Library & Learning Services

Catalyst has a range of initiatives to contribute to a greener, more sustainable campus. Read on to learn about some of the ways Library and Learning Services teams are working together to make our building more sustainable.

• There is a battery recycling point on the ground floor.
• The library collection operates an electronic resources-first policy, saving on paper and enabling students to access their library materials from anywhere they are working. No need to carry home piles of heavy books!
• We subscribe to Box of Broadcasts which provides access to television and radio streamed for academic use. This saves on purchasing DVDs and Blu-Rays.
• Old textbooks are made available to students at regular Pass the Book events. Textbooks that aren’t needed by students are donated to Better World Books to support students learning overseas.
• Archive boxes are made from recycled materials.
• Library and Learning Services have several staff representatives on SustainNET, the network community working to advance the sustainability agenda both at Edge Hill University and in the local region. This enables the department to feed into the wider sustainability initiatives of the University.
• The Edge Hill research repository, Pure tags papers authored by our academics to align research with sustainability development goals.
• 2022’s Open Access week had the theme Open for Climate Justice and we used this to highlight EHU research aligned with this theme.
• All Edge Hill staff and students have access to the Libby app, enabling them to browse books and magazines on their devices.
• There is a curated collection of sustainability eBooks on the Libby app.
• Library and Learning Services has an extensive print fiction and well-being collection which staff and students can borrow from.
• We have moved away from single-use plastic items for prizes, giveaways and engagement activities. We’ll be talking more about this in the coming months!
• The library does not subscribe to print newspapers, newspapers are available through our subscriptions to Lexis+ and Gale One File.
• All teams within Library and Learning Services have moved towards electronic marketing for events and services, rather than using paper posters and flyers.
• The SpLD Team has moved to electronic student record files instead of paper files.
• All Library and Learning Services staff training materials are provided electronically.
• The Catalyst café offers a discount for customers using their own refillable cups.
• The café offers vegan food and milk options.
• Recycling points are available throughout the Catalyst building where students can recycle paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and more…
• Catalyst has 900 study spaces, 450 of them with computers enabling students to study together in a warm secure space.
• There are 100 laptops you can borrow to use on and off campus.
• If you’d like to learn more about any of our sustainable initiatives, please just get in touch. [email protected] or lsacademicengagement

Post written by Olwen Pennington