By James Roberts
Newly elected Plaid Member of the Senedd for Caerdydd Penarth, Kiera Marshall, has criticised the proposed changes to the ASSL in a statement to Gair Rhydd.
Having been made aware of the controversial changes, which will see four seminar rooms built on the second floor of the ASSL, Marshall says that she is “concerned to hear about the proposal to redevelop the top floor of Cardiff University’s Arts and Social Studies Library”, adding that “it is clear to me that this has caused significant distress amongst the student and staff community at the University”.
The development plans, leaked to Gair Rhydd on the weekend, describe how the University Executive Board “approved a business plan from Estates” to create new study and teaching spaces on the footprint of the current bookshelves.
The move has been met with significant backlash as students and staff have highlighted how the move could see valuable and rare books, including the Salisbury Collection, removed or potentially lost.
In reference to these concerns, Mashall noted that “A quarter of the ASSL library would be lost in these new plans. And there is yet to be a clear plan as to where these books will go. […] The collections contain books on Music, History, Religion, Archaeology and an invaluable collection of Welsh and Cultural literature. This includes a significant amount of the Salisbury collection.”
“I believe it is essential that these historic Welsh books are available for students to read in the University in the Welsh capital.”
The university has attempted to counter these claims that books will be destroyed.
In a recent press release Mandy Tonks, Interim Pro Vice Chancellor said “To be clear, we will not be removing “all books””, adding that “Key books and collections will not “be disposed of” as has been inaccurately suggested”.
Further concerns have been raised by students, as the changes may cause disruption to study spaces or increase the difficulty of accessing various texts.
This has been an acute problem for students in the last few years, due to that fact that “Cardiff University has closed 3 libraries on the main campus” in the last 5 years, as noted by Marshall.
Having been revealed only at the end of the academic year, the university’s plans have been criticised for a perceived lack of transparency, which some see as a part of a wider trend of authoritarian and unaccountable rule on the part of the Executive Board.
As we reported earlier in the year, academics have described an opaque, top-down culture within university management, with one describing “backwards legitimisation, not forward planning”.
Regarding these concerns, Marshall notes “Many staff and students do not feel as though meaningful consultation has taken place regarding these proposals”.
Concerned about the future of the library, and aware of the perceived lack of consultation with students and staff, Marshall says that “I will reach out to the University Executive Board to ensure the clear views of staff and students that have approached me are represented ahead of this decision”.
Further to this, Marshall says she intendeds to write a formal letter to the University outlining her concerns about the future of the ASSL.
We did not reach out to Cardiff University regarding Marshall’s comments as they have previously stated that they will not provide any further comment on the ASSL.