February 2008 Archives

The Children's Literature section of the library is extremely disorganized. As a student that was in the elementary ed program and is now working on my masters in teaching, it is upsetting to come to the shelves time and again and find all the books in complete disarray. There are books on the floor, stacked on top of each other, books that have fallen behind the shelves, and more. On the end of the shelves, where students put the books that they have looked at to be reshelved, I have seen a book sit for 3-4 weeks without being reshelved. It is quite often that I cannot find a book in this section either, even when it is listed as "normal on-shelf."

I wish I knew about this suggestion area before because I would have made a comment a year ago. Please please please do anything you can to help this sad section of shelves. I know that myself, along with many other graduate and undergraduate students would greatly appreciate a clean and easy to browse section as this area of the library is of great use to me in my education.
From: a graduate student

Patricia Selinger, Head, Preservation Department, responds....
The Juvenile/Young Adult Collection has not received significant attention in a few years and so many books were out of order that reshelving became nearly impossible. Staff have been shelf-reading the Juvenile/Young Adult Collection since January. A shelf-read consists of reviewing each shelf to ensure the books are in the correct order and then shifting to alleviate overcrowding. Staff is also identifying damaged books and faded labels during the shelf-read; these items will be repaired as quickly as possible. This project is labor-intensive due to the size and format of the collection.

As you noted, some sections of the Juvenile/Young Adult Collection are significantly out of order. These sections may be moved to the third floor sorting area where the reshelving can be staged easier and faster.

In reviewing this section, we realized the bookends on these shelves are missing. We will put some in place to correct this situation.

VCU Libraries is working toward a better Juvenile/Young Adult Collection and regret the inconvenience the shelf-read and sort has caused. If there is a particular book VCU Libraries owns that you cannot locate, please use the "Request" button in the catalog. We are making this area a priority and expect you will see improvement soon.

Thanks for your interest!

I love Cabell but... If you are going to offer wireless internet it's got to get better than this! Every few minutes it loses connection and I have to reconnect online. The wireless I guess could be called "patchy". I don't want to waste a library computer to get on personal stuff when people are in line and fight to get academic matters done. Please help us get some more reliable Internet!!
From: an undergraduate student

Jimmy Ghaphery, head of Library Information Systems, replies...
Thank you for your feedback. The wireless in Cabell Library is managed and was recently upgraded by Technology Services. Since the upgrade we have had very few complaints. If you are in the Cabell Library with your laptop, you might consider asking for assistance at the Technology Services Help Desk (http://www.ts.vcu.edu/helpdesk) in the basement.

We will also forward you comment to Technology Services to see if there is a pattern of reported connectivity issues of which we are not aware.

I value the expansive selection of books at VCU Libraries and use this resource quite frequently. However, I find it very frustrating that these books can be checked out for SIX MONTHS by VCU faculty. This can extremely limit the availability of certain subjects(especially those that are more obscure) and practically undermines the basic concept of a library system. Why should faculty need the books any longer (five months longer at that) than students? The library borrowing policies shouldn't be based on such hierarchical privileges. I hope you will take this into consideration. Thank you.
From: an undergraduate student

Pat Flanagan, Associate University Librarian for Public Services, responds....
Thank you for your question about the varying item loan lengths to different members of the VCU community.

Loan periods were extended a couple of years ago, based on the work of a study group within the libraries that considered past comments from patrons and that looked at common practices of other universities. It was found that VCU loans to faculty were conservative by comparison with many universities. Some university borrowing periods for faculty are up to a year in length, versus our present six-month loan. The six-month loan was identified as needed to support the ongoing research, curriculum design, and publication activity in which faculty are engaged, and which require prolonged use of library materials.

VCU Libraries recognized, however, that longer loans mean that other options are needed for those who are seeking the materials. Other users may 1) request holds so that they will be the next user contacted when an item is returned, 2) recall the material so that the current user is notified of a request and must return the item within 10 to 21 days, 3) request the material from another library through ILLiad, or 4) utilize our RALC Borrowing Pass program to check out the item from another area library. To find out more about these services, see www.library.vcu.edu/services/circ_info.html.

I encourage you to make use of these options. They are services we staff for and which are in keeping with offerings of other research libraries. I appreciate you asking this question and providing an opportunity for us to make clear why different groups are offered different borrowing periods.

In case you haven't noticed most classes have an online requirement as well as an in-class requirement. There aren't enough outlets on the third floor, or any floor for that matter. When the library is full it's hard to find a seat, let alone a seat near an electrical outlet. Maybe you all can consider putting power strips/power surge protectors at all the outlets because there are more desks than outlets and everyone and their mother brings laptops to study with. Oh and the third floor doesn't have enough tables. Those cubbies are a pain in the butt with laptops, books, coffee, ipods, etc.
From: a concerned undergraduate student

John Duke, Senior Associate University Librarian, responds...
Thank you for your concerns, which we share. We certainly agree that there are not enough electrical outlets in Cabell Library. The library was built before the age of personal computers and laptops. Consequently, the building is seriously under-powered for today’s connected environment. The library is at its maximum capacity for all the electrical demands being placed upon it. When we stress the system too far, the circuit breakers trip and power is lost for whole areas of the building.

The ideal solution would be to bring more power into the building with another electrical circuit. However, this is extraordinarily expensive, costing many tens of thousands of dollars. Our budget and the University’s budget simply cannot afford this expenditure right now. We will probably have to wait until there is an addition to Cabell Library to address the electrical problem completely.

We have tried to locate some of our tables, study carrels, and chairs near electrical outlets to make it more convenient to plug in laptops. Using extension cords and power strips is problematic because of potential power outages. However, we will continue to be alert to where we might make it more convenient to plug in laptops.

Last year we made a major commitment to upgrade the furniture in Cabell Library. Although much progress was made, we did not have enough money to fill all of the needs. As funding becomes available, we will try to purchase additional furniture, but our user space is in serious competition with our constantly growing collections.

We suggest that you look for seating along the outside walls. These areas are often underutilized and many of them have nearby electrical outlets. We also will continue to look into ways we can expand the number of electrical outlets. In the meantime, we ask that you not string your power cords across public walkways. We know this is tempting, but it is dangerous for anyone walking through and potentially harmful to your computer if someone were to trip on the cord.