Dear friends,

We are in the library at the University of Surrey. Let’s go to level 2. There are two lifts- the green and the orange. If you use the entrance on level 1, the closest lift is the orange one. If you come through the entrance on the ground level, the green lift would be a better option. If you want to use the stairs, they are also available. Level 2 offers books with numbers starting at 620, going up to 999. There are various subjects such a Business, Accounting, Management, Literature, Veterinary Medicine, Engineering and many more. An interesting fact is that the textbooks for Veterinary Medicine are very big and heavy with beautiful illustrations of different animals.

On the other hand, the variety of business books is enormous with topics, covering big and small businesses, financial accounting, and management of big corporations. Business, Accounting, Finance, Economics students, etc. will have an extraordinary opportunity to access such a huge amount of information, written by well-known authors. If you are not looking for textbooks, but rather best-selling fantasy books, you will have an access to the Harry Potter collection. Moreover, there is a section for GSA books for students from the Guildford School of Acting. The available materials represent mainly music sheets/scores. Next to these shelves you will find many CDs with films. They can be borrowed for one day only.

Next to the CDs there is a language section. If you have applied to do the Global Graduate Award in languages, you will definitely need to spend some time there. There are textbooks for German, French, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, etc. The books represent different levels of difficulty. Thus, if you are a beginner, you will be able to find A1/Stage 1 books by looking at the colours of the labels. This is my favourite part of level 2 because I enjoy learning new languages and when I see so many books in front of my eyes, I feel extremely excited. The process of learning foreign languages might be very expensive, which is why the availability of these books is very precious. Hence, sitting in the library, reading a book written in a different language is very relaxing.

In fact, there is a desk at the language area, where staff are located and are able to help if you cannot find your book. Furthermore, there are books covering English skills through vocabulary, grammar, writing, speaking and reading, and other books, focusing on IELTS, GMAT, etc.

As this is a quite floor for individual, rather than group studies, the place on level 2, where I usually spend most of my time is in the silent room. It is very quiet when you come in, seeing students concentrated on their work. I like the sign, which tells students not to talk in the room and to use headphones, when listening something on their computers. If students need headphones, they can ask at the Reception desk on level 1, providing their student ID. It is a straightforward process and after use they need to be returned back to the same place.

In effect, the main sound you can hear is from typing on keyboards. In addition, there are computers available to use or if students prefer using their own computers, they can sit on a table, where there are sockets to charge their devices. It is very convenient and many students choose that option because they may already have a lot of important documents in their computers.

In sum, level 2 is for those, who enjoy studying individually in a quiet environment as well as those, who are fans of fantasy books, languages or who enjoy the whole studying process.

Until next time,

Desi