Final-year students who still have books from Trinity’s library will be able to return them by mail free of charge, with all books renewed until September 11th.
All fees are being waived during this period, while the library has parked a van at the Lincoln Place gate to accept book returns from all other students.
In an email to students today, Trinity’s librarian and archivist, Helen Shenton, wrote that the College has organised a free scheme with An Post that will allow final years to return books from their local post office to the library.
Shenton told Trinity’s researchers that the library has purchased an extra 265 e-books to help them as they work remotely as a result of the pandemic.
She said the e-books are available on Trinity’s Stella resource, and added that the library’s van will be parked at Lincoln Gate between 12pm and 2pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Trinity’s libraries have been closed since March 12th as a result of the coronavirus, with due dates for their return extended.
Previously, after Trinity announced that it would be suspending lectures for the rest of the semester, the libraries had said they would operate at reduced capacity to implement “social distancing” measures to limit the spread of coronavirus.
Earlier this year, in January, the library installed new self-service checkout machines to replace the old Fastlane machines.
The installation of the machines is part of a €350,000 project in the libraries that also saw over half a million books fitted with new microchips in a bid to improve security and allow staff to track them more easily.
The old Fastlane machines have been replaced in all of the libraries in a move that has also seen the installation of a new model in the John Stearne Medical Library in St James’s Hospital. Previously, the library did not have a self-service checkout machine.
The installation of the new checkout machines and security panels followed the completion of a large-scale “tagging project” for the open-shelf books in Trinity’s libraries.
Some 550,000 books are now fitted with microchips, using a system called radio frequency ID, which will allow staff to track them more easily when large volumes of books are being moved around the libraries, or if books go missing.
