In the past year, the library has undergone numerous changes and renovations including adding a new research and study lab. The library has also taken steps to tie it to the everyday lives of its patrons with posters of students who frequently use its resources.
By: Nate Corley
-Staff Writer-
Beyond the Humanities East building and across the sunbathed library quad lies the center of knowledge at STLCC-Meramec: the library.
In the past year, the library has undergone numerous changes and renovations including adding a new research and study lab. The library has also taken steps to tie it to the everyday lives of its patrons with posters of students who frequently use its resources.
Bonnie Sanquinet, Meramec library manager, said, “The library boasts a patronage of around 9,000 students a week.”
The library consists of two floors. The first floor is organized into five sections: the main checkout, the printing station, the main resources search desk, the main computer section and the magazine section. The second floor includes the quiet study area, where students can go to look over notes or read a book. The second floor is also home to various multimedia, including the Hollywood film collection and a collection of books on CD.
Sanquinet said, “The library has more than 120,000 volumes with an expansion created by the Mobius system that allows students to order from a collection of more than 22 million books from other campuses in the area.”
The library uses its budget to further its role in information and knowledge by purchasing proprietary databases (databases purchased by the library from different information corporations) that are available to all Meramec students. These databases allow students to access information from various media to help with research papers and projects for their classes.
The online databases give the students access to hundreds of subjects , some with links to specific and controversial topics in both written and film format. In addition to the databases, the library offers students to use a new feature called “films on demand” which gives students the chance to see hundreds of biographical films and documentaries from the comfort of their computers.
The library is equipped with 17 wireless laptops which students are able to check out and use within the library. Located on the first floor of the library is a media section where students can use one of 40 desktop computers for academic use, and the second floor offers 22 additional computers. The library also gives students the chance to copy and print their work with the use of a “print card” which can be purchased on the first floor by the circulation desk.
Sanquinet said students with disabilities will have access to equipment that may enhance their library experience.
“The library prides itself with its adaptive equipment to assist the disabled with sight and hearing equipment for the computers and TV monitors,” said Sanquinet.
For class study groups, the library offers a quiet place to converse with six study rooms on the second floor.
Sanquinet said, “The library is one of the most comfortable places to be on campus with its quiet setting and comfortable seating arrangements.”
According to Sanquinet the library tries to make the students’ experience at college more fruitful and less stressful, while still open to suggestions by the students to make it even better.
