100 signatures reached
To: UCL Provost and Council
Save the Institute of Orthopaedics Library!
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We call for an immediate withdrawal of proposals to close the UCL Institute of Orthopaedics Library and transfer day-to-day management of the space to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust.
Last week, UCL LCCOS management announced proposals to close the UCL Institute of Orthopaedics Library in Stanmore and transfer day-to-day management of the space to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust.
In the closure proposals, five out of six jobs will be lost, with staff facing redeployment to different roles at library sites an hour away or facing redundancy. UCL has opened up a short, one month-long consultation on the proposals, wishing to close the site by 1st September 2026, just a few months away.
These proposals would leave students at the Institute of Orthopaedics Library over 10 miles from their next nearest UCL library space, and without access to the specialist knowledge and support currently provided by staff on site.
Instead of on-site services with dedicated study space and a specialist library team, staff and students at the Institute of Orthopaedics will be reliant on digital resources and one library staff member based off site.
We oppose the proposed closure of the Institute of Orthopaedics Library and are calling on UCL to withdraw these proposals in full.
UCL management have justified the library’s closure through claimed reduced in-person borrowing statistics and reduced funding contributions from the NHS towards the library. However, we do not believe this reasoning reflects the reality of the situation on the ground and instead is being used to justify wider plans by UCL to centralise services and close smaller university sites.
We, the undersigned, call on UCL to:
We, the undersigned, call on UCL to:
- Withdraw the current proposals to close the Institute of Orthopaedics Library;
- Agree to no compulsory redundancies of staff in this team;
- Commit to consult meaningfully over a long timeframe with the Institute of Orthopaedics staff and student community and trade unions, on the future of the library;
- Recognise the skills, value and experience of these specialist staff.
Why is this important?
Digital systems cannot replace specialist expertise
The Orthopaedics Library is a highly specialised service, supporting staff and students in clinical orthopaedics, musculoskeletal sciences, rehabilitation, and biomedical engineering. Digital resources cannot replace the various specialist expertise provided by on-site library staff, such as guidance on using clinical databases, guaranteed library skills support for finding relevant literature, or support gaining rapid and accurate evidence retrieval necessary for ongoing healthcare education.
Libraries build clinical and educational communities
The Institute of Orthopaedics Library is an important site for building the clinical and educational community that bolsters the aims of UCL and its NHS partners. Removing the physical library space risks weakening collaboration between clinicians and researchers and remove specialist environments, impairing clinical research and learning in the process.
Libraries closures hurt students and accessibility
Closing the Institute of Orthopaedics Library removes guaranteed access and space for students and staff based on the Stanmore campus, as well as limiting access to library resources and services. It also reduces access for certain disabled users, who require adapted study environments and staff working on-site. Those with limited or unreliable digital access will also be disadvantaged, lacking the computers, specialist terminals, and staffed support environments that currently allow them to access digital resources.
Staff face redeployment and/or redundancy
All but one library staff member at the Institute of Orthopaedics Library face being moved to ringfenced vacancies within LCCOS. These posts are based at sites almost an hour from their current Stanmore site. Many of these jobs deemed suitable for ringfencing are substantially different from the roles these staff currently hold. The proposals also put certain staff at risk of redundancy and/or downgrading. These are specialist staff with years of service to UCL - to treat them this way is simply unacceptable.
A rushed process
UCL LCCOS management announced these proposals on 11 May. They intend to only hold a month-long consultation process, with the aim to close the library by 1st September. This is an incredibly rushed timeline, which does not allow time for meaningful consultation with affected staff and students, and would add immense workload pressures on these same staff who will expected to undertake the preparatory work necessary to close the library.
We must stop UCL’s specialist site closure trend
In recent years, several specialist services have been closed in areas such as Eastman Dental, Ear Nose and Throat, and Ophthalmology. This reflects a wider trend towards centralisation of services in UCL and closure of remote access sites. Closing the Orthopaedics Library would continue this trajectory, and will likely unnerve dedicated staff in similar, smaller library sites.