Opposition is growing to the University of Wollongong's decision to move almost 200,000 books from its library to an offsite storage facility.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Georgine Clarsen, the UOW branch president of the National Tertiary Education Union said academics and students alike were also disappointed at losing a valuable exhibition space in the library.
"I have to say I was pretty surprised when I walked in the library and thought where are all the books," Associate Professor Clarsen said.
"As academics we really really still value the book as much as we also embrace digital technologies.
"We aren't fully aware of what the university's plans are and haven't been consulted about the changes. That's what frustrates us most.
"Of course changes have to happen but what we see happening is decisions are made by managers who don't necessarily have the expertise that we have and make decisions based purely on financial considerations."
Responding to Mercury questions, a UOW spokesperson said the library was undergoing changes to accommodate changing student needs and usage patterns.
Changes include creating a student lounge on the ground floor; providing access to amenities, including hot water and microwaves, around the clock as part of the library's move to providing 24/7 access; and providing more than 640 study spaces on level 1.
This last change will enable space currently used for library study in an adjacent building to be re-purposed for other university functions in 2020 while maintaining the existing overall seating capacity of about 1790 seats.
The UOW spokesperson said these changes were being made possible by transferring "low use items" from the physical collection to an offsite storage facility. These items will still be available via a request service.
The process is what they call changed management and my understanding is there will be job losses going through changed management.
- NTEU branch president Georgine Clarsen
"Over 100,000 print items will remain on site at the Wollongong Campus library.
"Books and physical collections will remain integral to the redeveloped spaces and to the learning experience," the spokesperson said.
"The university will continue to acquire print items to add to its collections."
The university added its library was the most visited and most occupied facility on campus, attracting 1.5 million visits per year.
The library provides UOW students and staff across all UOW campuses - in Australia and off shore - with access to:
- 260 databases
- 90,000 ejournals
- 450,000 ebooks
- A print collection of approximately 300,000 items
The university did not answer when asked by the Mercury whether their changes would lead to job losses.
But Ms Clarsen said the union understood there would be job losses.
"The process is what they call changed management and my understanding is there will be job losses going through changed management.
"The union has been involved in negotiations around that."
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
