Christmas tree feedback

Thank-you to all of you who told us what you wished for from the Library during the festive season. You decorated our tree with over 200 tags throughout the month of December and into early January.

Thank you for all the kind messages and the good wishes to staff. Your humorous messages made us smile. We also appreciated the positive comments particularly about help received from our staff including this one:

This place and all the support it gives is already amazing. Thanks for being awesome!

Library staff would like to wish you all the best for your studies in the New Year.

In your feedback, you asked for: places to eat and drink in the Library, access to microwaves and hot water, long opening hours, noise regulation, and fiction books. We are happy to confirm that we provide all of those things! You also reported concerns about the quality of the hand soap in the toilets, and some out of order plug sockets.

Please see our detailed responses below for what is available, and how we have addressed these concerns.

We want to eat and drink in the Library

You are welcome to eat in in Scholars' Rest, the Library break area (accessible on floor 5 through the Music Library). You can also eat snacks in SB4/08 (one of the two 24/7 computer rooms located outside of the library on floor 4 of the Schwann Building next to the Amazon Lockers), but please be mindful of those around you trying to study and don't bring hot food into this area.

You are welcome to bring in cold, bottled drinks. There are water fountains on every floor of the Library where you can refill water bottles. You may also bring hot drinks into the Library, so long as they are in reusable cups with lids. The University and the Students Union are committed to reducing the number of single use items being used every day on campus to meet goals on waste and carbon emissions reduction. You will also save money: you will get 15p discount on hot drinks at our catering outlets for using a reusable cup.

Vending machines for hot and cold drinks and snacks are available on Scholars' Rest and in SB4/08.

We want access to microwaves and hot water

There is a microwave in the Library, in Scholars' Rest available for you to heat up food during library opening hours. A hot water dispenser is also available in Scholars' Rest.

There are vending machines selling snacks, cold and hot drinks in three locations: outside of the 24/7 Computer Rooms, inside SB4/08, and Scholars' Rest.

We want longer opening hours, including weekends

The Library is open 7 days a week during term time. The two 24/7 Computer Rooms are also open every day throughout the year. We regularly review our opening hours and make changes according to demand and existing usage. Keep a check of when we are open on our opening hours page. This includes Easter and Bank Holidays.

We would like ‘proper soap' in the University toilets

The University recently switched to an eco-friendly soap, Soap₂O, to meet our sustainability goals. The initial batch was a "low-foaming" soap, however as this has proved unpopular, it has now been replaced with a different Soap2O product that creates a better lather when used.

We would like more fiction books

We are always open to buying more fiction books and welcome any suggestions. Please complete our Suggest a Book form if you have a book to recommend. We particularly welcome recommendations of books written by marginalised people (e.g. from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background and/or who identify as LGBT+), which can be recommended for our Broaden My Bookshelf campaign.

We also recommend joining the local public library, if you haven't already! You can join Kirklees Libraries free of charge and access 24 libraries across Kirklees, including Huddersfield Library which is just a short walk from the University.

Plugs located on floor 5 tables don't work

Thank you for alerting us to this. Unfortunately, the plug sockets mentioned are not in use. Stickers will be put over the sockets to make this clear. Sockets are still available in other areas on the floor. Please do continue to report anything you find not working.

We would like more noise regulation

Our wardens regularly patrol Library floors to monitor noise levels. They will be pleased to assist if you are being disturbed. Let them know the details by texting anonymously NOISE to 81025, plus the floor number and zone (check the poster on each desk to see which zone you are in) or email library.noise with the same details.

The library has a variety of study spaces to meet different needs and study preferences. If you need peace and quiet to study, you may wish to sit in one of our Silent Study zones. The whole of Floor 2 is Silent Study, as are sections of Floors 5 and 6. In response to feedback, we've also made one of the two 24/7 Computer Rooms (SB4/07) silent study.

For those who need a little background noise to concentrate, the majority of the library is "quiet study" – so expect a studious buzz in these areas. Or feel free to listen to music or ambient noise, so long as you wear headphones! If you forget yours, in-ear headphones can be purchased for £4 from the library help desk on floor 4.

If you're feeling stressed or anxious and need to get away from it all, head to the new Calm Zone on Floor 5. You will find this at the end of the Silent Study area (near the lift). This is a space with no technology, no noise and no conversations.