1Welcome to the library, or the I.L.C., which means Independent Learning Centre,
2and let me explain about some of its facilities.
3We're standing here at the entry gates, next to the borrowing desk.
4That's where you check out any books,
5but you are also advised to study in the library here,
6since most of our material cannot be borrowed.
7Thus, we have Seating along the middle of the library,
8and in that far corner in front of us. on the left,
9we have the Quiet Reading Section, for some serious reading activity.
10We used to have the computers there
11but then realised that that corner was very quiet,
12and thus better suited for the purpose it now has.
13The computers were instead shifted to a more central location,
14right beside us here, on the left.
15Again, somewhat confusingly,
16this area once housed the Newspaper and Magazine Section,
17but the people in the Quiet Reading Area had to walk too far to collect this literature,
18so it was moved to right beside them, in the adjacent corner.
19So, feel free to read the newspapers there.
20But the reference books, those huge weighty dictionaries, atlases, and encyclopedias,
21were all situated at the opposite end of the building, against the wall.
22This was because they weren't generally that popular,
23and we wanted more space for the magazine racks,
24always a favourite with readers.
25Okay, as well as reading, you need to work on your listening skills,
26and for that you need the Audio Section.
27Again, such an activity needs a quiet area,
28so we put this in the last remaining corner, up there on your right, as you can see.
29There are CD players and headphones, so just borrow the listening packs,
30sit down there, and listen away.
31Right, that just leaves the main library.
32In other libraries, that's often right beside the Newspaper and Magazine Section,
33allowing freedom to choose from all genres of literature,
34but here, we've got them further apart.
35For the main library, just follow your nose,
36past the Central Seating there, and it's there among all that shelving,
37upon which you'll find an abundance of interesting books and listening packs to use.
38Now, I'd like to tell you a bit more about an excellent service offered in the I.L.C. here
39that we call the 'Special Sessions'.
40What can you do in them?
41For a start, many of you need practice in speaking English.
42and for that we hold a special Discussion Session, led by a teacher.
43That can be noisy, in fact, we hope that it is noisy,
44since that would mean many people are talking.
45It's in the Central Seating area,
46and it used to be from 10:30 to 1:30.
47but we found that the noise was disturbing the regular I.L.C patrons,
48so we shortened and moved this discussion to the morning,
499 am time slot, when fewer people are in the centre.
50It goes for one and a half hours.
51Alright, what about Writing Skills?
52Well, we can help you there with another teacher.
53Now, writing is a fairly quiet activity,
54so that teacher stations him or herself in the Quiet Reading area
55from 1:30 until 3.
56The 10:30-to-midday time slot cannot have a teacher for such writing skills,
57as they are all teaching in the morning.
58For this reason, of course, there cannot be an on-call teacher in the morning either,
59although many people would like one, particularly the 10.30-to-noon crowd,
60having just finished their early morning class.
61These students all have to wait until midday onwards,
62when, for three hours, a teacher will be stationed in the Audio Section,
63ready to deal with all those questions.
64Until recently, we had another teacher doing the 3-pm-to-6-pm time slot,
65in the Central Seating,
66but all the noise interfered with the late users of the I.L.C., so we had to cancel that.
67Also noisy can be the Language Exchange,
68where local students who want to learn your language will help you practise English.
69This is generally done in pairs,
70so the noise level is low enough not to need this exchange to run at 9 am,
71but at the more congenial time of 10:30, among the Central Seating.
72That must finish by 1:30 though,
73after which quieter and more individual activities take place.