Library changes are making a difference on campus
The Neil Hellman Library is going through changes thanks to staff
Kyle Griffin
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: Entertainment
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The Neil Hellman Library is going through some changes. Renovations are scheduled in the next few years, but these particular ones are happening right now. With the help of library staff members, the Hellman is becoming a campus hot spot.
The people who work behind the desks at the library having been devising and implementing plans over the past two years. Their hopes are to make people come to the library more often, and to stay there.
Gretchen Ingersoll, Coordinator of Ciculation, has been one of the main forces behind the ideas. An undergraduate and graduate alum of The College of Saint Rose, she now teaches a diversity literature course long with her library work. She's seen and experienced the library and knew the place need some change. Ingersoll wanted to extend her love of the library and of reading to the entire campus.
"I want to make the library, in general, a welcoming, warm atmosphere where people can come and relax, enjoy themselves, have fun," Ingersoll said.
To reach her hopes, she's created many activities. One success was a book swap. Ingersoll felt it was easily put together and could be repeated in the future. She also said it was a unique way to keep the campus 'green' by recycling used books.
Ingersoll has also begun collecting board games of all kinds for another plan of hers. The idea is to have a regularly scheduled 'game day' where people can come to the library to meet, interact, and have fun with chess, Parcheesi, Stratego and more. One of the goals of these activities, for Ingersoll, is to cultivate friendships.
"I've seen so many friendships form through library interactions," Ingersoll said. "I think if you provide a structure for people with enjoyable interactions, they'll want to come."
'Fast friending' is a scheme on her list that will facilitate this goal. Ingersoll said it's akin to speed dating and is a "painless, short interaction… maybe painful, but finite in time" and will let people connect as friends.
The people who work behind the desks at the library having been devising and implementing plans over the past two years. Their hopes are to make people come to the library more often, and to stay there.
Gretchen Ingersoll, Coordinator of Ciculation, has been one of the main forces behind the ideas. An undergraduate and graduate alum of The College of Saint Rose, she now teaches a diversity literature course long with her library work. She's seen and experienced the library and knew the place need some change. Ingersoll wanted to extend her love of the library and of reading to the entire campus.
"I want to make the library, in general, a welcoming, warm atmosphere where people can come and relax, enjoy themselves, have fun," Ingersoll said.
To reach her hopes, she's created many activities. One success was a book swap. Ingersoll felt it was easily put together and could be repeated in the future. She also said it was a unique way to keep the campus 'green' by recycling used books.
Ingersoll has also begun collecting board games of all kinds for another plan of hers. The idea is to have a regularly scheduled 'game day' where people can come to the library to meet, interact, and have fun with chess, Parcheesi, Stratego and more. One of the goals of these activities, for Ingersoll, is to cultivate friendships.
"I've seen so many friendships form through library interactions," Ingersoll said. "I think if you provide a structure for people with enjoyable interactions, they'll want to come."
'Fast friending' is a scheme on her list that will facilitate this goal. Ingersoll said it's akin to speed dating and is a "painless, short interaction… maybe painful, but finite in time" and will let people connect as friends.
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