The library has made large strides in updating the facility. This includes new furniture on the second floor, new computers and rental technology for students. The library has also progressed in the technological aspect, establishing charging towers for students to charge their phones and laptops.  The Lion’s Roar /Megan Simon

The library can be considered as the hub that connects all students to campus. It is where students can look up information about their classes, get supplies ranging from books to technology and find a quiet refuge to either relax or study. 

With the help of Friends of the Library, the Student Government Association and tech fee grants, the library was recently able to make great progress in updating the information hub of campus. 

One of the areas with the most improvement was the serials section of the library, which is found on the second floor. According to Library Director Eric Johnson, this has often been referred to as the “yellow room” by students due to its brightly painted yellow wall. New furniture and general layout of the computers were added to the room, which included a newly furnished sitting area where students can charge their devices in one of the many charging towers found scattered throughout the room. 

In addition to being a computer area, like its first floor counterpart, the room also serves as a collaborative learning space where students are encouraged to form groups, talk about projects or study together for tests. The movable white boards, 

chairs and tables encourage students further into more interactive learning with one another.

“What we hope to have here at the collaborative learning area is not a concentrated study area where there is a librarian shooshing,” said Head of Serials Janie Branham. “This is where you can talk and meet together as a group.”

Due to the student tech fee grant, serials, the media lab area and the reference department on the first floor were able to get all new computers, which are connected to a virtual machine in order to be more efficient. 

“They are not the typical PC’s you have at home,” said Head of Reference Beth Stahr. “They are called thin client machines, and they connect to a virtual machine. The Office of Technology had decided they wanted to go that way. All these computers print and connect to the Internet and Moodle, so students can use them for whatever they want to do.”

The reference section will also be updating their scanners. For now, there is only one working scanner, found at the reference desk on the first floor, but the reference department is planning to take the photocopy machines and activate the email feature. This will give students the option to send what they are trying to scan to their email instead of using up their prints.

These photocopy machines can be found at the reference desk, serials and circulation area.

 In addition to being one of the main sources of information, the library can also be a source for other items ranging from keyboards to iPads to AV equipment. These items can be checked out by students at the media section on the second floor. 

Students can check out portable equipment, PA systems, cameras, wireless keyboards for iPads, portable compact disc and digital versatile disc drives, video cameras, voice recorders, headsets, laptops and more. Technological devices can usually be checked out for up to a week. The media section also provides rooms where students can practice their presentations, especially ones that require a projector for slides. 

Items for circulation such as books are generally checked out on the first floor. Books, DVDs and CDs can be checked out for up to three weeks until they have to be brought back. The first floor is also where students can rent a study room on the fourth floor. Rooms can be rented for up to four hours at a time.

“We are here to serve students and faculty,” said Johnson. “That is why we exist. Sometimes students come in and say, ‘oh, I hate to bother you.’ You are not bothering us. That’s why we’re here. So, come to the reference desk and ask questions, and we will help get whatever they need.”

For more information about the library, visit the library’s website.