ÐÔÊӽ紫ýAccessibility Guide - Lee Library

Lee Library & Study Rooms

Overview

The Lee Library is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, except for a short period of closure around Christmas and New Year. There will usually be a member of staff in the Library between 9:00am and 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.

Location

The Lee Library is located in Lee Court to the East side of the College.

Access: There is step-free entry into the Lee Library through two separate hinged doors, each with an opening width of 94cm. There is weather protection at the building entrance. All doors into and throughout the Library open manually and are fairly heavy. Please ask if you require assistance accessing the doors. All areas are accessible via a lift which serves all three floors of the building.

Sir David Williams Room

Location

The Sir David Williams Room is located on the ground floor to the left of the Library entrance. Directional and locational signage for the room is available in upper- and lower-case lettering that is clearly visible.

Access: There is step free access into the room from the foyer. The door has an opening width of 76cm. A key card is required for access and the height of the key card reader is 92cm. The door opens away from you (push to enter) and is heavy.

Furniture: The room is spacious with two height-adjustable desks, one standing desk and a small number of raised tables are provided. The height of the remaining desks is 70cm, with a clear floor space of 67cm beneath the desks. There is a mixture of chairs both with and without armrests.

Floor covering: The carpet floor covering in the room is even throughout.

Hearing and visual impairments: The Sir David Wiliams Room is not equipped with a hearing loop or visual fire alarm system.

Nearest accessible toilet: There is an accessible toilet (left transfer) located in the Library Basement which can be accessed via a lift or stairs. See 'Library Accessible Toilet' for specification.

Nearest standard toilets: Male and female standard toilets are located in the Library Basement which can be accessed via a lift or stairs. 

Gordon Johnson Room (Computer Room)

Location

The Gordon Johnson Room is located on the ground floor, to the right of the main library entrance. Directional and locational signage for the room is available in upper- and lower-case lettering that is clearly visible.

Access: The foyer outside the room is spacious. There is step free access into the room from the foyer. There are double doors to the room; one is usually locked but could be opened on request.

A key card is required for access at this entrance. The height of the key card reader is 92cm. The door opens towards you, with an opening width of 76cm and is heavy. There is plenty of room for wheelchair users.

Floor covering: The carpet floor covering in the room is even with no trip hazards.

Furniture: One height-adjustable desk, one standing desk and a mixture of chairs both and without armrests are provided in the room. The height of the remaining desks is 74cm, with a clear floor space of 62cm beneath the desks. 

Printing Facilities: There are two multi-function devices (MFDs) that can be used for copying, scanning and printing. 

Hearing and visual impairments: The Gordon Johnson Room is not equipped with a hearing loop or visual fire alarm system.

Nearest accessible toilet: There is an accessible toilet (left transfer) located in the Library Basement which can be accessed via a lift or stairs. See 'Library Accessible Toilet' for specification.

Nearest standard toilets: Male and female standard toilets are located in the Library Basement which can be accessed via a lift or stairs.

Lift to the Lee Library Reading Room and Lower Ground Floor

Location

A standard lift is located approximately 1m from the entrance doors on both sides of the lift. There is plenty of flat manoeuvring space in front of the lift. The lift serves the basement, ground and 1st floors and has a weight limit of 630kg.

Lift Specification: The dimensions of the lift are 138x106cm, with a door clearance width of 80cm. The internal control buttons are between 90cm - 120cm from the floor. The height of the external control for the lift on each floor is 108cm.

The Librarian will activate your University card if you wish to use the lift. The height of the card reader is 96cm. 

The lift has a visual floor indicator but does not have an audible announcer. Horizontal handrails are fitted along three sides of the lift at a height of 80cm which are easy to grip. There is an emergency alarm inside the lift which is connected to the Porters’ Lodge.

Visibility: The lift doors contrast visually with lift lobby walls. The colour contrast between the external lift controls and the control plate is fair. There is good colour contrast between the external lift control plate and the wall. The colour contrast between the external lift controls and the control plate is good. There are tactile markings but no Braille markings. Lighting levels inside the lift are good.

Stairs to the Lee Library Reading Room and Basement

Location

The stairs are located approximately 8m ahead of the main entrance for access the basement, ground and 1st floors. There are manual, heavy, single doors to enter/exit the basement from the stairs.

Steps: There are 18 steps and a landing between floors. The steps are 96cm wide, with a height of 17cm and a depth of 28cm. Step nosings are clearly marked.

Handrail: Handrails are fitted on both sides of the stairs at a height between 90cm-100cm and cover the flight of stairs throughout its length. The handrails are easy to grip and extend horizontally beyond the first and last steps.

