Please Post Larger and/or more noticeable signs detailing when the library is closed to students and when they have to leave the library. I did not appreciate being rushed out of the library after plans to study; it made it difficult to plan checking out books and finishing work. One student was noticed having difficulty getting work finished and rushed out.

Thanks for writing. We’re sorry that your study plans were disrupted when the building was closed on August 1st. We tried to inform students as best we could with blog posts, a banner on our homepage, and signs throughout the building. There was a large sign at the entrance gate, but in the future we will try to make our signs more noticeable.

The day before the closure we closed at our regular time. We don’t want to rush you, but we also must insist that you observe our hours, as we are not set up for 24/7 hours outside of exam period. When our café reopens in the fall, that space will be a dedicated 24/7 area throughout each term.

Can you take care of the flies in the basement? Very annoying!

Thanks for the question. We do our best to curtail the fly population with our food policy , but even that allows for some types of food to enter the building. Short of patting people down for food when they enter the building (which we definitely don’t want to do), there is not much we can do about the flies except wait for the cooler weather. I’m sorry!

I’m wondering if making entry/exit through the bookmark cafe possible, allowing students to bring outside food into the cafe (via the cafe door) and having a manned circulation window in the bookmark cafe (as part of the main circulation desk where students can check out laptops, reserve materials, etc) would alleviate all the problems and complaints about [the food policy].

Thanks for your interesting idea. However the problem is not that students enter the café through the library, but that the café is entirely closed for renovations for the summer, leaving students with no library space for eating their meals. When the café reopens in the fall, a library dining area will be restored. Complaints about the food policy have died down considerably since the beginning of the summer, and we very much appreciate everyone’s willingness to comply with the rules until the café reopens.

Please bring back the tree that was in the lobby. It was beautiful and studies show that people are happier around plants.

Thanks for the suggestion. We miss the tree—it made us happy too. When building renovations began, we removed the tree to protect it. Renovations continue and are ongoing. We are considering new plans for greenery throughout the building, but, because of the renovation schedule, we will not be implementing them for another year or so.

Please set up notification emails of when movies are due. We get them for books but not movies.

Thanks for the idea.

Our system sends out courtesy reminders five days before an item is due. But since DVDs are due five days after they’re checked out, the system doesn’t work.

Unfortunately our system does not allow for alternative timing of courtesy reminders, so to help you remember when your DVDs are due, we put a reminder slip in each case.

Please install full Microsoft Office on the second floor computers. (i.e. Microsoft Word).

Thank you for your recommendation. The computers on the second floor are primarily intended for access to the library’s catalog—that’s why they’re placed near and among the book stacks. We know that people use them for checking email and other quick tasks, but we don’t want people to use them for more than a few minutes. This way everyone will be able to check the catalog when they’re in the stacks.

If you’d like to use Microsoft Office programs, they’re installed on the new computers on the first floor, and on the computers in the lower level classrooms (which you’re welcome to use as computer labs when there’s no class being held). Additionally, the Microsoft Office suite is installed in the laptops that are available from the circulation desk for two-hour, in-library loan.