Going for Gold!



Image: Paralympic Flag / Wikimedia Commons

After huge British success at the London 2012 Olympic Games just a few weeks ago, our Paralympians must be starting to feel the pressure as the Paralympic Games get under way tonight with another spectacular opening ceremony.

It's truly awe inspiring to see a record number of athletes take part in a contest that had such humble beginnings just 50 years ago at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, with just 8 competitors! That modest start has now evolved into the second largest sporting event in the world today.

If you'd like to learn more about the Paralympic Games why not take a look at their official website or search our Sport Discus database for journal articles. We also have many books about the Olympic and Paralympic Games at our new library in Swansea Business School, which will be opening soon (if you can't wait that long you can request the books at any SMU library and we will go and get them for you!).   

Bank holiday closure

Please note that SMU Libraries are closed during the bank holiday weekend, including Monday 27th August. We re-open (still on vacation hours) on Tuesday 28th August, and any  items that you borrow will not be due for return until October!


So have a nice long bank holiday weekend, and make the most of your SMU Libraries during the rest of the 2012 summer vacation!

Looking for something good to read?

With the rainy weather making an unwelcome return, you might be looking for a distraction from our rather miserable summer. What better way to transport yourself to another world than with a good book? If you’re looking for inspiration, pop into Townhill Library or Griffith Library at Dynevor to take a look at the books on display there.

The staff at Townhill Library have picked out some ‘Summer Reads’ to tempt you. You’ll find novels such as In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut (the tale of a young man’s travels through Africa, Switzerland, Greece and India which was shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize), Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson (now more famous for her Jackson Brodie series of detective novels, this was Atkinson’s debut novel) and Henry James’ creepy classic The Turn of the Screw displayed on the ground floor. Don’t be shy about taking them off the table to borrow! You’ll also find some lovely junior fiction and picture books upstairs in the Teaching Practice section, if you’re looking for something to entertain the children.

Meanwhile, down in Griffith Library, discover strange worlds and alternative realities with books such as Philip K. Dick’s Do androids dream of electric sheep? (famously filmed as Blade Runner), Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. Swansea Met libraries aren’t just about textbooks, you know (though we’ve got plenty of those too if you want to stay one step ahead for next year!).

Fixtures and fittings!

Time for an update on the latest goings on at our new library in Swansea Business School!

Well, the IT staff have been extremely busy installing Wi-Fi, desks and wiring for all the new open access PCs that will be arriving soon and taking delivery of new photocopiers, printers and scanners. We've also had our security system installed as well as a self service unit for our borrowers. Library staff have also been busy unpacking boxes and office supplies and checking that all the books and journals have reached their new home in the correct order! 

Next week the first of the new furniture will be arriving, which we're very excited about! A modern mixture of desks, chairs, sofas, stools and other soft seating in snazzy new colours will brighten up the new library a treat and make it somewhere SMU students and staff will feel comfortable and relaxed. We want to make the new library somewhere you'll all enjoy visiting!

Over the next few weeks we are expecting new PCs to be installed as well as a new library counter and enquiry desk...it's all starting to take shape!