From the Editorial Staff... - Thank you, Curry Library

Editorial Staff

As a voice of the students at William Jewell College, the Hilltop Monitor often offers the administration, staff and faculty of the College constructive criticism.
This, of course, does not mean that we are altogether or always dissatisfied with the William Jewell experience. We do remain here after all, year after year.
This week, we would like to praise a particular facet of the College which we think has done well by us and the majority of the student body: the staff of Curry Library.

Last year, easels with large pads of note paper and permanent markers mysteriously appeared overnight in various sections of Curry, asking students what they would like done with this space. Students drew pictures, wrote notes and congratulated the staff on what they appreciated about things as they were. One student printed a picture of a two-level, free-standing study nook at Grinnell College and taped it to the board. About a dozen arrows ending in exclamations of “Me too!” quickly converged on the picture. This student input is, we are told, being considered in the planning of the new Pryor Learning Commons.

A similar thing occurred last January when the library remained open an hour longer than usual, to midnight, as a trial of a considered change. Students took advantage of the opportunity and stayed later. In response to this show of student enthusiasm, the Library made the change permanent, and many first-years likely do not know that things were ever any different.

Additionally, Curry added the Annetta Hershey Hough Communications Library this semester. According to an informational placard posted in the room, the Library’s “computers are configured for video editing and graphic design.” To this end, the computers have such programs as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and iMovie. In addition, they have a Blue Snowball microphone for the recording and saving of sound digitally. A student would have been hard pressed to find such technologies on campus just last semester. Hopefully, when a student tries to access these technologies, a helpful library staff member will be available to assist him or her.

Another recent change is the development of the personal librarian program. Now students are invited to approach librarians for help with research. A librarian will supply the student with a number of resources, show the student where and how he or she located them, and give the student directions concerning how to pursue further sources and information. A student can sign up with a particular librarian in accord with the librarian’s specialty in particular subject areas.
This program is a particularly significant step forward, because being expected to supply more information than that which is provided in class for an assignment is often an unprecedented and nerve-wracking endeavor for a first-year student.

Even now, librarians and student workers frequently are seen making rounds of the Library and counting students present and taking note of their locations. This is not some sinister plot perpetrated by Big Brother, but rather the staff’s attempt to gauge student opinion and adjust their efforts to best satisfy it.

By being willing to try new things—and temporarily, so as to gauge students’ responses before changing permanently—and inquiring after student input, the staff of Curry Library not only serves the William Jewell community efficiently and effectively, but carries out the types of experiments in living John Stuart Mill calls for in On Liberty. In doing so, they provide a brilliant example to all of us here on the Hill—faculty, staff and students alike.