New Chairs for Study Rooms

The library is replacing damaged and worn computer chairs in the building on Tuesday. Today (Monday) we are removing all of the rolling chairs from our group studies. They will be replaced with more almost 300 new chairs on Tuesday. We will then discard the most damaged chairs in the building and redistribute chairs from the group studies that are less damaged.

We apologize for any inconvenience this causes to users of group studies today and tomorrow.

Saturday Power Outage

A campus-wide power outage on Saturday, May 14 means that library online resources, including Infosearch, will be unavailable from 4:30pm on Friday until sometime Saturday afternoon when power is restored. Thanks for your patience.

Pardon Our Progress: Reference Renovation

All throughout December, library staff have been moving and removing books in the Reference collection in anticipation of a major repurposing of the space in the spring semester (sorry for the extra dust, by the way). Students are invited to take our library use survey in order to help guide us in our updates.

Here's what we've done so far:

We removed all the books from the east set of shelves and moved those that are to remain in the reference area to the west set. This photo shows empty shelves on the east side.










This image was taken before we finished moving books, but the rows on the left were filled while those on the right were emptied.










Nearly 40% of the Reference collection will be removed or relocated, mostly to the upper floors. You will now be able to check these out like any other book. Until we get everything sorted, though, you may need librarian assistance to locate a former reference book.





The really noticeable changes start in January when big burly guys remove the empty shelving, freeing up space for .... well, you tell us. We certainly have some ideas of our own, and they have been developed from previous student surveys and focus groups, but we want to hear from you again before the major renovations begin.

See more of our Reference Renovation pictures on our Flickr page.

What Time Is It?

If you're in the library and want to know the correct time, please don't rely on the wall clocks right now. Yes, it's official--the library is acknowledging it isn't an infallible institution!

The crazy clock times are a result of a power outage last week. However, we expect the super specialized clock technician will be here soon to fix the problem (the problem seems simple but apparently it's not).

In the meantime, our clocks could present a convenient explanation for being late to work, missing that family dinner, or whatever the situation may be.

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photo credit: Robbert van der Steeg on Flickr

Coming Fall 2010 -- the Digital Media Studio!

The next time you come into the library you may notice the bold new graphic added to the 2nd floor window outside of the old microtext area, designating it as the Digital Media Studio. "What's up with that?," you might ask yourself.

That, my friends, is our newest innovation, our newest way for you to get it all done right here. We're happy to announce that beginning in the Fall 2010 semester, you can work on your multimedia projects right here in the library. The Digital Media Studio will feature 8 high-end PCs and 12 iMac bursting with the latest multimedia software. You can also check out pen tablets, use a number of new scanners, and much more. See our Studio website (still in development) for details.

In addition to proprietary software, we will offer a number of open source options, and we want to know what you would like to see on our new machines. Please send suggestions to mtsudms@gmail.com.

Library Power Outage, July 20

Due to construction issues, there will be a scheduled power outage at the Walker Library from 6:00a.m. - 8:00a.m. on Tuesday, July 20th. While we hope it won't last long, some services may be briefly interrupted during this time. We will open at the regular time, 7:30 a.m., so come on in and try to find a book in the dark!

Reserves are on the Move

In an effort to better serve our students and other users, the library made a few changes today to the reserves collection check-out process.

• Library laptops are now checked out from the 1st floor periodicals desk (walk through the elevator lobby; desk is on your left).
• All other reserve items (books, course packets, etc.) are checked out (and returned!) at the circulation desk to the left inside the library entrance.
• Headphones for student use are also available at the periodicals desk (instead of at the service desk by the library entrance).

Two more things to note:

• Current reserves policies, including loan periods and fees, remain the same.
• Print newspapers, magazines, and journals are still located in the periodicals room. If you're having trouble, the librarians at the reference desk are happy to help you locate articles that meet your need.

