University of Tasmania library staff have alerted Togatus to a website aimed at informing UTas students of the Morris Miller redevelopments, which are currently causing disruptions to students on the Hobart campus.

With exams approaching in May, students have become disgruntled with the lack of transparency of the MM level 2 demolition and are increasingly concerned the disruptions may severely affect their mid-year exam preparations.

Students have been forced to avoid Sandy Bay’s central study zone, which contains the majority of resources for Humanities undergraduates, due to frequent disruptions from builders, but they have been given little information on what all the commotion is about.

Togatus published a story ‘Ridiculous Renovations’ in both the Student Observer (issue #3) and online (which can be accessed here) enlightening students of the plans, including funding, the redevelopment time-frame and which areas of the MM will be inaccessible during the renovations.

However, with the momentum of the demolition schedule increasing, few students have been warned about further possible disruptions.

MM library staff have recognised this lack of communication and have informed Togatus of the Library News Blog at http://blogs.utas.edu.au/library/

Under the entry ‘Morris Miller Library Level 2 redevelopment has commenced’, the blog will have regular updates on the demolition and provides a general background on what benefits the demolition will bring to the students in the long term.

For example, the blog has informed students that there was to be major demolition work tomorrow [Friday 23 April] which was scheduled to commence at 12pm and continue to midnight.

According to the blog, this demolition work has been postponed and is likely to be rescheduled for Friday 30 April.

Such a distraction will surely deter students from studying at the library and this information is vital if students want to access resources outside the disruptive hours of demolition.

MM library staff have also encouraged feedback on the redevelopments and have provided a comments section where students can respond to the blog entry.

So unless you'd like background mechanical melodies to accompany your studies, pop April 30 in your diaries for another day of disruption at Uni and keep an eye peeled on the updates on the Library blog.

To comment on the reconstruction, sign-in or register and leave your comments below.

By Julius Ross