Teachers create reading lists to tell students which are the best books and then students read the books on the list and learn about their subject. That is what reading lists are for - it’s all very simple really! Or is it? To properly address this question we first need to ask some more fundamental …
Author: brookeslibrarynews
Special Collections Exhibition – The Steve Hare Penguin Books Collection
Special Collections is pleased to present its third annual Library Exhibition. This year’s exhibition features items from our newest collection - The Steve Hare Penguin Books Collection. Steve Hare (1950-2015) was a doctoral student at Oxford Brookes’ Oxford International Centre for Publishing, an author, researcher, journalist, and collector of Penguins. Following his death, Steve’s family …
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Welcome to our new LR User Group!
We are pleased to announce that our new LR User Group met for the first time this week. Chaired by Professor Anne-Marie Kilday, the group includes representatives from across our faculties and directorates. With the objectives of being a sounding board and critical friend, we look forward to working with our colleagues from across the …
Christmas bauble feedback
Happy New Year! In the run-up to Christmas, we asked you to decorate our Christmas trees by filling out baubles with what you wanted more of and what you found frustrating about using the Library. We had a good response, especially at Headington where nearly 70 baubles were hung on the tree. A whiteboard was …
“Can’t you just give us 2 sides of A4?” Stepping up Library use from school to higher education
People who work in libraries love talking to other people who work in libraries about good ideas and good professional practice. And school libraries and school librarians are key to helping pupils learn and succeed, both at school and in later study and life (as the #GreatSchoolLibraries campaign is currently pointing out!) So when I …
Bagging of seats
At this time of year we do get a couple of comments about seat bagging in the Library. Most students find it immensely frustrating trying to find a seat only to discover that many spaces have belongings but no person in them! We have tried a number of things to combat hogging: trialling auto-log out of …
Beating the winter blues for Disability History Month
The nights are drawing in and exams are approaching, so for Disability History Month we're compiling a Spotify playlist of uplifting tunes to help beat the winter blues. Submit your suggestions on Twitter or Instagram using #BeatTheWinterBlues Tune in, grab a cosy blanket and a cuppa and enjoy! https://open.spotify.com/user/oxfordbrookeslibrary/playlist/3GywrkWfFo1HQOlLsyHnGX?si=PsAWBO5XSLigVvDBgJN5GA -- Jayne Stuart (Graphic Designer)
‘Tell us what you think’ forms
We do like hearing back from users of the Library. It's really helpful to know what works well and what causes frustration. At Headington, we have 'Tell us what you think' forms that are available for anyone to complete. We tend to get a range of comments from good, 'excellent reservation service' and 'thank you …
Wordsearch, puzzles and other wellbeing things
Earlier in October we hopped on board the Libraries Week bandwagon and offered a range additional activities that might provide five minutes relief from essays and assignments. We provided activities ranging from grown-up colouring in pictures to zentangles (structured pattern drawings) to jigsaw puzzles and fiction freebies. We also created a new (small) space that …
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Tell us your ONE library tip for first years
At the end of last semester we asked you to provide some tips for first year students. We had some great responses from across all the sites. Some were highly practical ('read the books') while others were more esoteric ('Pain is temporary, pride is forever'). In general the tips you provided broke down into broad …
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Easter Bunny feedback
Delivery from the Easter Bunny We asked students at Headington, Wheatley and Harcourt Hill to fill in postcards saying: Dear Easter Bunny, I’d love it if the Library could… The feedback we received was fabulously varied and we got excellent responses from across the three sites. (Swindon feedback coming soon!). The general themes of the …
Welcome!
Welcome to our new blog! We will be posting news and information about our libraries as well as upcoming events and activities, plus current research and viewpoints from our staff.
