Next time you are in the W.W. Hagerty Library, be sure to check out the Silent Spring exhibit case on the the first floor near the elevators. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring – the watershed event for public and congressional movement on environmental issues.

“As crude as the cave man’s club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life–a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways.” – Silent Spring, p 279.

The library, the Triangle, and USGA have been getting comments about the new library space to open in the spring on Race Street.

We want to know what you’d like to see in this space to help you get the most out of the library. If you can’t make it to the town hall meeting on December 1st, leave your comments here.

Here’s what some of your fellow students are saying:

I have a serious concern about the location of this proposed library learning terrace.  I would like to let you know that I feel like this project is a great idea and I feel that it will undoubtedly serve as a great asset to the Drexel community, one in which we don’t really currently have as a comfortable, indoor gathering and learning space that is open together and near the north side of campus where the residences are located.

What I am concerned about is the suggested location of this library learning terrace. It appears to me as if it to be slated to built underneath Race Tower. I find this to be a bad idea because of the great space that already exists there. I feel that the area that is currently there is perhaps one of the most used outdoor spaces on the north side of campus, and we would be taking away from that.

I feel that exploring other nearby locations would be worthwhile as to keep that area open as it is. The current space needs, if anything, some type of more seating to accomodate even more social interaction. The current space is used for many events throughout the year, as well as it offers protection from weather while still being outside, and is a terrific gathering space for the other dorms when they have their dreadful firedrills, all among its everyday social usage. It would be a shame to lose a great community space, especially when there may be other great, viable options nearby that could yet be explored. I just want to look out for my university in the best way possible.

Thank you for listening,
Dominic Lacivita

Here’s another comment:

Although its nice to see Drexel investing in new buildings, I also find it quite worrisome to see Drexel building without seeming to do much to consider how new construction on formally open areas is taking up more and more of the already extremely limited amount of open, green space available on Drexel’s campus. Such space is already almost insufficient on campus: look around on a nice day in the spring and summer and often you’ll see all of the open, grassy space on or near campus packed with people.

How much of the already extremely limited open, outdoor space will this new “learning center” take up? This is especially important because its proposed location is in one of the most popular and most used outdoors areas, and I am quite concerned that this new building will eliminate, or at least considerably reduce, one of the last convenient open outdoors areas on campus. While Philadelphia may have many parks, we also need such space on campus, because students don’t have the time to travel to these areas to spend only an hour or two between classes.

I hope you are seriously considering this issue, especially since I have never heard Drexel do much to address it. Have you considered purchasing property to convert into open, outdoor space (in an equally convenient location) equivalent to the space this new building will take up? Have you considered ways to construct this new building to take up no additional grassy space, or at least GREATLY reduce the amount of such space it uses? Why not build a new law library into the current law school and re-opening the third floor of the main library instead, and save what little outdoor space remains on campus? These are important questions, given Drexel’s severe lack of outdoor space. And Penn across the street proves that a tolerable amount of park-like area within the campus, and in convenient places, is entirely possible.

Please let me know what you are doing to address these issues for this building, and if possible, how Drexel is planning on addressing this issue campus-wide (I see Drexel planning on lots of new construction around campus (iSchool addition, MacAlister retail expansion, etc, all planned for currently open space) but nothing about how Drexel is addressing the fact that its rapidly eliminating its already limited outdoor space.

Thanks,
Ethan Greer

That’s what Dominic and Ethan think. What do you think?

Don’t forget: we’re creating this space for you. So please let us know what you need by commenting below.

What’s that you say? It’s noisy in Hagerty? Yeah, we know. It’s not what you expect in a library is it?

As you may have noticed, Hagerty’s packed to the gills at any given time with studious people trying to get stuff done. We know there’s a premium on quiet study space, and for some people, the library’s the first place you think of when it comes to quiet. If you need more quiet, here are a few suggestions:

• Check the quiet room to the right of the stairs on Hagerty’s lower level. This room is equipped with walled study carrels  so everyone in there can get the feeling of solitude in the midst of the crowd.
• Scope the second floor. There are study carrels up there too, and, since they’re in the stacks, you get the added bonus of noise-reducing book shelves to dampen the din.
• The third floor (The Legal Research Center) is open after 6:30pm during regular class sessions, and if you’re looking for some evening quiet, this is the spot to hit.
• Swing by the circulation desk to pick up some headphones or earplugs to drown out the noise.
• If you’re in an area where quiet rules are not being observed, you are encouraged to politely ask your peers to pipe down. If they can’t be bothered, please come find a library staff member. We’ll back you up.
• If you’re having a conversation or listening to music, please be respectful of those who ask you to keep it down. There are lots of places to talk, but not many places to study.

We hate to see you go, but don’t forget, there are other study spaces on campus, including in Matheson, Bossone, and Lebow.

Hagerty experienced a printing server glitch this afternoon, leaving several of you searching for printing around campus. We apologize for the hiccup and are glad to tell you that we’re all back on track. Please come back, and print to your heart’s delight!

Thanks for your patience.

Drexel Libraries are so happy to see you–so happy in fact that we’re having a happy hour! Join us in Hagerty’s Bookmark Cafe today between 3 and 5 and have a happy cupcake on us. See you then!

Update: We had unprecedented turn out. Thanks everyone for coming. For those who were planning to arrive fashionably late, I’m so sorry, but the cupcake tree had been axed!

New students are already trickling onto campus, and we couldn’t be more excited! Don’t forget to make a stop at the library while you stroll around and get acquainted with the campus. We can’t wait to introduce ourselves and answer all your library questions.

Welcome students, newbies and old-timers!

ILLiad, the library’s interlibrary loan system, is temporarily down while we make server changes. If you are looking to borrow an item from another library, please use EZBorrow, or contact the reference desk for more help.

We are working to get ILLiad back up and running as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience.

Our catalog will be unavailable on Tuesday, September 7th, while we upgrade the server. The outage will begin at noon and will last up to eight hours. However all of our other research tools will be available during this time. Please get in touch if you’d like help figuring out alternatives.

Thanks for your patience.

Don’t forget to vote for your most wanted Bollywood movies for Hagerty’s leisure DVD collection!

We’re looking to build up our Bollywood DVD collection, and we’re starting with some of the latest releases in the United States. DVDs with the most votes will get added to the collection.

Tell your friends. We want to know what you want to see.

More headphones please.

Okay. We’ve ordered some more. You can check them out at the circulation desk.