By Conor Shea
Executive Editor
Some changes and additions are being made to Neil Hellman Library, and the students of Saint Rose might just find them surprising.
The faculty and staff of the Neil Hellman campus library have been working for quite some time to change and improve their facility, all for the benefit of the students. Unlike public libraries, the Saint Rose campus library has a user base of predominantly younger individuals, and as such the changes being made are targeted at that demographic.
Last year the Saint Rose Director of Library Services, Andrew Urbanek, worked with his staff to found a student library advisory committee. The goal of the committee was to get a pulse on what it is students wanted from their library, as well as what the library could be doing better. Urbanek said the group produced a lot of great insight, and they have been using this information to improve the library.
Some of the recent changes include a container of free headphones (so students do not disturb others when listening to content from the computers), and an extra smart board in the front reading room on the first floor.
Urbanek said he didn’t want the smart board to be a scheduled use device, and instead wanted it open for students to drop in and use at any time.
These ideas are both tied together by the common thread of making the campus library more than just a place to do homework.
“Coming here to study is of course our primary goal. However, there’s only one place to gather inside on campus, and that’s the commuter lounge,” said Urbanek.
Urbanek said that there is more seating (and what he believes to be more comfortable seating) available in the library, as well as easy access to technology.
“We want to be the place where people come congregate for clubs or group meetings, as well as students doing hard research and homework. I think we can do both.”
He further explained that while they would love to expand the library beyond being just a place of study, they also are concerned with interfering with students who are working and studying.
Kate Moss, the reference-access services librarian (as well as the head of the library’s outreach group), agrees
“Learning can happen in many different ways. It doesn’t have to be silent. In panel discussions, group discussions, book groups, art exhibits, film viewings, poetry slams, lectures; people share knowledge and ideas,” said Moss.
As a compromise they have begun to plan these non-academic events for on the weekends and Friday nights.
“I have a hankering to do something for Halloween, possibly involving dry ice,” said Urbanek with a grin when discussing the possible weekend events.
Senior Christopher Lovell, a founding member of the student library advisory board, said that it plans on continuing its meetings with Drew to help shape the library into the best possible resource for students. He went on to say that many of those on the advisory board graduated last year, and thus he is looking to recruit more students.
Some other plans may be in the works with Rick Thompson for the undergraduate research symposium, and the library providing support for them.
“We’re toying with the idea of offering some sort of award, but that turns the research symposium into a little bit of a competition, and we’re really uncertain about that,” said Urbanek.
Further possibilities include poetry slams, ethic lectures, and an event for the national novel writing month of November (coined NaNoWriMo by the founding members).
“I’m really interested to hear what students see as where libraries are going, or what they need in the future, so there will be some sort of means of collecting feedback on that very soon,” said Urbanek.
