On Tuesday this week, I visited the new University of West of Scotland campus in Ayr at the invitation of Gordon Hunt who is both University Librarian and Director of Campus Services for Ayr. This is a most impressive building which sits on a beautiful river-side campus. I was incredibly grateful to Gordon for asking me down to see it and it was rather nice that my final presidential visit should be to Gordon as he and I have known each other for many years and he was, indeed, our external examiner for a number of years.
I really liked the building which is looks large on the outside but is, in fact, enormous when you get inside; the tardis like deception being achieved by it being built into a slope down to the river Ayr (in much the same way my own Aberdeen Business School building is). I was particularly struck by the way in which the central atrium really works as a space and has a clear link to all the other parts of the building (this is something which isn't true of the atrium in Aberdeen Business School). The use of wood is also very impressive.
The new Ayr Campus has lots of wonderful facilities; particularly impressive is the creative industries spaces with many television and radio studies and performance space. Of course, from the perspective of our own creative industry (and indeed libraries, museums, galleries and archives are now included in the creative industries), it was gratifying to see the library at the very heart of the building. It has long been argued that the library is at the heart of the university and so it was good to see that in a physical manifestation as well as a metaphorical one.
I was shown round the library by Neil Buchanan, the campus librarian, and it is a really nice space, designed with users in mind with clearly identifiable zones of activity. I loved the orange ends to shelving which gave a distinctive, warm and welcoming feel and I am delighted to say that despite it being the last week of term, there were plenty of students busily working away in it. Thank you Neil and thank you Gordon for the time you took this week in showing me the excellent campus you have. *
In the evening, I had the great pleasure of dinner with Audrey Sutton and Rhona Arthur at the Harbour Art Centre in Irvine. That was a real treat. We had a lovely meal and a wonderful chat which ranged right across our professional activities and generated lots of really good ideas.
CILIP Scotland you are exceptionally lucky to have someone of Dr Sutton's talents as your incoming president for 2013 and I will say more about that anon.
* PS Gordon - the Aberdeen Business School Christmas Tree is bigger than your one. But, hey, it wouldn't be Aberdeen if it wasn't!
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