October 24, 2017
Lily Spencer
When students think of a library, they probably first think of books, databases, studying and quiet time. But the Kraemer Family Library offers more than a place to collect thoughts and complete assignments.
Students can check out various other supplies every day from the library’s circulation desk, including umbrellas, phone chargers, laptops and other electronics, headphones, bike and skateboard locks, four-port USB hubs, Blu-ray Disc and DVD players, and power strips.
The library also checks out supplies that may be useful in the classroom, such as highlighters, rulers, whiteboards, clipboards, colored pencils, compasses, protractors and scissors.
To check out these items, students must have their student ID, and can keep the items for varying amounts of time, according to junior communication major Joseph Barry, who works at the library.
“(The checkout time) ranges depending on the item, whether it’s two or four hours, until we close, or for a few days, and they have to bring it back just like a library book,” said Barry.
As with checking out books, students are fined if they do not return the item before the deadline.
Fines can range anywhere from 50 cents per hour for two- and four-hour checkouts to $2 per day for one, three and seven-day checkouts. Fines for high-demand course reserve items, for example, are typically billed at $5 per hour.
Checking out these items from the library, including reserve collection materials, could save students money in the future, especially on textbooks, Barry said.
“We have course reserves which are basically classroom textbooks that we allow students to check out as well,” he said.
Students also have access to the library’s online material, even when they are off campus. Students must download the library’s virtual private network (VPN) to have access to Excelsior, the network drive that allows students to save and access files from any campus computer.
Senior criminal justice major Ariana Borders believes the library’s checkout services are beneficial to students.
“I think it is a really cool service. College students often forget stuff, we’re busy, it’s nice to know that there are ways to get things we may have forgotten or misplaced for free,” Borders said.
“I also like that we have access to the library’s databases even when we are not on campus.”