| Welcome to the library, or the I.L.C., which means Independent Learning Centre, |
| and let me explain about some of its facilities. |
| We're standing here at the entry gates, next to the borrowing desk. |
| That's where you check out any books, |
| but you are also advised to study in the library here, |
| since most of our material cannot be borrowed. |
| Thus, we have Seating along the middle of the library, |
| and in that far corner in front of us. on the left, |
| we have the Quiet Reading Section, for some serious reading activity. |
| We used to have the computers there |
| but then realised that that corner was very quiet, |
| and thus better suited for the purpose it now has. |
| The computers were instead shifted to a more central location, |
| right beside us here, on the left. |
| Again, somewhat confusingly, |
| this area once housed the Newspaper and Magazine Section, |
| but the people in the Quiet Reading Area had to walk too far to collect this literature, |
| so it was moved to right beside them, in the adjacent corner. |
| So, feel free to read the newspapers there. |
| But the reference books, those huge weighty dictionaries, atlases, and encyclopedias, |
| were all situated at the opposite end of the building, against the wall. |
| This was because they weren't generally that popular, |
| and we wanted more space for the magazine racks, |
| always a favourite with readers. |
| Okay, as well as reading, you need to work on your listening skills, |
| and for that you need the Audio Section. |
| Again, such an activity needs a quiet area, |
| so we put this in the last remaining corner, up there on your right, as you can see. |
| There are CD players and headphones, so just borrow the listening packs, |
| sit down there, and listen away. |
| Right, that just leaves the main library. |
| In other libraries, that's often right beside the Newspaper and Magazine Section, |
| allowing freedom to choose from all genres of literature, |
| but here, we've got them further apart. |
| For the main library, just follow your nose, |
| past the Central Seating there, and it's there among all that shelving, |
| upon which you'll find an abundance of interesting books and listening packs to use. |
| Now, I'd like to tell you a bit more about an excellent service offered in the I.L.C. here |
| that we call the 'Special Sessions'. |
| What can you do in them? |
| For a start, many of you need practice in speaking English. |
| and for that we hold a special Discussion Session, led by a teacher. |
| That can be noisy, in fact, we hope that it is noisy, |
| since that would mean many people are talking. |
| It's in the Central Seating area, |
| and it used to be from 10:30 to 1:30. |
| but we found that the noise was disturbing the regular I.L.C patrons, |
| so we shortened and moved this discussion to the morning, |
| 9 am time slot, when fewer people are in the centre. |
| It goes for one and a half hours. |
| Alright, what about Writing Skills? |
| Well, we can help you there with another teacher. |
| Now, writing is a fairly quiet activity, |
| so that teacher stations him or herself in the Quiet Reading area |
| from 1:30 until 3. |
| The 10:30-to-midday time slot cannot have a teacher for such writing skills, |
| as they are all teaching in the morning. |
| For this reason, of course, there cannot be an on-call teacher in the morning either, |
| although many people would like one, particularly the 10.30-to-noon crowd, |
| having just finished their early morning class. |
| These students all have to wait until midday onwards, |
| when, for three hours, a teacher will be stationed in the Audio Section, |
| ready to deal with all those questions. |
| Until recently, we had another teacher doing the 3-pm-to-6-pm time slot, |
| in the Central Seating, |
| but all the noise interfered with the late users of the I.L.C., so we had to cancel that. |
| Also noisy can be the Language Exchange, |
| where local students who want to learn your language will help you practise English. |
| This is generally done in pairs, |
| so the noise level is low enough not to need this exchange to run at 9 am, |
| but at the more congenial time of 10:30, among the Central Seating. |
| That must finish by 1:30 though, |
| after which quieter and more individual activities take place. |