The library has been device free on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a year now.

The initiative was started because of the overwhelming use of devices in spaces where students wanted to read, do homework and have a quiet space. I felt that the opportunity to chat with friends was being lost because students were face to face with a phone or laptop rather than with their friends. The first step was to make the pit laptop and device free. Once that message was received by the students, we moved to being device free across the whole space two days per week.

A year on from this we have found students are no more quiet on Tuesdays and Thursdays than any other days, but they are chatting to each other and they are playing the board and card games that we provide. They are continuing to do this on days when devices are allowed too. I'm really  pleased with this. There are more students reading in the pit area. Numbers in the library haven't been affected at all by the device free days.
There are still between 100 and 200 students in the library every day. On rainy days there are many more than this. Students who need to do homework on a computer are able to use the static computers in the library at any time.

Overall I'm calling this a success and the device free days will continue for the foreseeable future.