University library staff accommodation : why space matters for the forgotten army

Abstract

The term ‘forgotten army’ is used to describe the allied forces fighting in the Far East in the closing months of the Second World War. Germany had been defeated and peace declared in Europe, but thousands of miles away the war was continuing, and the members of the armed forces involved felt forgotten by the politicians and strategists back in London. Library staff are often the ‘forgotten army’ when crucial and strategic decisions are being taken. This extends to when decisions are being reached about staff accommodation when a new library is being designed or, more commonly, when overall library space is being redesigned, extended, or altered to accord with prevailing estates strategies; changing teaching, learning, or research variables; or a need to rationalize campus space.