Making the Most of Accessible Study Rooms

Accessible study rooms are a brilliant feature of the Library and a personal lifesaver in maintaining productivity and relaxation in the sometimes-hectic university environment. Within this toolkit guide Sophie will share some of her favourite features and some helpful ways to use the rooms.

Tags: Library Tips and Tricks

Accessible study rooms are bookable study spaces within the Library that those registered with the Warwick Disability Service can access. They are intended for solo study and behave like fun mini offices with fidget toys, weighted blankets and bean bags just to name a few features.

If you think you may benefit from accessible study rooms due to being diagnosed or undiagnosed with a learning difference, neurodivergence, and/or a physical or hidden disability, a short meeting with the disability service can be arranged to discuss access.

Once you’re registered, you can then go onto the Library website and start booking the room(s) that you would like to use. There are five different rooms in the main Library, as well as one in the University House Learning Grid and one in the PG Hub for postgraduates.

You can find out the differences between all the rooms on the Accessible Study Rooms page. You can book rooms up to 28 days in advance and for up to 3 hours a day. Once booked, you just need to go to the room with your student ID card and tap it on the rectangle card reader beside the door and it’ll let you in. But you need to get there within 15 minutes of your booked time, or it will mark you as absent and open the room to others!

Accessible study rooms are good for accommodating sensory needs as well as study. They can behave as a quiet place to escape the fun, but sometimes overwhelming, environment of university with bean bags, mood lights, yoga mats, and fidget toys! They are also really good if you struggle to sit still whilst studying or occasionally want to dance to a fun study playlist song without the social awkwardness of doing it in front of prying eyes. Accessible study rooms give you the time and space to study in the styles that suit you the best!

Accessible study rooms are only bookable in advance for up to 3 hours but once that time has been booked you can walk up to any study room and if it isn’t booked you can stay for the hour through selecting it on the terminal. As there are 5 study rooms, normally one is always free so it can help ease the stress of long Library days.

As term 3 is a busy time for everyone, I recommend going on and booking as close to 28 days in advance as you can, as whilst they are in moderate demand in term 1 and 2, they are often fully booked weeks in advance in term 3.

Before this year I had never heard of a weighted blanket, but they are a personal game-changer in study. Many people, myself included, find weighted blankets help in reducing anxiety and I find they help me feel more focused and cozier when studying somewhere that isn’t my room.

One of the major perks of studying in accessible rooms is the big monitors that you can often only access if you're lucky on floors one and two. It is a major help having both a laptop and a secondary monitor when having to flick between research and notes or in the event of a forgotten laptop in the rush to get to a 9am lecture.

Height adjustable desks are an absolute delight, especially if you like to stretch your legs whilst studying. In addition to making sure your monitor is at the right height they go super high without sacrificing sturdiness, so they can be used to stand whilst doing work.

The accessible study rooms have a variety of assistive software to make sure everyone has an enjoyable experience studying. From dictation to audio note taking, each room has different variations of assistive software. Just make sure to check the room listings on the Library website for each room's features.

These are parts of the accessible study rooms that I have found useful, I hope you find them just as helpful in your own studies! And as always, remember that we are individuals with our own study styles and finding what works for you is often a matter of trial and error. I wish you the best of luck with your studies!