The beginning of semester is a time for finding your feet and figuring out where everything is.Whether you are an on-campus student or if you can only visit the campus occasionally, you'll probably find yourself spending time in our libraries. Just to help you find your way around, here's a quick idea of what you'll be able to do in our buildings.
Borrow books, DVDs and more.
Obviously a library has things you can borrow. In addition to books, we also have DVDs, CDs, sheet music and more. You'll need your student or staff card (it's also your library card) to check out anything you want to take out of the building.
In addition to the main collection, where most of our borrowable material is held, we also have a Curriculum Collection (where all the best books are), reference collections, special collections and print journals. You can find yourself looking in the wrong place, so don't hesitate to ask any library staff for help. Take a look at the location information for your campus to find floor maps.
The autoloans machines on the ground floor let you check out and return material for yourself. If you aren't sure how to use them, ask one of the friendly staff on the desk.
If you're off-campus, remember to take a look at our Off Campus Services to see how you can borrow our physical material.
Study collaboratively, quietly or silently.
The libraries in Cairns and Townsville have zones to help you find the best place to study for your needs. In all of the zones, we ask you to be mindful and respectful of the study needs of other students.
The Ground Floor is a collaborative zone, where you can work with groups on projects.
The First Floor is a quiet zone - you can still talk, but keep your voice down. This is a space that is shared by a large number of students, so it's important to be mindful of the other users and try to make sure your conversations can only be heard by the people you are talking to.
The Second Floor (the top floor) is a silent zone. Keep this space free from conversations, switch your phone to silent (and take any phone calls downstairs) and turn down the volume of your headphones so that your neighbours can't hear the noise spill-over.
You can book group study spaces in each library, depending on availability.
Use our computersWe have computers in different areas spread across the library buildings. Some are in the silent zone, so make sure you respect the needs of others studying in this area. Please remember that all students should have fair access to the computers, so if you are going to be leaving your workstation for more than a few minutes, save your work and log out of the computer to give another student a chance to use it.
When using any of the computers at the university, remember to save your work often, and to something like a USB drive or cloud storage. Accidents happen and the computers time out after a period of inactivity, and you don't want to lose hours of work because you forgot to hit "save" before you went to the water fountain.
Use the kitchenette.
Both libraries have kitchenettes located outside the building, providing boiling water and microwaves. Please remember that these are shared facilities and take good care of them.
If you are using the kitchenette to heat food that might be distracting to other students (something with a strong smell, for example), please eat that food at the tables near the kitchenette (or in the cafe space in the Mabo Library in Townsville). Most areas of the buildings are "cold food only".
Be excellent to each other.
We like to think of the library as a community hub, which gives everyone the opportunity to be part of one big community. The more excellent we are to each other, the more wonderful the library is. So help us create a welcoming, supportive space filled with welcoming and supportive people.
And remember, the library staff are here to help, so if you need anything, just ask.
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