The new Croydon College library ‐ taking students into the twenty‐first century

The opening of the new library in September 1998 provided Croydon College with a wonderful spacious all‐encompassing learning environment. The 3,000 square metre area contains library services, media production services, flexible learning and open access IT services, flexistudy and careers services. The project, initially described as Croydon’s Millennium Dome, was likened to a swimming pool because of the range of activity and opportunity with a shallow supportive activity end and a deep study end. The design and building of a new library is every librarian’s dream and usually every librarian’s nightmare. This article describes the flexible approach and teamwork that enabled this project to be completed to meet as many differing needs as possible.