Ways to access Library resources and services

Our services are designed to help reduce the amount of time you need to spend in the Library. You can choose to request books to collect from any of our sites, or request digital copies of certain pages or a chapter.

Services in the Paul Hamlyn Library

The Paul Hamlyn Library is open continuously from Monday morning to Friday evening during term time with day time hours only at weekends. Our Library Services team operate a full service within the following hours:

Term times
  • Monday - Thursday, 9am - 8pm
  • Friday, 9am - 6pm
  • Saturday - Sunday, 12pm - 6pm
Vacation times
  • Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm
  • Saturday - Sunday, 12pm - 4pm

Outside of these times, the Paul Hamlyn Library operates an unstaffed service.

  • During full service times, students can expect:

    • Access to all print, audio-visual, and e-resources
    • The Library information desk to be staffed at all times
    • A member of the Customer Experience team to be roving throughout the Library space at all times
    • A Supervisor or Manager to be available
    • Any enquiries to the library@uwl.ac.uk mailbox or by telephone at 020 8231 2405 to be answered at all times
    • Cleaning of the Library space
    • A Subject Librarian to be available (Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm)
    • IT Support upon request (Monday to Saturday at all times)
  • During our unstaffed service, students can expect:

    • Access to all print, audio-visual and e-resources (except restricted loan items)
    • Access to the Library website and catalogue
    • Support from the UWL Security team including regular patrols throughout the night
    • Additional cleaning of the Library space from 6am each morning and until mid-evening
    • Access to all study areas (except the Mollie Clay and Ian Carter Rooms which are closed from 8pm to 8am)
  • At all times (overnight and unstaffed) students can expect:

    • Support from the UWL Security team
    • Access to the library website and catalogue
    • Access to library e-resources
    • Self-service kiosks for issuing of library resources
    • Access to our self service returns area on the Ground Floor
    • Access to PCs and wifi
    • Access to printing, copying and scanning services

Studying in the Paul Hamlyn Library

Signs for Individual, Small Group and Large Group study areas

The Paul Hamlyn Library has a range of spaces that can enable you to work both individually and collaboratively, arranged over three floors.

Our three floors are divided on either side of the main landing on two sides — one on the Park side of the Library and the other on the Heart side. Each side is signposted as either for individual study, small group study (2-3 people) and large group study (4-6 people).

Two students working together in the Paul Hamlyn Library

There are a number of study rooms within the Paul Hamlyn Library that you are able to book to use. When these are not booked, they can be freely accessed on a first come, first served basis. Find out how you can book a room below.

  • Booking procedure

    Rooms may be booked up to one week in advance (or longer if booked through Library staff). You will need to provide your UWL email details and confirmation of the booking will be sent to that address. If you no longer require a room, please cancel the booking no later than one hour before the booking is due to start. 

    You may place a booking to use our rooms for any time that the library is open but please note that the timetabling system only allows users to book between midday and 11:55pm and between midnight and 11:55am.

    Fair use:

    • There is a two hour maximum booking by any one group
    • No double bookings by group members are permitted

    Please note that in order to allow fair use of these facilities, library staff reserve the right to cancel or amend bookings, or to move those using these spaces to alternative locations in the library in order to make the most efficient use of the space.

  • Paul Hamlyn Library rooms

    All rooms unless otherwise indicated can be booked through the My Timetable tile on the Student Portal. You can also check if a room has been booked before you use it by selecting the "Room Use" option from the Administration menu in My Timetable. 

    If a room is not otherwise booked, you are free to use it but please be prepared to vacate should someone with a booking need the room. 

    All bookings are confirmed to your student email. Please be prepared to show this in the event of a dispute or contact Library staff.

    First Floor

    Study Room 1 [PE-01-002]. Small bookable room with space for up to four people.

    Study Rooms 2 and 3 [PE-01-002b and PE-01-002c]. Two bookable enclosed study booths which can fit up to four people. Both booths have large digital screens that can be used with a laptop. 

    Pavilion Study Spaces, Heart side. This area contains a number of small study booths suitable for group work that are available on a first come first served basis. A number have large screens that can be used with a laptop.

