For my first library visit, I thought it would be appropriate to use my place of employment. I currently work at Liberty University’s library in Lynchburg Virginia. It was fun to do this library visit because it forced me to observe with fresh eyes, the facility that I spend 40 hours in weekly. I hope that this blog post will allow me to accurately represent many of the services and resources that I am involved with daily.
The library switched over to a new website at the end of last year and I think that it is a great improvement from the former. The library reached out for user feedback and made many changes based on comments they had received. I think that it is much more user friendly now than it was before. The website is accessible to individuals with visual impairments or different reading abilities. It is screen reader compatible and any pictures on the site have an alt text description of the image. On the main page of the library, there is a main search bar which allows users to quickly search for items in the catalog or perform more advanced searches by placing parameters directly from the search bar. The main tabs on the top right corner of the website are for resources, services, general info, and a contact page. From these tabs you can quickly see who the main user base of the library is. There are pages for student support, faculty support, alumni, and community members and these pages outline the different services that are available based on their user group. Under the resources tab there are several different collections listed. Apart from the nearly 300,000 physical volumes housed in the library, you will find audiobooks, dvds, articles, databases, and our Beyond Books collection. The Beyond Books collection was started several years ago and includes electronics, games, tools, outdoor equipment (such as hammocks and hiking accessories), and musical instruments. This collection has a three day checkout period and has been a big success thus far.
The library building is very large, but does not have an intimidating feel. When the university constructed this building in 2014, they asked the students what they wanted to see in their new building. Most student feedback requested more seating, more area for group and collaborative study, and more natural light. The library consists of four floors and each floor has large windows that give the library an open and airy feel. The library is divided into three different levels of volume for students with different study needs. There are collaborative areas which are appropriate for quiet conversations, quiet areas that are whisper only, and deep quiet areas that are no talking and no eating so they remain completely silent. In my experience, students are very appreciative of the variety of spaces we have because they meet the variety of needs that necessitate their library visit. Rubin and Rubin also highlight the importance of having quiet areas available and the high value that patrons place on having these spaces available (2020, p. 111). In addition to the many different types of seating in the library, there are also 33 group study rooms that are ideal for collaborative work. These rooms feature writable white-board walls and TVs for presenting media. These rooms are almost always reserved and are a favorite space of many of our students.
Sutherland, M. (2022). [View of the levels of book tower stacks and seating options]
Sutherland, M. (2022). [Whiteboards and seating options]
There are some displays when you first enter the facility. The first is highlighting some of our recreational reading materials, and the second is a rotating display that has different themes biweekly. The theme that is currently displayed is books with aesthetically pleasing covers. At the end of February we wrapped up our Black History Month display and our Blind Date with a Book program that we do every Valentine’s day. Our library uses Library of Congress classification and we have helpful signage to aid patrons in learning to search for books. For those students who simply wish to browse the shelves, there are signs denoting generally which topic is displayed on each stack. In addition to the nearly 60,000 physical books we have displayed on the main stacks, we have over 250,000 stored in our automatic storage and retrieval system (ASRS). This technology allows us to provide students with more seating by compactly storing the majority of our books within the ASRS (Menard, 2019). Each title stored here can be quickly retrieved from our website and will be ready for pickup in 5-10 minutes. Additionally, there are catalog computers that can be easily used to search titles while browsing in the stacks. I feel that the resources we have are easy to find even if you are not an expert in Library of Congress classification. However, if a patron is struggling with finding anything, our staff are well trained to assist them with any needs they may have.
Sutherland, M. (2022). [Rotating Book Display]
The department I work in is one of the only front-facing departments, so I have seen many different people come through those doors and leave satisfied with the level of assistance they have received. At any given time, the library will be filled with a majority of college students, but there are many people from the community who also utilize the facilities. We have had families, young professionals, individuals who are experiencing homelessness, or individuals who have special needs. We strive to meet the needs of any individuals who enter our facility. As far as accessibility goes, we do have a center for assistive technology that is run in partnership with the University’s Office of Disability Accommodation Support. This center has different assistive technologies including, but not limited to, screen readers, magnifying software, and speech to text. The only issue that I think the library has in terms of accessibility is more of a University issue. There is not sufficient parking nearby for individuals with mobility issues. The nearest parking structure is about a five minute walk from the entrance of the library, which is too far for many people. We do have wheelchair availability and have often met people at the parking structure to assist them on their way in, but I think the University could benefit from creating more convenient parking locations nearer to the library.
References
Jerry Falwell Library (2022). https://www.liberty.edu/library/
Menard, Drew. (2013). New high-tech book retrieval system enhances library resources. Liberty University.
