Dive Into History: Disability in England From the Middle Ages to the Modern Day

From 22 Nov-22 Dec the Library is participating in Disability History Month with a ground floor book display, reading list covering a range of disability history topics, and two blog posts. The first highlights the range of accessibility services we provide here in the Library, and today’s post carries on with our Dive Into History […]

Disability History Month

Disability History Month (22 Nov-22 Dec) is an annual event in the UK that celebrates the achievements of disabled people, honours their struggle for equality and human rights, and remembers the history of the disability rights movement. This month includes HIV/AIDS Day (1 Dec), International Day of People with Disabilities (3 Dec), and International Human […]

Laptop Loans Arrive In Southend & Loughton

After the successful introduction of Laptop Loans at Albert Sloman Library last year, we were eager to extend this service to students at Southend and Loughton. For the past few months, Library Services and ITS have been working hard to put everything in place, and now we’re pleased to announce that Christmas has arrived early. […]

Dive Into History: Early Modern European Witch-Hunts

Did you know Essex has a tragic history of witches and witch-hunts? This first instalment of our ‘Dive Into History’ series is the perfect Halloween read! Not everyone knows that Essex has a tragic history of witches and witch-hunts. Between 1644-47, the infamous self-titled ‘Witchfinder General’, Mathew Hopkins, who was born just up the road […]

Donated art collection includes top 20th century British artists

We are pleased to announce that a prominent collection of 20th and 21st century works on paper by British artists including Francis Bacon, Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud and David Hockney has been donated to the University of Essex. The selection of artworks form part of the Priseman-Seabrook collection and incorporates work by internationally acclaimed artists. […]

Black History Month at the Library

There’s certainly a lot for us here at the Library to look forward to in October. Students are returning, term starts, there’s Halloween, and it’s Black History Month. The Students’ Union at Essex is preparing a jam-packed programme of activities for BHM, and the Library is delighted to be hosting a few of them. This […]

Postgraduates: What to look forward to…

The End has passed, and we will soon be at the end of the Summer Term. But we know this is not the end of the year for our postgraduate students. So what are we doing to support our students who will studying throughout the summer? Extended Summer Opening Hours Although we’re coming to the […]

Shaped by Students: “Take a Break” in the Library

As of 29th April, the Library is making some changes to support our students during the exam season. One of those changes is a space in the Library where students can take a break from studying to de-stress and have fun. We’re calling this the Take a Break area, and at the end of last term […]

Words with… Jonathan Lichtenstein

Held during International Holocaust Memorial Week at the Lakeside Theatre, this successful event gave a fascinating insight into both a very personal story and the historiography of a refugee from Nazi Germany and his family life in Britain afterwards. Hans Lichtenstein, father of Jonathan Lichtenstein (Professor in the Department of Literature Film and Theatre Studies […]

Love/Break-up Letters UX Project

Eagle-eyed library users may have seen that during mid-February 2019, the Frontline Services Team at Colchester’s Albert Sloman Library ran a new UX project (one that should prove to be the first of many) in the entrance lobby. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, the project invited users to tell us how they felt about […]