Loading ...Senate House’s struggle continues
A campaign has begun to save Senate House Library, which London Student reported last issue faces closure due to a massive funding cut.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) decided not to renew SHL’s £1.1m special research library funding, which, on top of its yearly losses of over £1m means it faces a cash crisis.
Director of University of London Research Library Services David Pearson told London Student that unless individual colleges are willing to come up with extra money, the library cannot “realistically continue for much longer”.
Students have reacted to the news with concern, setting up Facebook groups and online petitions asking their heads of colleges to save the central library.
The heads of colleges have brought in independent firm CHEMS consulting to review SHL’s services. It will report back in December, when the heads will decide whether or not to save SHL.
UCL Union has already come out in support of the library, with a motion passed in a union council meeting noting that “the loss of SHL would be detrimental to the academic development of UCL students”.
Campaigners stress the importance of cross-college support for the campaign. The motion noted: “in the face of an uncertain future for the University of London, SHL is a resource which brings UoL students together because of a shared need for extra academic resources not provided or available at their home universities. The future of the UoL should not be allowed to undermine SHL as an institution which fosters the intellectual development of students from many different colleges.”
Peter Brett and Sol Gamsu, the UCL students heading the lobby, told London Student: “We might have the biggest number of users, but its just as important to other small and specialist colleges like Birkbeck.”
They also presented a similar motion to ULU’s regular meeting of sabbaticals from all the different colleges, Senate, where it was agreed to campaign together to keep the central library.
London Student is supporting the campaign.
To sign the petition to keep SHL open, go to: http://tinyurl.com/5zyr9s, and to find out more join the intercollegiate Facebook group ‘Save Senate House for the University of London’.
[...] report on options for the library’s future – following the loss of £1.1m of annual funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England – was presented to UL’s Collegiate [...]