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This is your space: an introduction to the Morrell, Fairhurst and Burton libraries

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Posted on Monday 28 September 2026

Our main Library on Campus West consists of three connected buildings, containing over 1,500 study spaces as well as about a million books. Here's a guide to the three buildings and the services you may find useful.
A drawing of the Morrell
The Morrell, as captured by local artist Elliot Harrison

The Morrell: books, cafe and Quiet Study 

The Morrell is in the middle of our three buildings, and houses the vast majority of the books over its upper three floors. It is a really popular building to study in, especially around exam-time. 

  • Floor 3 is Silent and contains the Sciences and our new Living Room space for you to stop work and relax in, as well as great campus views. 
  • Floors 2 is Quiet and contains our Arts & Humanities books, with the exception of the Music Collection which is in the Fairhurst. There are group and individual study rooms, and many study spaces - all of these are bookable on this floor. You can book your study space via our bookings calendar, or the MyUoY App, or by scanning the QR Code on any specific space. There are two IT classrooms and a Study Doubling area on Floor 2. 
  • Floor 1 is Quiet and contains our Social Sciences books. Again there are study rooms and open study spaces - these are all non-bookable. There are two IT classrooms on this floor too, and a Postgraduate Study Room. 
  • Floor 0 contains our Morrell Lounge with our Help Desk, and the Library Cafe. This whole area is Studious Buzz, which means you can talk and eat hot and cold food from the cafe here. 

The Fairhurst: labs, sensory rooms, group work and our Student Kitchen

Throughout the Fairhurst you can eat hold and cold food, and talk and do group work, as the whole building is Studious Buzz. There are hundreds of study spaces in the Fairhurst and many students prefer the more informal atmosphere there. 

  • Floor 2 contains another Living Room, another Postgraduate Study area, IT Support, Mac and PC workstation, and our ethnically minoritised author showcase space
  • Floor 1 is known as the Skills Floor. It is packed full of incredible facilities and brilliant people to help you develop your skills for your course, or for your future employment, or just for fun - including the digital labs, the Writing Centre, support for Speaking and Listening and Maths Skills, the Faculty Librarians, and our colleagues from Careers and Placements. There is also our Student Kitchen where you can heat up food. 

The Burton: high ceilings, the Borthwick, and Silent Study 

The Burton is a Silent Study Zone, with the Silent Reading Room on Floor 1 offering an atmosphere for real study... The Borthwick Institute for Archives can also be found on that floor, whilst Floor 0 contains our Family Study Room, for students with children to study alongside them. 

Over the next five weeks or so we'll post more articles on the library News pages introducing you to more of our services, starting next week with our collections and resources. In the meantime, do have a look at our quick-start guide, and welcome to the library!