Background
The University of Bath, a top-ranked institution in the historic city of Bath, combines world-class teaching, cutting-edge research, and strong industry connections to empower students. Its libraries serve as vibrant hubs for learning and community, fostering academic success and well-being.
Katrin Roberts is the Faculty Librarian for Humanities & Social Sciences, and she supports the Department of Economics and the Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies as a Subject Librarian.
The University of Bath Library encountered challenges with print media due to limited accessibility and language diversity, as well as logistical difficulties. These issues hindered its ability to fully support teaching, research, and leisure reading.
By partnering with PressReader, University of Bath Library found a cost-effective solution that enhanced the user experience and strengthened the library’s role within the campus community. Here’s how:
The challenge
The library faced a number of issues:
- Inadequate language offerings: The collection lacked diversity in foreign languages, failing to meet the needs of linguistically diverse faculty and students.
- Limited access: Managed only 28 newspaper subscriptions with a single print copy of each, restricting availability for users.
- Logistical issues: Purchasing, storing and maintaining print editions strained budgets and resources, diverting time from user support.
- Subpar user experience: An online news database addressed some challenges but offered a less immersive, text-based experience, leading to declining usage rates.
- Reduced effectiveness: These limitations hindered the library’s ability to effectively support teaching, research and leisure reading.
The solution
PressReader’s all-you-can-read digital platform enriches curious minds by providing access to thousands of global publications in dozens of languages.
Key benefits:
- Increased usage and engagement: Higher reading rates across the library, driving greater value and significantly lowering the cost per use compared to other services.
- Enhanced user support: Simplified access to a wide range of content, enabling the library to better meet the needs of students, staff and researchers.
- Strengthened community connection: Reinforced the library’s role as a central hub for the faculty and broader university community.
- Wellbeing and inclusivity initiatives: Supported programs promoting physical and mental wellbeing, inclusivity, diversity and equality.
- Broader relevance: Addressed not just academic needs but also users’ broader interests and personal wellbeing.
The impact
PressReader transformed the University of Bath Library into a more effective and engaging resource, increasing usage rates while supporting both academic pursuits and personal wellbeing. The platform broadened access to global perspectives, strengthened connections with users, and solidified the library’s central role in the university community.
- Expanded global perspectives: Access to thousands of global publications allows students and educators to stay informed and explore diverse viewpoints.
- Multilingual content: Supports language learning by providing publications in multiple languages, enhancing comprehension and cultural understanding.
- Connection to homeland: Enables international students and staff to stay updated with news from their home countries.
- Deeper topic exploration: Users can perform keyword searches to access multiple perspectives on a single topic, enriching research and understanding.
- Support for wellbeing and leisure: Offers access to a wide range of magazines and newspapers, from niche interests like gaming or food to casual leisure reading, which the library wouldn’t typically stock.
“PressReader is definitely used for lots of different reasons, which is great because as a library we also just want to promote the joy of reading and getting information. It's not all about teaching and research.”
— Katrin Roberts, Faculty Librarian for Humanities & Social Sciences at University of Bath Library
Conclusion: The bottom line
By adopting PressReader, the University of Bath Library overcame the challenges of limited access, language diversity, and logistical inefficiencies associated with print media. The platform significantly enhanced the library’s ability to support academic pursuits, promote wellbeing, and connect with its diverse community. As a result, the library has strengthened its role as a central hub, supporting faculty, students and the wider campus community in new ways.
