Partnership Promotes Public Use Of Showpiece Library
People in Medway can now enjoy some of the facilities offered by a multi-million-pound library thanks to a ground-breaking agreement. The Universities at Medway partnership – which consists of Greenwich, Kent and Canterbury Christ Church universities, plus Mid-Kent College – has teamed up with Medway Council to give the public free reference access to the £8 million Drill Hall Library.
Based at the heart of the Universities at Medway campus at Chatham Maritime, the library offers state-of-the-art study and computing facilities for thousands of Medway students. At 184 metres in length, the Grade II-listed building is thought to be the longest library in Europe. Earlier this year it won an award for best refurbishment of a historic building at the Medway Design Awards.
Under the new agreement, anyone who lives or works in the area covered by Medway Council can benefit from free reference access to more than 100,000 texts and journals available in the Drill Hall Library. The texts cover subjects as diverse as business, education, engineering, health, law, pharmacy and science.
All people need to do to use the reference material is produce a Medway public library membership card – showing they are already a library user in the area.
In addition, four computers with Internet facilities will be available to the public, who can also gain free access to daily newspapers and career guides. Charges will be made for printing and photocopying.
The Universities at Medway and Medway Council celebrated their historic venture at a launch event held at the Drill Hall Library attended by Medway’s Deputy Mayor Councillor David Royle and all the partners.
During the event a document setting out the terms of public access was signed. As part of the launch, Kent Family History Road Show was on hand to help university staff and students trace their ancestors. The council’s mobile library service also dropped in to the campus to tell people more about their local public libraries and help them join up.
Maureen Castens, representing the Universities at Medway, said the launch of public access to the Drill Hall was only the start of a programme to strengthen links between the universities and the community. ‘We are looking forward to working with the arts and library services of the council, and exploring ways of extending cultural and educational opportunities for both our students and the wider Medway community,’ she said.
Councillor Howard Doe, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Services, said: ‘Libraries are about much more than borrowing books – they are essential places in the local community. Medway Council’s £2.5 million investment in the Drill Hall Library means that Medway library card holders now have access to a superb new library. This also sees us enter an exciting new phase of co-operation between the council and the Universities at Medway.’
The public access agreement is also good news for people who want to borrow reference books from the Drill Hall Library. The agreement has set the annual borrowing fee at £50 – reduced from the normal reference borrowing rate of £100.
Caption : The partners sign the agreement setting out public access rights to the Drill Hall Library. From left, Pete Ryan, Head of Library Services, Canterbury Christ Church University; John Sotillo, University of Kent; Councillor Howard Doe; Maureen Castens, University of Greenwich; and Deputy Mayor Councillor David Royle.
--ENDS--
Notes for Editors:
1. Universities at Medway is a £120 million scheme supported by Medway Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Office of the Deputy Prime Minster, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and the Kent and Medway Strategic Health Authority.
2. Medway Council contributed £2.5 million to the development of the Drill Hall Library, as part of its mission to become a city of learning, culture, tourism and enterprise.
3. Due to educational licence agreements, many electronic databases, electronic journals, e-books and specialist software are available only to registered members of the universities who make up the Universities at Medway.
4. On a first visit, members of the public will be asked to sign the visitors’ book and produce their public library membership card. Visitors must be over 16. Regular users of the reference collection and public personal computers will need to register and carry an ID card.
For more information:
Nick Davison
University of Greenwich Press Office
020 8331 8092
n.a.p.davison@gre.ac.uk.