When you use study carrels in the Library, you might have experienced this situation: you leave the seat but use your belongings to keep it occupied; when you return, someone else take your seat, and you see a notice to claim your stuff at the G/F Service Counter. How did that happen?
Yes, library staff takes regular actions to reduce “seat hogging”. We conduct “in-depth patrol” to clear study carrels and make them available for library users.
How does “in-depth patrol” work?
When we see a carrel occupied by unattended belongings, we leave a paper slip noting the time. After 30 minutes, if the belongings are still there, we would put them on the side so that the seat is available for another user. Valuables will be sent to G/F Service Counter for keeping your belongings secured.
In this Fall term, we did such patrol between 26 September and 1 November; and we cleared a total of 316 carrels, averaging 12.6 carrels per day. That is a 43% increase from last year! Out of these, 219 cases involved valuable belongings, which is a 47% rise! Please keep an eye on your belongings to avoid any potential theft!
What you can do to guard your seat while you take a short break?
We understand you may want to keep your study seat when you go away for a short while. This is the proper way to do so:
- Use a “Hold Form” available at your carrel, jot down the time you leave
- Take valuable items with you; you may store them in the LG1 storage locker
- Come back within 30 minutes!
There is high demand for study seats in the Library; “seat hogging” is annoying to all users, and actions such as “in-depth patrol” are stressful for library staff too. Maintaining a welcoming and conducive study environment is indeed challenging! To make the precious library study space accessible to all users as much as possible, we need your cooperation and understanding. Thanks to everyone who supported our efforts. We will continue to look for ways to make your library experience even better!
May Leung
Librarian (Access Services)
lbmay@ust.hk
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