Overview

The Mitchell Library is a lovely building and a great place to study, but due to the old style of the upper floors, the access is not optimal.

Transport & Parking

There are three disabled spaces to the left of the entrance on Granville Street. The markings are very worn out, so you can barely read the markings, but despite this, I've never had an issue getting a space. Parking is free for blue badge holders.

Access

There is level access into the building, with automatic doors at the entrance. There is elevator access to all floors. The ground floor is more modern, and access is generally very good. Upper floors are difficult to navigate in a manual chair due to the thick carpet and narrow, heavy wooden doors. There are no height adjustable desks available that I could find, and I found I didn't fit under quite a few types of tables available for study spaces and even the ones I did fit under, there wasn't much excess space, so if you have higher seat height on your chair you may struggle with this.

Toilets

There are two accessible toilets on the ground floor, and possibly one on the first floor, but I've never been to it, so can't comment. One of the toilets on the ground floor, located nearest the main doors, is decent. The door isn't too heavy, and there's enough space, though it isn't very spacious. However, the drop-down rail at the side of the toilet is broken, so it doesn't stay in the raised position, making side transfers impossible. Also, the flusher is very difficult to reach as it is on the far side of the toilet. The other ground-floor toilet is located opposite the lifts. It is locked with a radar key - if you don't have your own key, then you can ask at the information desk. However, the door is very heavy, and there are two doors to enter the toilet for some reason, with not very much space (~1-1.5m) between them. The inner door also opens out, making it very difficult to manoeuvre to be able to open the heavy inner door. I'd imagine many wheelchair users would be unable to access this toilet independently as I struggled, and I have good upper body strength and a compact wheelchair. Once inside, this toilet is better; it is slightly wider, so there is more space to manoeuvre and for lateral transfers.

Staff

Friendly and helpful staff. When I had my hair tied back and my hearing aids were visible, the staff at the cafe showed me the price of what I was paying for, which was appreciated - usually, I have to ask people to write it down if I want to know the price of something, even if my hearing aids are obvious, so it was refreshing not to have to ask!