Rubin, R. E., & Rubin, R. G. (2020). Foundations of library and information science. American Library Association.
Slaughter, Brittany. (2020). Jerry Falwell library hosts virtual de-stress week [Header image]. The Liberty Champion.
Miranda,
It is obvious that Liberty University Library values its users and their opinions. Patron input was requested when the new structure was built and when the website was redesigned. This indicates that service and client satisfaction are at the heart of their decision making processes. I know the students at Liberty appreciate having a voice.
I love the Beyond Books collection! Sign me up for a reading hammock! I was not aware that libraries were offering these types of items for check out until very recently. I think it is a wonderful and creative way to get more people involved in the library community!
Hi Emily, thank you for your comment. The new building is a definite upgrade and is loved by all of the students. This benefits us because I have found that students are more comfortable asking for help when they are in a place that they feel comfortable. The Beyond Books collection is one of my favorites as well. I have had the honor of being on the working group that suggests the purchases for this collection. It has been very fun to think about resources in an entirely new way.
Miranda, what a beautiful space to work and be a student in. I love all the windows and the open concept. That one picture has a reflection and is just gorgeous. And how neat that there are all the different areas to really meet their student’s needs from collaborative areas to whisper only spaces to deep quiet areas where it must be completely silent. I think from what you posted, they definitely follow that, ”academic libraries employ a number of strategies to build relationships and engage students. They offer programs on information literacy, programs on how to prepare a research paper, and advanced workshops on topics such as data literacy and visualization, or they provide physical spaces for students to collaborate on projects” (Rubin and Rubin, 2020, p. 173). There are such a large number of the various spaces emphasizing that too. It sounds like they provide a lot of materials for students to use and with the ASRS system, lots of availability. Also looks like Liberty University Library listened to students when they designed the building, which is great at meeting their patrons’ needs as an academic library.
Rubin, R. E., & Rubin, R. G. (2020). Foundations of library and information science (5th ed.). ALA Neal-Schuman.
Tiffany, it really is obvious that the library took student input into account with the construction and design of this library. I am happy to report that it really paid off for them, because students absolutely love this space. We have so many students come through each day and it is nice to see them using the resources and inquiring about things that are available to them. Meeting patron need is very important to this organization and is evident through their continued changes and policy updates.
Hi Miranda, I just wanted to check that comments were enabled and visible on your blog. Thanks for the very detailed observation of your library!
Thank you Dr. Kimmel, I went back and re-watched the comment moderation video and found the step I was missing.
As impressed as I was by the physical building and space of your library, I was most impressed by the library’s commitment to ask for and use student input. It sounds like they truly considered the students’ needs when constructing this new building. It is beautiful! I enjoyed hearing about your Beyond Books collection. This concept of a “library of things” is new to me but I can easily see how popular they are with patrons. I wonder what librarians from the 1800s would think about a library lending hammocks and tools! It makes me think about what else is possible to lend/borrow to make libraries even more valuable to their users.
Jennifer, I also would be so intrigued to see how librarians from the past would feel about these collections. It was very strange to me at first as well, but after receiving our first few items and seeing the success, I was convinced that this is a great addition to the traditional library. Especially with college students who live in dorms, sometimes they need a tool kit and have no room to store one and thats where the library comes in!
The Beyond Books collection sounds wonderful! I find it interesting that students can check out musical instruments, as this seems like something a music department would do for music students to do as needed. The mention of games makes me think of my public library visit, as they offered a variety of video games for patrons to check out. It’s typical for libraries to have CDs or DVDs, but the inclusion of games is the next logical step, honestly, for this category of non-book items.
Hi Amy,
Thanks for your reply. At this time, we only have board games and outdoor games, but the prospect of purchasing video games has been on our radar. I think it is a great idea for sure!
Miranda,
What a beautiful library to work in! I have never seen such a state of the art library space before, and was floored by the attention to detail in creating usable work and study spaces for students.
I found the library’s ASRS system to be incredibly intriguing. What would you say is the most common type of book that is housed in this system versus the main library floor?
It is encouraging to hear that the library works closely with the Office of Disability Accommodation Support. This is an area that I want to learn more about, and I am curious to see how screen reader technologies work. I use speech to text quite frequently myself, but would be curious what programs Liberty University uses to make this accommodation.
Thank you for sharing your workplace with us!
-Allison
Hi Allison,
I also found myself wanting to learn more about the assistive software. The ones that were listed are as follows:
Dragon Naturally Speaking – speech recognition software which can turn speech into print
JAWS for Windows – screen reading software for the visually impaired
Kurzweil 3000 – scanning and reading software for students with reading disabilities.
I hope this helps! I plan to do some more learning about these programs so that I am able to assist, should the need arise.