LibInspo 2023 winner announced
The third LibInspo competition concluded on Wednesday 1 March 2023 with its final event at the Bowland Auditorium in the Berrick Saul Building. The day was a huge success in many ways, but in particular because of the outstanding presentations from students.
The six finalists ranged in departments and year of study.
Ioana Triboi, a foundation student from Health Sciences, led off the competition with their pitch for an Inclusive Outdoor Study Space.
This was followed by Samuel Harris, a first year psychology undergraduate, who presented their idea for a Library Sensory room to support student learning and study.
Up next was Holly Smith, a third year student from the School of Business and Society, who demonstrated their ideas surrounding an Interactive 360 library tour to help students navigate round the three buildings.
Brian Koo, from the Hull York Medical School, then explored the potential for silent mice and keyboards to support the silent zone (The Burton library) and reduce distractions.
First year biology student, Angharad Stables, was our penultimate speaker and presented their idea of autistic friendly library pods.
Our final entry was Simrah Rubani, a third year Health Sciences student, with the idea of having a multi-faith prayer room within the library.
Congratulations to Samuel Harris who, after deliberation from the five judges, was announced the winner. They received the prize of £1,000 as well as the title “Library Innovator 2023.” We will now work closely with Samuel to move forward with creating a sensory space within the library.
Ioana Triboi and Holly Smith also received “highly commended” awards and won £250 each for their idea. The other finalists also received £50 for their presentations.
We now aim to take ideas from all the presentations to improve the library.
The final event was hosted by Gary Brannan, the Keeper of Archives and Research Collections at the University. We also had a fascinating speech from our keynote speaker, Alex Widdeson (Associate Director for Engagement and Innovation at the University of Liverpool Library) who focused on the changes of student behaviour and expectations within libraries and the ideas of co-creating with students.
Overall it was a fantastic event and we are excited to take on as many ideas as we can in future library plans.