We all know the feeling of strolling into the library at 11am and hunting around for a seat, then giving up hope after half an hour of trying to find a study spot.
Well, a freedom of information request (FOI) conducted by The Tab Edinburgh and sent to the university reveals how many people actually “hog” seats in the main library.
A trial initiative was set up last May in an aim to investigate and tackle the issue of “seat hogging” in the library.
This followed a year long exploration of the issue, which was recognised by university staff and students.
Our FOI found that in one week 972 students left their unattended belongings at a desk for up to one hour.
This was shown in photographs taken of unattended belongings.
There were seven instances of belongings being boxed up and stored under the desk if the belongings were there over the allowed time of one hour.
There were two instances of these belongings being taken to the EdHelp desk and being managed as lost property.
The pilot scheme took place between the 5th and 9th of May during exam season, after many students had already returned home for the Summer.
The university set up this pilot scheme to combat “seat hogging” following the introduction of the Study Spaces Supervisor role to support work on enhancing and maintaining the centrally managed study spaces offering.
Section 30 of the Library Regulations stipulates that “Personal belongings should not be left unattended or used to reserve seats. Unattended items may be removed by the Librarian.”
The Responding to Desk Hogging Risks Report set out the case for the intervention, and explored past and present interventions at the University of Edinburgh.
They also as well as explored approaches at other academic libraries – notably Trinity College Dublin and the University of Limerick.
During this pilot scheme a two members of the university Facilities Team conducted headcount patrols twice a day in the main library and left leaflets on unattended desks which read: “Don’t be a space hog”, to urge students not to save seats.
To support the scheme’s transparency, a photograph of unattended belongings was taken.
If the belongings were there for over one hour they would be boxed up by the Facilities Team.
If the belongings were still there on a third encounter they would be taken to the EdHelp desk.
Despite the success of the scheme and ever present issue of “space hogging”, the Information Services Group (ISG) has confirmed that there are currently no plans to reintroduce the scheme.
