Reading Activity 3

With close to thirteen thousand undergraduate students enrolled at UNCW Randall library is quite small.  If given the opportunity to improve the library the first thing I would do is expand in every direction possible.  There would be at least five floors and a basement, the top two floors would be quiet study, and the bottom three would be group study rooms and computer labs.  The basement would be a cafeteria open whenever the library is open.  Each desk would have an Ethernet port and power outlet so there would be no need to move every time your laptop starts to die. 

In the article “Tomorrow's Academic Libraries: Maybe Even Some Books.” Drexel University decided to build a bookless library.  It is centered near where the student body eats and lives.  This new building will cost the school $700,000 just to construct the building and another $250,000 to supply it with furniture and computers.  The new idea introduced by Drexel is based on allowing students to choose how they study, all the furniture has wheels allowing for easier group study.  The facility will be open twenty-four hours and will not always be staffed.  This new concept would go very well on Wilmington’s campus considering many students come to the library to study and not look at books and it will allow for more study room. In my opinion, this is a great idea that every campus should pursue.

In the second article, “Honor Your Campus Library” the author writes this article to inform us on the necessity of libraries on campus.  Maria Stewart, author writes about the patience found in librarians and the ability to understand what students and faculty are asking for.  Many times students try asking questions they think will help find a solution when in turn it just makes finding an answer harder for the library staff.  Stewart writes that she has heard many questions over the years that would easily frustrate other campus personnel while librarians simply answer the question and continue on their work.  Another aspect of a librarian is their want to learn many have multiple master’s degrees and even PhD’s.  The job is constantly changing so they must stay on top of their studies to keep up with changing technology.  The main point of this article is to let the reader know how much librarians actually do and to take time out of your day to thank them.  I think they are a vital part of the library and help to keep things running smoothly even around exam time when there is chaos in the library.  Without librarians, there would be no libraries for students to go to and study.