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Birmingham City University(伯明翰城市大学)
所在地区:英格兰所在城市:BirminghamTIMES排名:91
一键免费快速申请文章正文综述详细专业照片新闻校友录已获Offer学生资料The award-winning author Jim Crace will officially open a £3 million pound library facelift at the University of Central England in Birmingham next month.The award-winning author Jim Crace will officially open a £3 million pound library facelift at the University of Central England in Birmingham next month.
Mr Crace, 61, who lives in Moseley, has had a long association with UCE Birmingham. He graduated in 1968 with a BA (Honours) English Literature degree from Birmingham College of Commerce, which later amalgamated with four other colleges to create Birmingham Polytechnic.
Thirty years later he sprang to the defence of the university’s academic freedom when in 1998, as a member of the management committee of the Society of Authors, he put his name to an open letter condemning ‘crude police censorship’ over attempts to confiscate a controversial book by Robert Mapplethorpe from the library.
His Distinguished Literary Achievements were celebrated in 2000, when he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University. The former journalist is the author of nine novels – his latest, The Pesthouse won the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award and was described by the New Statesman as ‘entirely compelling’ and ‘a gripping, harrowing adventure tale.’
Mr Crace will return to the university on Tuesday 9 th October to officially unveil an extensive refurbishment of the Kenrick Library at UCE Birmingham’s Perry Barr Campus. The modernised and improved facilities were recently completed, following a four-year rolling revamp during which the library remained open to students.
The refurbishment, which has created a more welcoming and user-friendly atmosphere, has been well received by students, who said the changes were ‘fabulous’ and made an ‘amazing’ difference. “The setting of the new layout is encouraging me to attend regularly and spend hours a day in a relaxed environment,” said one student. “This promotes concentration, focus and minimal noise in the study areas.”
Kenrick Library is the largest of UCE Birmingham’s seven libraries. Open almost 90 hours a week, it holds more than 320,000 books, 2,000 print journals and carries more than 4,000 electronic journals online.
The refurbishment includes a suite of new individual and group study areas and a centralised student IT facility. Kenrick Library has also been brought bang up to date with the introduction of secure access and self service loans.
Judith Andrews, Director of Library and Learning Resources at UCE Birmingham, said: “The new look Kenrick Library has definitely added a Wow factor to our facilities. We now have a welcoming, user-friendly library that is conducive to personal study and flexible enough to meet student expectations and demands.”
