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Universitätsbibliothek Mainz

Ta-da! We Proudly Present: The Results of Our Survey

We are pleased! Thank you once again: Over 2,800 of you took the time to complete our survey at the beginning of the year. This allowed us to get a clear picture of what you expect from us and what we are already doing right. In the meantime, we have already been able to implement some of your wishes.

What was particularly useful to us: Your numerous suggestions and tips. There were so many that we cannot go into detail about all of them. But here are the most important ones: 

  • Opening hours on Saturdays and Sundays: Since there is a strong desire for earlier opening hours on weekends, we are leaving the evening opening hours in the Georg Forster Building Library as they are (closing at midnight) and extending the hours in the morning to 8 a.m., as long as this remains financially feasible for us!
  • Food and drinks: In the survey, a clear majority was in favor of allowing cold food and hot drinks in our library. We expect to start with this new regulation in the course of the summer semester, and will inform you of the exact date. 
    From then on, the following rules will apply: 
    • In addition to cold drinks, hot drinks with lids are allowed.
    • Odorless and 'noiseless' snacks are also allowed at the workspaces (banana, chocolate, etc.). Unless you are working with our rare books collection.
    • We are looking into where we can set up break areas in our libraries where you can eat, chat or relax.
  • Catering situation: We will inform the Student Union (Studierendenwerk) of the survey results and work to improve the catering situation in the evenings and on weekends. We also want to set up snack vending machines in as many branch libraries as possible.
  • Study areas: We will restore the lost workspaces in the English department of the Humanities Library. In the meantime, we have already created new workspaces at the windows of the Law and Economics Library. We will also install additional power outlets in the Law and Economics Library as well as the Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences and Technology Library. The applications have already been filed. 
    These are all things that we can change ourselves—unfortunately, we do not have control over the expansion of workspaces in the Georg Forster Building Library and the University Medical Center, as well as the air-conditioning situation and the condition of the toilets in the Law and Economics Library. The installation of an air-conditioning system in the Law and Economics Library would be a construction measure in the double-digit million range and in the Georg Forster Building Library the ventilation system was simply designed for too few people.
  • Loan periods: A clear majority of you voted in favor of retaining the 4-week deadline. So here we continue as before.

Next year, we'll ask you again. We promise to do so! Then we are eager to hear what went well and what can be done even better.

 

Finally, to your question: Why does Moses sport a set of horns?

The answer is quite simple: The horns were the result of a mistranslation of the Hebrew text into the Vulgate. The Hebrew verb “qāran” (shining) was incorrectly translated as “cornuto” (horned) in the Vulgate.