they see their professional librarian working in a café?
Thirdly – If students do see us working in café area, because many of them know us, they are more likely to disturb us with questions than now when we are more removed
I am sure more comments will be forthcoming as people consider the questions from the workshops.
Many thanks
Julia
Hi Julia,
I appreciate it’s been a little while since you sent these and the project group has discussed the feedback since then. I think it’s important to remember several factors:
• The refurbishment was driven by the need to undertake essential pipework maintenance on level 7. This is long overdue and there are significant risks if we don’t do this. This work will necessitate clearing level 7 for health and safety.
• As part of the work being done, we bid for extra money to refurbish level 7. As you know, the project group worked on the business case before it went to Estates – there were several factors including that the furniture, lighting and layout is 20 years old, some teams don’t have enough space and there is a lack of natural light. Knocking down the offices where managers sit, and making better use of the floor space will help with this, and consultation with staff to try and find out what they need will help the architect and designer to propose some alternatives.
• The proposals are supported by research done by other areas of the university – I’ll try and find some online talks from a year or two ago which was really interesting by an academic at SHU.
• I’ve talked to Health and Safety and we’re aware of individual needs for equipment, so this will be factored in at a very early stage and won’t be forgotten.
• The sense of ‘team’ has come out strongly in the workshops, and again we’ll ensure this is addressed as something that staff feel is essential to working effectively.
• As you know, the questions we’re asking are the ones used by Estates when they were looking at moving buildings. While the questions aren’t perfect and don’t necessarily reflect how library services staff work, we hope it will draw out the information needed to meet staff needs. One of the questions as you’ve mentioned asks where staff perceive location free working to be (eg a learning centre, a café, at home etc). I think the question is more to draw out staff views on where they need to be to do the activities as part of their role, and suggest some possible examples to encourage thinking and discussion. Asking staff to work in cafes isn’t part of the proposals.
If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the project group.
Thanks,
Claire