Speaking at council this evening, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President, Kieran McNulty, announced a host of improvements and changes to a number of Trinity’s libraries, including repairs and the likely installation of new water fountains.
The changes come following a meeting between TCDSU and library administration. The improvements announced include the expected repair of all lamps and plugs – to take place over the summer – as well as the announcement that the heating had been sorted in Kinsella Hall, Trinity’s 24-hour library, where students had noted it was cold on the weekends.
It is also expected that there will be an increase in the number of water fountains in the Hamilton Library, as well as in Kinsella Hall. McNulty further announced his hope that a “compromise” would be reached on what he termed the “tea/coffee issue”, where he is lobbying for students to be allowed to bring tea and coffee into library spaces. It has long been College policy that hot drinks are prohibited in the library, something that there has been pressure on TCDSU to revise.
Following a number of concerns raised at the last meeting of the union’s council on the lack of copies of books available to students, in which certain attendees argued that in order to be fully supportive of students the library would have to purchase more books, the library have since communicated their willingness to explore getting more textbooks, if “there is evidence there is a need” for them, McNulty said, speaking to The University Times.
McNulty further announced reforms designed to increase awareness of library fines payable prior to graduation. Currently in Trinity, it is impossible to graduate with fines outstanding. The late payment of fines will result in the fined party receiving a “Proctor’s Letter” prior to commencement, the fee for which is €25. The reforms are designed to ensure better advertisement of the letters so that students are no longer surprised by their incurring an administrative charge.
Finally, it was announced that the library were “keen on more social spaces”, and processes were in place to introduce spaces in both the Berkeley Library and the John Stearne Medical Library in St. James’ Hospital.
When speaking to The University Times, McNulty announced that library staff will be attending a future TCDSU council in order to hear concerns that students have in relation to the library services and its spaces.
This development in in keeping with a general college trend toward increasing student spaces across campus, which has been a key aspect of McNulty’s presidency. In September, two new spaces opened on campus: in room 4017 in the Arts Block and in the upstairs of the Hamilton building. These were the first steps in what was hoped to be a “network or distribution” of student spaces across campus, according to Dean of Students, Prof Kevin O’Kelly, speaking to The University Times.
Other spaces identified included a student common room in St James’s Hospital, and another in the O’Reilly Institute. The latter of these has suffered delays, due to ongoing negotiations with the School of Computer Science and Statistics. The funds for the project were subsequently diverted towards the proposed student common room at St James’s Hospital.
Brónagh Kennedy and Kathleen McNamee contributed reporting to this piece.
