Big changes on tap at Dacus

By Jonathan McFadden
mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

Textbooks on reserve, new iPads, Ebrary tech now available

Part of the shift in Dacus included library staff either making some reference materials available online or placing them in compact shelving. Photo by Aimee Harman • harmana@mytjnow.comSix million or more pieces of Winthrop history moving off campus won’t be the only shift rocking Dacus Library in coming months. 

In addition to relocating reference materials online or in compact shelving, and offering a textbook reserve system, library staff hope to soon give students 24/7 access to the library’s facilities, in addition to:

• A new paint job
• ‘Techno-booths’ allowing users to plug  their mobile devices to interactive screens
• Group study rooms
• A circulation commons that eliminates the current circulation and reference desks
• And, maybe a cafe’.

The changes stem from ideas submitted by students, who library staff surveyed last semester about the top five changes they’d like to see at the library, said Mark Herring, dean of library services.

“…Those are the top five the library is doing,” he said.

But before students can start sipping Mochas while reading Tolstoy, the library’s staff will have to complete another major project, one that includes packing up 1,600 crates of manuscripts and artifacts and moving them from the library’s basement to their new home on Cherry Road. 

Beginning last spring, library staff began the process of relocating all of Winthrop’s Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections to its newest location—the old Bookworm building on Cherry Road.

Though he wanted the entire process to be completed by the onset of fall semester, Herring said the new archives hub should be up and running by mid or late October.

To prep the archives’ new home, the building has to undergo extensive remodeling to make room for the comprehensive collection, Herring said. Some of that remodeling includes ordering custom-made air conditioning units, which will preserve the integrity of all artifacts at a set temperature.

Currently, the archives occupy space in Dacus’ basement, as well as various storage spaces in the library.

Once the move is made, the library plans to bolster its archives collection and collaborate with local clubs, organizations and newspapers to begin a digitalization process that will make the archives available online, Herring said. 

The library also wants to digitize microfilm pieces, some of which are fading in certain spots and are inaccessible for people to examine.

“I think people would be very, very surprised at some of the things we have in our archives,” Herring said. “We have one of a kind artifacts, but we also have quite a number of rare books, some of which are worth thousands of dollars.”

Books on reserve 

Concerned about the rising costs of textbooks, the library applied for and received a special grant enabling them to purchase textbooks for “big” classes, such as Human Experience 102 and certain survey classes, Herring said.

Only books for classes with 65 students or more are immediately available, Herring said. 

“If we tried to purchase every book for every class, it would cost more than $20,000 and we just didn’t have that kind of money,” Herring said.

That doesn’t moot the possibility that books for classes with fewer than 65 students will be available sometime soon.

Library staff members have asked any faculty who receive review copies of textbooks from publishers to donate them to the library, Herring said.

All textbooks on reserve are on a “first come, first serve” basis, Herring said, and can be checked out for a total of three hours. 

Students should go to the Dacus Library webpage, click on Course Reserves and type in the class name or professor’s name to gain access to the reserve material.

Academia on demand 

The days of trekking to the library for books may soon come to an end. 

With Ebrary, students can access over 70,000 academic books that are electronically delivered and can be read on almost any mobile device with Internet access.

Some perks include “no boxes to open” and no late fines, Herring said.

The library is also using “Demand Driven Acquisition,” a process that allows library staff to monitor electronically offered materials and discern which ones are in high demand.

If a student or faculty member searches a certain book for less than 10 minutes, there is no charge to the library, Herring said. 

“That means going in, clicking on them and reading them for 10 minutes,” he said.

If the click, search and read process occurs two more times, the library will buy the book.

“So now we’ll be buying the materials people use instead of guessing what people might use,” he said. “This could create a tremendous savings for us.”

There is a downside.

“You can’t hold the book in your hand,” Herring said. “You can’t smell the paper.”

Winthrop’s Board of Trustees voted on Aug. 22 to issue $2.6 million in bonds for maintenance projects, $900,000 of that money going to library upgrades.