    Second Floor

    Study Room 4 [PE-02-009] and Study Room 5 [PE-02-10]. These are two large bookable conference style rooms that can accommodate around 10 people each. Each room is equipped with an adjustable table and computer for students with disabilities and have large digital screens that can be used with a laptop. 

    The three classrooms [PE-02-002, PE-02-003 and PE-02-004] on the Heart side of the Paul Hamlyn Library as you exit to the Warwick Building are not part of the library and are not available for booking by students.

    Third Floor

    Study Room 6 [PE-03-001A]. Small three to four person room with an adjustable table and computer for students with disabilities. 

    The large classroom [PE-03-001] on the Heart Space side of the Paul Hamlyn Library as you exit to the Warwick Building is not part of the library and is not available for booking by students.

    Paul Hamlyn Library event space

    On the Second Floor Heart side of the Paul Hamlyn Library, adjacent to rooms PE-02-002/PE-02-004 on the Warwick exit side of the library, is our bookable event space.

    This area is available for UWL staff and students to hire for specific events. For more information please contact library@uwl.ac.uk or see our dedicated Events Space information below.

Paul Hamlyn Library events space

The events space at the Paul Hamlyn Library: blue chairs and tables laid out in an open indoor space, with a large screen on the far wall

On the Second Floor Heart side of the Paul Hamlyn Library, on the Warwick exit side of the library, is our bookable event space. This area is available for UWL staff and students to book for specific events such as film showings and SU society events. 

The area is equipped with a large 85 inch screen, which you can use with a laptop, and moveable tables and chairs that can be set up for an audience of up to 30 people. When not in use, this space is used for small group study. 

To use this space please contact library@uwl.ac.uk with details of the event that you wish to host, including audience numbers and timings. We also require you to complete a risk assessment in advance that sets out how you intend to manage your event and the health and safety of your audience. 

For general guidance on use of the space, please see our general guidance page as well as the Library Services policies and procedures.

Commercial use

Our events space is primarily for UWL students and staff. If you are a commercial organisation who wishes to use this space for an event you should contact the University External Hire Department.

Lost property

Personal property brought onto University premises is the responsibility of the owner and the University accepts no liability for loss or damage to personal items. Personal items should not be left unattended on University premises and we advise you to take your possessions with you when leaving the library, or to use one of our lockers.

Should you lose something in our libraries, you should contact the UWL Reception at either St Mary's Road or on the 10th Floor at Fountain House. Please note proof of ownership may be required to reclaim lost items.

Our policy is to pass anything found in the library to Reception and to refer anyone who has lost anything to Reception.

Charging lockers

Lockers for charging mobile devices are located on the first floor of the Paul Hamlyn Library. Each locker has a 13 amp power socket inside and is suitable for charging all types of devices and laptops subject to the constraints of physical size and a maximum load of 110 watts.

We do not provide charging cables and you will need to use your own.

The Charging Lockers are available free of charge to any UWL student or staff member using their UWL ID card.

By using these lockers you are agreeing to abide by our terms and conditions.

  • To borrow a locker

    • Press the "charging locker loan" button on the screen to borrow a locker
    • Scan your University ID card using the barcode reader below the screen
    • Once scanned the screen will ask you to either accept or decline the terms and conditions for using the service
    • Once you have accepted the terms, the screen will then show the locker number you have been allocated along with the time it is due for return
    • The allocated locker will automatically open and a light within the locker will start to flash
    • Close the locker door properly after putting your device in to charge
    • Remember to press the "finish" button after completing your transaction
  • To return your locker

    • Press the "return" button
    • Scan your University ID card using the barcode reader below the screen
    • The screen will display details of the locker previously loaned out to you and the light within that locker will flash
    • You will then need to scan your University ID card on the second reader located on the same bay as your locker and the door will open automatically
    • Please close the locker properly upon return to prevent the locker loan remaining on your library account
    • Remember to press the "finish" button after completing your transaction

    If you have any trouble using the charging lockers, please speak to a member of our Customer Experience team.

Laptop loan service

The Paul Hamlyn Library has 12 laptops for you to borrow. They can be connected to the University Wi-Fi (eduroam) and have general Microsoft applications on them. You are welcome to use the laptops anywhere on any of the Ealing or Brentford campus sites. 

