Sadly, one of the Napping Pods is now out of service. Someone apparently decided to see how it worked, and disconnected the power and data cables and caused some damage. The manufacturer is sending technicians to repair the Pod – for safety reasons they recommend that no one use it until it has been repaired. PLEASE be considerate of others – we are very disappointed that someone did this, causing problems for others. Edward Spodick Associate Director of Library Services lbspodic@ust.hk

In early 2011, dirt came to the Library Garden. Then in the Summer, came the plants. Including an odd-looking tree. The tree needed bamboo supports to survive the coming typhoons. The tree survived several severe typhoons, the first being just two days after being planted.  And after falling over during a Signal 10 typhoon in 2012 and being pushed back up by CMO staff, it received a name. I was looking at the sad, determined tree, and remembered a Bugs Bunny cartoon, where a monster grabbed Bugs and said something like "I will hug him, and squeeze him and call him George!"  The storms certainly hugged and squeezed, and so the tree became George. And even though the recent Signal 10 Typhoon of 2023 ripped off one of his branches, George still stands determinedly in the Library Garden. Stop by and say hello sometime. Edward Spodick Associate Director of Library Services lbspodic@ust.hk

Meet Jan Jie (珍姐), the vibrant soul of the Ground floor of  HKUST Library! If you're a Library regular 摺拉把, you'll undoubtedly recognize her warm and friendly face. With an impressive 22 years of dedicated service as the janitor on the Ground Floor, Jan Jie has worked with various cleaning companies, engaging with hundreds of students over the years. Whether wielding a cleaning cloth or holding a bloom in her hand, Jan Jie is always at work, ensuring the Library remains impeccably clean. Beyond cleaning, she talks with students, providing encouragement and support for their studies.  She transcends the role of a mere cleaning lady.  Jan Jie is a sharp, compassionate, efficient, and observant individual – well-liked by both students and staff. Jan Jie has played a pivotal role in assisting numerous students in recovering lost items, mostly wallets, ID cards, and mobile phones, often left behind in library washrooms. Her observant and caring nature is highlighted by an incident where she identified a mainland student with a colostomy, new to Hong Kong, who needed medical support.  She reported this to the Library staff so that the student could receive the appropriate follow up. As students, ranging from Bachelors to PhDs, return each year during congregation, they eagerly capture heartwarming moments with Jan Jie in photographs. She serves as an undercover Library ambassador, an indispensable part of the Library's narrative. As Jan Jie approaches potential retirement, my colleagues and I all extend our best wishes to her for this new chapter in her life.

Do you have a favourite spot in the Library? For me, the corner I like the most is the New Arrivals wall on G/F. Here, you come face-to-face with the latest books in our Library. The display is always so colourful and visually attractive, and I often encounter books that pique my curiosity. For example, today I picked up a book called Less is More, which is about the “Degrowth” approach to reverse the ecological crisis that we are facing. It may change how I see the world, or it may not at all. I won't know until I read it. But what I do know is that if I hadn't stumbled upon it in the New Arrivals section, I probably wouldn't have learned about the idea of "Degrowth". In librarians’ jargon, we call this “serendipity” – the way of encountering books and ideas by chance in libraries. In Chinese, I like to call it “碰緣分“.

Now that you see the new Study Pods you might ask what happened to the microforms collection which used to be there? Simple - we moved it down to LG4! This took a long time and a lot of work. The carriages on LG4 had to be modified to handle the microform cabinets with their deep drawers, and then the existing compact shelving portion had to be dismantled and the floor fixed up for the pods. One exciting moment was when the movers dropped a whole drawer of microfiche and it went everywhere! It took a few days, but Library staff eventually got it all cleaned up and reordered back in the drawer. Edward Spodick Associate Director of Library Services lbspodic@ust.hk