The LT&ITC is here

To better serve the faculty, the Learning, Teaching and Innovative Technologies Center at MTSU has moved into the James E. Walker Library this summer. The LT&ITC connects professors with the latest instructional methods, including technologies that can make the classroom experience more enlightening, as well as the expertise to use that technology most effectively. The newly relocated center provides plenty of room for the center’s many resources, including workshops, learning sessions and other professional development activities designed to improve the quality of instruction. In addition to its convenient access to the other learning centers in the library, the center lends itself to both small and large groups and offers a lounge area for informal discussions. The LT&ITC is located in Room 348 of the library. Its hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Library Cafe Renovations

Starbucks is coming to the library! Oh, you thought they were already here? The current cafe serves Starbucks coffee, but in Fall 2010, the library cafe space will be transformed into a full service Starbucks with the complete restaurant menu -- the first on campus.

The cafe space on the 1st floor of the library (just inside the front doors) will be closed during the entire Summer 2010 semester for the renovations. Yes, the whole summer. Three to four whole months without coffee. Oh no, oh no, oh no! .... Take a deep breath. One, two, three, four... exhale. That's better. Remember, there are other places on campus to get a cup of the brown elixir. Mass Comm and the BAS both have coffee stations, as do several of the other dining facilities on campus. We can do this.

The group study rooms will be removed to make room for expanded food and drink preparation and storage, and the wooden study carrels will be replaced with more counter seating and casual seating arrangements, which we hope will provide ample spaces for both relaxation and group work.

In the meantime, you can look at the renovation plans and dream.

Group Study Room Reminders

This is a reminder that group study rooms are primarily intended for group study (2 or more people). Single users are welcome to use the rooms as long as a group doesn't need it, but a group may ask that a single user give one up. There are signs posted outside the rooms that explain this policy.

Single users looking for quiet spaces may wish to study in the designated quiet zones on the back of the 3rd and 4th floors.

Also remember that some of our group study rooms can be reserved in advance. See this post for details.

If a conflict arises over a group study room (but surely it won't), please contact the Service Desk on the first floor by calling 898-2817 and choosing option #4, or use the house phones by the elevators; they are routed to the Service Desk.

Group study rooms are denoted with a * on these floor maps.

Chair Fair Results

The results of our chair fair survey have been tabulated!

The overwhelming chair of choice (303 out of 457 total votes cast) was the Alero by Global. We have requested fabric samples for the seat and once we select a fabric and place our order it will about 6 weeks to new comfy seating in the computer lab.

The 6 winners of our chair fair have been selected (from a random drawing) and they won restaurant, gas card and book store gift certificates.

As for the most important feature in a chair, 284 of you listed back support, followed closely by padded seat with 258. Only 29 of you listed being made green as an important feature :(.

The selected chairs are green, though not as green as some of the others that we displayed. Here is what we know:

1. The fabric is from Momentum fabrics and made from rapidly renewable sources, as well as GreenGuard certified.

2. The chair is GreenGuard certified and made from recyled content and fully recycleable at end of life. Global does their recycled content by tonnage not chair, so we don't know the amount per chair.

3. The chairs have reduced packaging and recycleable packaging so we don't get 80 chairs wrapped in 35 pounds of Styrofoam and plastic bags.

We had a lot of feedback and questions from students that we didn't want to let pass, so here are responses to common questions. We're very appreciative and impressed that you're thinking about these issues.

1. Aren't the current chairs we have just fine? No, they really aren't. Over 40 of 74 in the lab are broken, and 10 are just plain missing.

2. Why are you spending money on chairs when the university budget is in such a state? Shouldn't we be saving the Philosophy department instead? The thing is, there are preset budget categories. The equipment budget for the library can only be used for library equipment. Even if we didn't spend it, we couldn't give it to other departments. And if we did, it wouldn't be enough to change anything -- we are talking less than 1/2 of one person's salary for one year. For us, keeping the library comfortable, usable and relevant is what we are charged to do, and why we have a teeny budget to do it. We do have some large projects we want to undertake but due to budget constraints we are currently exploring grant opportunities.

3. Are these chairs good quality? If we're spending all this money, they'd better last. Let me put your mind at ease. These chairs are selected for heavy use, and they have a 10 year warranty. The seat fabric will last even longer and is designed to resist staining, tears and punctures (but please don't try).

We will let you know when the chairs arrive so you can try them out. Thank you for your input.