To borrow a laptop, come to the ground floor desk of the Library during staffed hours. You will need to return your laptop to the same desk on the day you have borrowed it. The latest you can return it is 8pm Monday to Thursday and 6pm on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. 

The laptops will be loaned to you fully charged and should last up to 8 hours. It is not possible to reserve a laptop.

  • Further details on borrowing laptops:

    • You can only borrow one laptop at a time. 
    • Laptops can be used at a UWL campus only (any of the Ealing or Brentford sites).
    • The service is open to UWL students only. 
    • It isn’t possible to download or install software on the laptops. 
    • If you damage, lose or not return the laptop, you will be responsible for repair or replacement cost. 
    • Overdue loan charges will be charged at £5 per day. 
    • Non-return of a laptop after seven days will result in you being invoiced for the replacement cost of the laptop at the cost of £650. 
    • Users of this service are bound by the UWL Information Security policy (including acceptable use policy).

Who was Paul Hamlyn?

  • Who was Paul Hamlyn?

    Publisher and philanthropist Paul Hamlyn (née Paul Bertrand Wolfgang Hamburger) was born in Berlin, Germany on 12 February 1926. He moved to Britain in 1933 with his parents and three siblings, educated first at Hall School, Belsize Park then at St Christopher’s in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. He left school at the age of fifteen to become an office boy at Country Life magazine in London. During the war he worked variously as a 'Bevin Boy' coal miner and local newspaper reporter in South Wales and then took on various jobs in the book trade (including selling books from a barrow) in which he was to later make his fortune and reputation.

  • Paul Hamlyn's life

    Paul launched his first publishing company, Books for Pleasure in 1949 (to be followed later with a recorded music business Music for Pleasure in 1965) with the then novel concept of selling competitively priced but well produced books from non-bookshop outlets such as department stores and supermarkets. He grew the company further by taking over failing imprints then sold it to International Publishing Corporation (IPC) in 1964 where he took a place on the board and a book division created in his name until he resigned in 1970 after the takeover of IPC by the then paper manufacturer Reed. That same year Paul was appointed joint Managing Director with Rupert Murdoch of Australian newspaper company News International (NI). He formed a new publishing company Octopus whilst at NI which he then bought out in 1972. Octopus initially specialised in  producing 'own-brand' book series for other retailers and reprinting back-lists licensed from other publishers. Based near UWL in Feltham, West London, Octopus Publishing Group was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1983 and was then able to grow further through strategic acquisitions of distributors and publishers, notably Heinemann in 1985. In a final and prescient piece of deal-making Paul sold his Octopus publishing empire to Reed in 1987 just before the 1987 stock market crash.

    Rather than retire he continued to travel the world and enjoy life, as well as making a long-lasting connection with the University of West London (then Thames Valley University) by becoming the University’s first Chancellor in 1993. This role he took on despite being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and cancer.

    Paul was awarded the CBE in 1993 and a Royal Society of Arts medal. He was made a life peer (Baron Hamlyn of Edgeworth) by the Labour Party in 1998. He died on 31 August 2001 aged 75. He was survived by his second wife Helen and two children, Michael and Jane. His brother Michael died in 2007.

    His legacy lives on in many guises, not least in his charitable foundation, the Hamlyn Foundation (established in 1972), which has generously supported arts, education (including libraries and book preservation) and developing country projects over the years. It is fitting that, in recognition of this generosity and his service to the University, our new library bears his name.1 

    Bibliography

    Norrie, Ian (2006) Mentors & Friends: Short Lives of Prominent Publishers and Booksellers I have Known. Elliot & Thompson, London.

    Paul Hamlyn (2016) Wikipedia

    Stevenson, Ian (2010) Book Makers: British Publishers in the Twentieth Century. British Library, London.

    Notes

    1. The former British Museum Reading Room reference library was also named the Paul Hamlyn Library until its closure in 2011, but there is no connection with our library.

Get in touch

Student reading in library

In-person: Visit the Help Zone, ground floor at our Ealing & Reading sites. Find out the library opening hours.

Email us: library@uwl.ac.uk

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Telephone:  Ealing: 020 8231 2405  /  Reading: 020 8209 4434  (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm)

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