Laidlaw Library is 10 today!

Here are 10 fascinating facts to celebrate a decade of the Laidlaw Library.

The University of Leeds’ youngest library is now a decade old. In that time, it has made a huge difference to the experience of thousands of students. Here are 10 things you might not know about our outstanding undergraduate library.

1. Built with generosity

Over 2,300 generous alumni and supporters contributed to the Laidlaw Library’s £26 million cost. The library is named after Lord Irvine Laidlaw, who studied economics at Leeds in the 1960s and founded the Laidlaw Foundation. His £9 million gift for the project is one of the biggest ever received by the University. We have also just celebrated 10 years of the Laidlaw Scholarships at Leeds. 

A huge thank you to all our supporters, including Garfield Weston Foundation and Wolfson Foundation, who continue to contribute to our community, improving the experience of today’s students.

2. We’re here to help… a lot!

Since opening in 2015, Laidlaw Library has had almost six million people pass through our turnstiles: 5,987,359 to be exact. That’s more people than the entire population of New Zealand.

3. Books, books, audiovisual resources and even more books 

Laidlaw Library is home to core texts covering almost every subject. That means there is something for every undergraduate on our 6,800 metres of shelving. Indeed, students have borrowed over 800,000 physical items from the Laidlaw collection since it opened, as well as using the study space to access countless digital resources.

4. Time well spent

In the last year alone, visitors clocked up 88,215,880 total minutes in the library. That’s around 167 years’ worth of chatting, procrastinating and hopefully, some studying.

5. A hive of activity

It’s not just busy students who have worked hard in the Laidlaw Library. Originally, it was home to over 50,000 bees. We had two active bee hives on the second-floor roof to help pollinate flowers and encourage biodiversity on campus.

Sadly, the colonies collapsed during the Covid lockdowns, but we’re starting to investigate how we can get the bees back in business.

One family attracted to the library was a mother duck who brought her ducklings to the rooftop garden. The library team had to gently capture them and carry them down to the pond, followed by mum waddling behind.

Other avian visitors include the pigeons who mastered the revolving door to come in for Caffè Nero crumbs and the bird of prey on the arm of a member of the public who stopped by for a latte!

I love the vibrancy, hustle and bustle of the all the students, staff and members of the public using the library. The staff who work here are a fantastic, dedicated bunch of people.

6. Award-winning

The Laidlaw Library won a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Award. The RIBA UK award celebrates the absolute best in British architecture. In 2016 RIBA judges praised the library, describing it as “extremely complex but rigorously executed in all manner of detail…controlled and highly accomplished.”

7. A sustainable space to study

The library was built with the environment in mind. The building has an “Excellent” BREEAM environmental rating (that’s Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method to you and me), demonstrating a commitment to sustainability in design, construction and operation of the building.

We also recycled 95% of all the waste materials during construction. And, our nifty lighting system is built to automatically turn off when natural lighting increases or there is no one around.

8. 24/7 Pioneer

Students had requested a 24-hour library for years and in 2023 Laidlaw Library was chosen to run a two-year trial for this service. In the first month alone, we had over 300 students burning the midnight oil during the exam period.

And where the Laidlaw Library led, the Edward Boyle Library has now followed, taking up the task of being our 24/7 library on campus. The Edward Boyle is more central to campus and has additional provisions such as low sensory spaces and dedicated postgraduate facilities.

Laidlaw Library is such an important part of students’ lives at Leeds.

9. Art Start

Laidlaw Library is the starting point of our Public Art Trail. Just outside the entrance to the Laidlaw Library stands Simon Fujiwara’s sculpture, A Spire.

This iconic piece was Fujiwara’s first public art commission, and it represents the industries on which the University and Leeds itself were built. Moving from a pulverised coal base with cables laid into the cast of the column, to a greener future at the top of the chimney, it tells the story of progress. A fitting starting point for an artistic journey through campus.

10. The space for skills

Laidlaw Library offers even more than books, study spaces and a busy Caffè Nero. It has also been the home of our Skills@Library service. The Skills Zone on level one has hosted 11,383 one-to-one appointments for students with our Learning Advisors, providing personalised support when it is most needed. Specialised teaching rooms held 1,109 workshops that have helped 28,246 students improve on their academic, mathematical and digital skills.

It is also the location of the beloved Writing Space on the ground floor. In the new academic year, that area will be renewed and expanded into a new Skills Space, giving students one central location to work with their peers, develop their academic and digital skills, and find skills support from across the University.

The Laidlaw Library is a central and welcoming place for all kinds of university and community activity. There is a lot of affection for the library from students.

“Laidlaw Library is such an important part of students’ lives at Leeds,” said Shivani Gug, Leeds University Union’s Education Officer. “Although it is the newest of our libraries, Laidlaw quickly became a loved study space by our students. From its group rooms across the whole library to silent study areas, students appreciate Laidlaw being there on the edge of campus, perfectly positioned between the city centre and the rest of campus!”

Reflecting on the last 10 years, Customer Services Manager, Audrey Cobb, said “I love the vibrancy, hustle and bustle of the all the students, staff and members of the public using the library. The staff who work here are a fantastic, dedicated bunch of people.

“We’re constantly trying new things: hosting events in the foyer, working with Lifelong Learning to support teaching for Jumpstart, engaging with the community, hosting the first event for refugees, and the poetry wall. We’re always looking for ways to reach out and create new and enriching experiences for our students and visitors.”

We’re looking forward to another 10 years of lively learning, skills development and community service in the Laidlaw Library!