Visibility: Lighting levels at the steps are good, with artificial and natural lighting.

Lee Library and Reading Room

Access via the stairs: There is step-free access to enter the Library. The entrance door is not clearly signed but does contrast visually with the immediate surroundings. A key card is required for access at this entrance. The height of the key card reader is 135cm.

The door opens towards you (pull) and is heavy. The doors are double width, but one door is usually locked. The width of a single door opening is 78cm.

Security barriers: Security barriers are fitted inside the Library entrance, with a minimum width of 113cm.

Access via the lift: There is level, step-free access into the Library via lift. The lift bypasses the stairs and entrance to the Library. For further details see the 'Library Lift specification'. 

Inside the Library

Accessibility: There is step-free access within the library. The carpet floor covering is even throughout.

The layout gives plenty of manoeuvring space between the shelves and study spaces. Most of the collection is housed on full-height shelves, so volumes on the upper shelves are likely to be out of reach for wheelchair users. Members of the Library team will be happy to provide assistance.

Furniture: The Library currently has one height-adjustable desk, one standing desk and a mixture of chairs both and without armrests. The majority of the remaining study desks are 71cm in height, with a clear floor space beneath desks of 68cm. 

Hearing and visual impairments: The Lee Library Reading Room is not equipped with a hearing loop or visual fire alarm system.

Emergency evacuation

The College prepares a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) for all students and visitors with disabilities who would need assistance to evacuate in the event of a fire or other emergency. There is clear signage to direct library users to refuge points in the Library and Library Basement.

Should the fire alarm sound and you need assistance to evacuate from the building, make your way to the nearest refuge point. Press the centre of the call point (114cm high) to connect to the Porters’ Lodge and wait there until the Porter arrives. 

Library services

Self-Service Machine

The self-service book borrow/return machine is located to the right as you exit the lift. The touchscreen is between the heights of 124cm and 147cm.

Library staff can provide material in Braille, large print, e-book, ejournal, and audio on request, and are available to help with enquiries when on duty. Library staff can assist with access and loans of individual books.

For further details about the available resources in the Library please see the College website: Making the Library Accessible to All.

Library Basement

Accessible toilet: There is an accessible toilet (left transfer) located in the Library Basement which can be accessed via a lift or stairs. See 'Library Accessible Toilet' for specification.

Standard toilets: Male and female standard toilets are located in the Library Basement which can be accessed via a lift or stairs.

Library accessible toilet

Location & Access

A shared accessible toilet is located in the basement of the Lee Library which can be accessed via the stairs or lift. The accessible toilet is opposite to and approximately 7m from the lift.  There is step-free access to the accessible toilet. The basement has sensor lighting which turns on as you open the basement door.

Door: A key is not required to access the toilet. The door has an opening width of 75cm. The door is heavy, opens inwards and is locked by a lever twist. The contrast between the internal door and wall is good. The horizontal grab rail on the inside of the door contrasts well with the colour of the door. 

Dimensions: The dimensions of the accessible toilet are 240 x 148cm.

Visibility: The pull cord for the light is 85cm from floor level. The lighting level is good. The contrast between the walls and floor is good.

Toilet: The height of the toilet seat above floor level is 48cm. The toilet has a cistern. The lever flush is not on the transfer side. The height of the toilet roll holder is 90cm and it can be reached from seated on the toilet. The contrast between the toilet roll holder and the wall is good.

Transfer: As you face the toilet, the transfer space is on the left. The lateral transfer space is 73cm.  

Grab rails: There is a vertical pull down rail on the transfer side. The contrast between the dropdown rail and wall is good. There is a horizontal wall-mounted grab rail on the right-hand side of the toilet. The contrast between the wall-mounted grab rail and wall is good. 

Wash basin: The wash basin is fitted at a height of 75cm and can be reached from seated on the toilet. The soap dispenser can be reached from seated on the toilet. The height of the towel dispenser is 107cm and cannot be reached from seated on the toilet. The contrast between the towel dispenser and the wall is good. The height of the hand dryer is 107cm. The contrast between the hand dryer and the wall is fair.

Grab rails: There is a vertical wall-mounted grab rail on the left-hand side of the wash basin. The contrast between the wash basin wall-mounted grab rail and wall is good. The wash basin tap type is lever mixer. There is a wall fixed soap dispenser fitted at a height of 109cm.

Hearing and visual impairments: There is an emergency pull cord, but the toilet does not have visual fire alarm. 

Additional features: Female sanitary and clinical waste disposal units are provided, as well as a general waste bin with lid. There is a coat hook 128cm from the floor, a mirror, and a small shelf at a height of 91cm.