Past library events
Here you can see the range of events we have run for our students and staff.
Study Hub Poetry Competition March 2025
Following the success of our photo competition, to enhance and compliment our named group study rooms in our Yorkshire moorland themed Study Hub, we ran a poetry competition. We invited members of the university to submit original poems inspired by the names of our group study rooms.
More than 40 entries were submitted by students and staff and judged anonymously by a panel. Winners were presented with a certificate.
Overall winner
- 'Top Withens (In Winter)' by David Roper-Newman.
Winners
- 'A Beehive's Hum' by Charlotte Barton
- 'Bracken' by Louise Dawson
- 'Wings of Whimsy' by Haiqa Akbar,
- 'Heather' by Louise Dawson
- 'The Mighty Oak' by Amjad Husain
- 'The Heart of Swaledale' by Sana Khan.
Highly Commended
- 'The Oak Tree' by Louise Dawson
- 'Ruins' by Hasnehn Haider.
Valentine's Day 2025
Following on from the success of our valentine's event in 2024, we set out again to get feedback on what you like about the library and what you would like to change.
A students said 'I love the staff and facilities, it is like my second home' and another said if they could make a change they would 'Add more reading books like normal fun ones'. We now have a Read and Relax collection, which we continuing to build with books on wellbeing, fiction and easy reading titles.
We value these opportunities to get feedback directly from our library membership and were delighted with the responses we received. It was wonderful to hear how much the new Study Hub was appreciated and that you liked the variety of different study environments we have within the library.
World Book Week 2025
We were excited to welcome children from the University Nursery to the library for another year to help us celebrate World Book Day with a week of visits.
The children had a story in our Family Study Room, followed by a tour of Floor 0. They were excited to each have a turn issuing a book using our self-issue machine and waived it goodbye when they returned it using the self return machine on the walkway outside the library. Each child received a certificate and sticker for visiting.
Study Hub Photo Competition September 2024
To celebrate the opening of our new Yorkshire Moorland inspired Study Hub on Floor 01 of the library, we ran a photography competition. We help create a sense of belonging and shared ownership and complement the theme of the space, we invited members of the university to submit photographs to decorate the bookable group study rooms. Each room had a name taken from the geography, geology, flora and fauna of the Yorkshire moorland.
We had a wealth of entries from our talented students and staff. the photos were judged anonymously.
Overall winner
- Heather room: Paul Loadman, Professor of Pharmacology
Winners
- Beehive room: Debbie Alstead, Executive Assistant to the Academic Registrar
- Bilberry room: Arwa Almazrouei, Student
- Bracken room: Shell Peart, Student
- Butterfly room: Catherine Mercer, Directorate Support Administrator
- Curlew room: Pete Dilley, Admissions Officer
- Ingleborough room: Steve Gilley, Director of Infrastructure
- Limestone room: Steve Gilley, Director of Infrastructure
- Oak room: Tracy Holmes, Lead Teaching Technician
- Swaledale room: Arwa Almazrouei, Student
- Top Withens room: Tim Green, English for Academic Purposes Lecturer
Many of other commendable entries can be seen on the gallery walkway in the Study Hub.
Decorating the library Christmas tree
In the last week of November our Student Event Coordinators organised a 'come and decorate our Christmas tree' event. Hedaia and Onyinye helped to make the tree look fabulous!
Bookmark making workshop
In October and December 2024 we held bookmark making workshops. We do love a creative project in the library, especially one which enables people to make something unique as well as useful. We provided all the materials; die cut card bookmark blanks and a variety of shapes, decorative paper and card. This event was open to all members of the library, all people needed to bring was their creativity. Lots of beautiful bookmarks were created!
Academic Libraries North collaborative project
"Where do you find information for your assignments?"
This was the question two of our librarians asked some of our students in spring 2024. We gathered feedback on the simple question which yielded intriguing results.
Thank you to all of our students who helped!
Nursery children visit the library for World Book Day 2024
To help us celebrate World Book Day, children from the University Nursery visited our Family Study Room to listen to stories and have a tour of Floor 0.
The children borrowed a book using our self-issue machines and gave them back via the book return machine on the Learning Mall. They received a certificate and colouring sheet for doing so!
Read more about the visits and the Family Study Room on the University's news pages.
See the world through the lens of poetry
"Join us in the University Library as we set sail on a poetic adventure, where every stanza is a window into a different corner of the world. Poetry, a universal language, invites us to immerse ourselves in the rhythms, imagery, and emotions of cultures far and wide.
As we use the One World Week to celebrate the boundless creativity and imagination of poets across cultures and time periods, we will uncover the universal truths and timeless insights that unite us as human beings through the power of language and metaphor.
So, grab your metaphorical passport and join us on Wed 28 Feb 2024 from 13:00-14:00 for this exhilarating journey of discovery and delight. You will have the chance to write a stanza in your own language and pin it on the board."
This event was organised and promoted by the Library Student Event Coordinators who volunteer for the library.
Valentines Day 2024
On Valentines Day 2024 we asked our students "What do you love about the library and what might you like to change?"
We were overwhelmed by the responses. Students said they love "the friendly and helpful staff" and a change they would like would be "having more talking areas". Since then, we have opened the new collaborative study space so students can study together.
Library Community Quilt
The University is a vibrant patchwork of people and experiences, and we tried to reflect some of this in our library quilt project, which was started in December 2023. Students and staff who came along, took a square and decorated it to reflect what our library, learning and Bradford means to them.
This was also also a great opportunity to make new connections and learn and share new skills. No one needed to bring anything other than their creativity, as all materials were provided.