There are many things that you may not know about our new library.
We officially opened the new Laidlaw Library with a special alumni event on Tuesday 7 July.
We're sharing seven facts that may surprise you.
#1 The library would not have been built without the generosity of 2,300 alumni, who contributed to the £26m investment.
On behalf of our students – thank you.
Read more about all our Alumni and the Making a World of Difference campaign or you can find a list of donors here.
#2 It will be less quiet than you may imagine. As well as silent study areas, there are eight group study rooms and ten group study booths, and also space to work alongside a café on the ground floor.
Take a look at the floor plan.
#3 Our new library has two beehives, which can be found on a green roof halfway up the building. They are home to 50,000 bees. Our Queen is a local lass, born from a long line of Leeds bees.
Genetically, the bees have a large component of Apis mellifera mellifera, the northern European honey bee, but also known as British black or dark bee. Read more about why bee keeping is important.
#4 As well as our café, we understand laptops, phones and tablets require juice, too. To help our students in today’s digital world, there are 1,068 charging sockets.
Caffé Nero at the Laidlaw Library is one of twelve on our campus.
#5 To reflect our commitment to sustainability, 95% of waste during the construction of the library was recycled. It also has an ‘excellent’ BREEAM environmental rating for the new building.
You can see the site webcam or take a look at the timeline of the Laidlaw Library planning.
#6 We’re all about high technology but low energy. All our LED screens and low energy lights turn themselves off when no-one is around or when natural light levels increase.
Read about the University's sustainability projects here.
#7 It has over 900 spaces to study, to suit different learning styles and preferences. There are 17 different types of chair to choose from.