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The Spectator
SA Update
Changes Coming to Burke Library
by Eve Denton '12Student Assembly Correspondent
Library Director of Public Services Carolyn Carpan visited Student Assembly on Sept. 14 to discuss changes within Hamilton's library system. Updates have been made to the catalog and a new layout should make content searches much easier for students. A new policy will allow student to use Hill cards to check out videotapes and DVDs from the Media Library. Previously, all students were required to watch videos in the building. Items that professors have put on reserve for a class must still be watched in the room, but all other materials are available for students to check out for three days, with one renewal allowed. There is now an interlibrary loan status page designed to enable students to check book statuses online instead of visiting the library to learn this information.
Changes have also been made to the Burke Library building. In response to students' comments, many chairs have been refurbished to provide greater comfort while studying. Lighting has also been rearranged to brighten the first floor seating area. An assembly member asked whether new light fixtures could be added in third floor study areas, since they tend to be dark. Carpan expressed hope that perhaps desk lamps could be added to dark study carrels.
Carpan announced that rooms in the back of the second floor of Burke Library must be reserved through the events calendar and may not simply be used by walk-in study groups. She also reminded seniors that there is a reserve bookshelf area opposite the 24-hour reading room where books needed for thesis work can be stored. The amount of space available has been doubled in size, so students should have no problems finding a place to keep their books.