Kia ora koutou

Wow – winter popped by to say an emphatic hello earlier this week!  I’m personally very happy to see the sun back again today.

Last week saw me in Sydney, and south down the Illawarra coast a bit, touring a raft of beautiful public and university libraries (Sydney, UTS and Wollongong in particular) as part of the IFLA Library Buildings Section conference.  I’ll shortly book in a slot to present back pictures, observations and points of note from this incredible experience.  I realise though I have taken approximately one squillion pics, so editing this down to something malleable enough for a decent length ‘show and tell’ session may be a challenge, but I’ll do what I can 😊

Thanks again to you all for ongoing great effort, as various chunky pieces of mahi continue apace.  At the University hui I’ve attended this week (i.e. Research Committee, Teaching & Learning Committee and the VC Q&A Seminar Series), our record-breaking student numbers has been a constant topic of conversation. Typically, in non-lockdown years of yesteryear, we had started to see a distinctive tail off of student presence on campus after about week 3 or 4 of semester 1.  But this year has completely bucked that trend and we had >42,000 visitors to our three libraries last week!

This is a wonderful problem to have, and very much a singular UC phenomenon too – other NZ universities are seeing a downturn or at best plateau in their student enrolment numbers this year.  We alone are facing this unique opportunity, and while the University is seeking commensurate increases in funding levels for these additional students, this will take some time to come to bear.  So for now, all staff and service units across campus are looking at ways to scale up and support this highly engaged cohort.  For us here in the Library, it means looking at:

• Space utilisation and seeing how/where we can increase study spaces comfortably and safely
• The user experiences of our physical spaces and digital platforms & access tools (more details to come on this, as key UX work from Purple Shirt takes final shape) – noting the keystone role our MLM Replacement Project has here!
• Joining up with other teams and service units, to ensure the student experience is as positive as possible (I’m aware of recent examples of library staff stepping in to provide support for students when wider systems are wobbling or falling over – ngā mihi nui for this!)

Easter is now just around the corner, and a very well-deserved break for all.  Also, clocks go back an hour this weekend, so we all gain some extra precious time to do extra precious things with.  Enjoy!

Kat