Library Services Blog

Ella's library experience!

Meet Ella who joined us in Adsetts library for her summer work experience program.

Attending Hope Valley College, Ella is studying geography, English and drama.

" I’m mainly interested in art and would like to do something creative after I’ve left school. I’ve considered going into special effects make-up and theatre make-up as it combines my two favourite subjects – drama and art."

During her time with us, Ella was introduced to all library teams and got to experience how the library contributes to student success at Sheffield Hallam University. 

From meeting librarians, exploring library spaces, discovering our online resources, learning how a library resource is procured, received and made available for readers to discover as well as seeing how we support students day to day, we wanted to show Ella the full range of work that happens in Library Services. 

We hope Ella enjoyed her time with us and wish them all the success they deserve in the future. 

Many thanks to everyone who organised and contributed to make Ella's work experience happen.

We asked Ella a few questions about their time with us, see below:

Did you have any expectations of the library before you came? 

I wasn’t sure what to expect of the library before I came and it surprised me how many different job roles there are within a library. 

What have you enjoyed the most about your time in Library Services? 

I have enjoyed my time within the library. I mostly enjoyed the creative aspects such as seeing how the websites and Chatbot were created and their purpose, including how they support students. I also found it interesting to learn about the Dewey Decimal System and understand the way books on shelves are arranged – I didn’t know this before. Since I want to study something within art in the future I found it cool that there was a big range of art and fashion journals. 

And in your own words, tell us a little about your time with us! 

I spent time with lots of different parts of the library which was interesting to see something new every day and learn new stuff I hadn’t come across before. I saw different aspects such as organising the books on shelves, logging and scanning the books, delivering the books to students and others, ordering books and writing reports about the books. I also learnt about different ways to support students within the library, how library search and Alma work and how to make student ID cards and manage the IT within the library.

About Library Services 

We support every student to be successful throughout their time at Hallam. We provide information, academic and digital skills sessions; and ensure students have access to the best resources to support their learning, as well as providing a variety of learning spaces to suit different styles of working. We also have 24/7 support available to all our users.