The James Joyce Library has been undergoing significant renovations since January 2023 and finally revealed the first sensory room in a college library in Ireland.
On September 7th, UCD inaugurated the newly refurbished third level of the James Joyce Library, set to open on Monday the 11th of September. The renovation, which currently amounts to €4 Million, is part of a broader project to ultimately expand and renovate the James Joyce Library over the course of the next academic year. The event attended by UCD Student Union President Martha Ní Riada and Acting Registrar, Deputy President Professor Barbara Dooley and University Librarian Sandra Collins revealed 2,500 m² of a modern learning space exclusively reserved for students.
The renovations that began in January 2023 heavily relied on student feedback. Among the demands made by student references were the demands to include sensory rooms, silent study areas adapted to hybrid learning, and standing and seated desks. Most notably, the sensory rooms informed by the inputs of behavioural psychologists and accessible to all students are included in a university library for the first time in Ireland.
In an address during the inaugural event, UCDSU President Martha Ní Riada reminded attendees that “many of the elements students have been calling out for years have finally come to light”. She continued to say that “having a space to this standard open to students is phenomenal, and its impact will be felt by every UCD student able to use this space.” Acting Registrar and Deputy President Barbara Dooley praised “a partnership between students, the library and the university that was key to making James Joyce Library into a truly transformative space.” UCD Librarian, Sandra Collins admits to being “optimistic about the next stages of this library as this current transformation has exceeded our expectations”.