LSESU Education Officer: Jon Foster

In what will soon be new postgraduate study space on the first floor of the LSE Library, students and library staff discussed their vision for the future of the library. Students were told that the lower ground floor, fourth floor and parts of the first floor are being transformed in the next few years and gave their own thoughts on these and other changes.

Some developments were clearly welcomed, including the abolition of library fines, the extra study space in the course collection area and the plan to make the fourth floor student study space. Others were not, such as proposals looking at reducing numbers of fixed PC points and banning all food from the library. Interestingly, many students also highlighted the behaviour of other students, such as the practice of ‘saving’ desks for hours on end, as a major problem in the library, as well expressing the perennial desire for more study space and plugs.

So what happens now? Well I am taking the feedback from the event to the Library Services Committee next week, where I will ensure that progress is made on the issues highlighted and push for students’ views to influence the plan for the future of library.

I would like to thank everyone who attended and the library for making the event possible. If you have any feedback on the library or anything else at all, email me at:

su.education@lse.ac.uk