The 1937 Reading Room is to receive four new toilets after months of delay, with President of Trinity’s Graduate Students Union (GSU), Shane Collins, confirming at the GSU’s council on last Thursday that they will be installed by the end of this week.
These toilets, which were first due to be installed by the end of the summer, were delayed to the end of October and are now due to be installed by the end of the week. Considering the installation of these toilers are taking quite a while, maybe it might make more sense for the students to look into reading something like the best dual flush toilet review guide, just to help make this process move on a lot faster.
The arrival of the new toilets is likely to be welcomed by students, after adjustments made in the past led to a reduction from four to three toilets in the old bathrooms.
The toilets will also be gender neutral as part of a wider scheme in College to increase the number of gender-neutral toilets on campus. This year, the Arts Block saw three gender-neutral toilets open, located on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the building.
The 1937 Reading Room, often referred to as the postgraduate reading room, has seen a number of other improvements recently, as a result of the GSU working with Trinity’s library and Estates and Facilities. A small breakout space, known as the conversation room, has been established, which provides postgraduate students with a social area to converse as a break from studying.
Colleges IT Services also upgraded the computer systems in the reading room in September, while Estates and Facilities has promised to deliver a kitchenette once resources have been sourced. Speaking to The University Times by email, Collins stated his hope that the kitchenette will be installed before the end of his term.
Developments for postgraduate students extend past the 1937 Reading Room, as this year the GSU has made the Graduate Common Room in House Seven accessible by scanning a postgraduate student card. In the past, it was common practice to issue keys to the postgraduate students that wished to make use of the room and to charge a fee to do so.
Collins added that, since making the room accessible via card, the GSU has seen a large increase in the number of students using the room and the facilities on offer. The common room houses many couches, a kitchen stocked with tea and coffee and a “take a book, leave a book” library.
Following a vote at GSU’s council last week, the union now also has a mandate to support Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union’s (TCDSU) campaign for the construction of a student centre on campus. Collins believes that this mandate will be positive for both TCDSU and the GSU, highlighting the need for more student spaces on campus.
Collins acknowledged that while the GSU has achieved a lot in their term so far, there is still much to do, joking that, “for now, I’m looking forward to flushing some new toilets next week”.
