Kevin Ellul, director of the University of Malta library, has been part of the library’s team for 22 years. He took up a job as assistant librarian after discovering that the engineering degree he was reading for was not for him.

“I wasn’t doing what I really wanted to do, so I started working at the library. After getting my diploma in library and information science, I obtained a Master’s degree from Loughborough University, the UK. Information science was really taking off at the time.”

Now director of the library for the fourth consecutive year, Ellul comments on how the library is changing to keep up with an increasing demand from academics.

“Today libraries are no longer just book depositories,” he says.

In line with most foreign institutions, the library’s budget goes mainly toward buying electronic resources, with €2.1 million spent on such resources annually.

Ellul explains how user expectations are constantly changing especially as technological advances are always on the rise.

“There’s no point in offering services that academics don’t use, so we try to identify these changes and adapt accordingly,” he says.

“Students appreciate the efforts put into providing a service that is at par with that offered abroad. We have in fact noted an increased use of the services we offer. Last year alone, 970,000 full texts were downloaded,” he says.

Academics are more IT literate today than ever before and they seek services that offer 24/7 remote access. Remote access, which allows access to data from anywhere, using any device, has helped the library remain relevant in an age where information is widely available. Students do not necessarily have to be physically present at the library to access information.

Ellul admits there are still those who, although they are offered the opportunity to learn how to make full use of the services offered, still do not make use of them.

“We have students claiming they cannot find any information. We offer 850,000 monographs, 60,000 e-journals, 310 print journal titles, a wide spectrum of online databases and a growing collection of e-books. This means they might not be searching correctly and that’s very worrying.

“It’s not a matter of simply providing information. We want to teach students how to carry out proper research,” adds Ellul.

At undergraduate level, it’s quite difficult to appreciate the importance of good research, he says. As students progress to postgraduate levels and higher, they start to value the significance of good research.

He also highlights the fact that the University of Malta, being the only university on the island, must cater for academics’ various needs. This can be ­challenging at times.

“Abroad, universities focus on specific subjects. Here, we’re multidisciplinary. The university offers courses at various levels, each with different requirements,” he explains.

We want to teach students how to carry out proper research

The library also plans on extending its outreach to the Junior College library − which forms part of the university ­library − to ease the transition to university.

For Ellul, bidding for a European Social Fund project was a tough yet rewarding task. The library’s proposal was accepted and a project launched. This spanned over three years and triggered various changes within the library.

“We were all on top of the world when our bid was accepted. The project consisted of three inter-related phases. First we had a consultancy service which allowed us to produce detailed projections for future projects. We also had training programmes at the University of Birmingham Library for most of the staff. Finally, we were able to implement state-of-the-art learning management systems.”

The project improved the library’s standard, placing it in line with professional international academic libraries.

“The library no longer lags behind. I used to go to conferences and listen but not speak because we lacked resources. I now attend such conferences and even ­contribute to the discussions,” he says.

At present, the university library is collaborating with other European universities on the OpenAireplus project. The project aims to help make European funded research widely available by supporting open access policies. Such policies give universities with less financial resources a better chance of obtaining work by prominent academics.

Plans for the future of the University of Malta library include building a book depository, launching a digitisation project and implementing radio frequency identification technology to identify print publications within the library.

Ellul explains how after the reconfiguration of the library’s spaces, there was a drastic increase in the use of the library’s study areas. The desks spread over the two floors are very often all occupied, with hardly any free seating available until late in the evening. This is even more of a problem as exams approach, with students often having to sit around bookshelves and share desks.

“The number of students making use of these spaces is on the rise. After increasing focus on online resources, we expected fewer students to show up but this was not the case.

“We are now planning on transforming the library’s ­basement into a group study area to further accommodate the students.

“Today the library is one of the most sought-after places on campus. It is regarded as a multi-functional meeting place and we want to improve this.”