Eventually I want to get to the summer archives, but I haven't written that much so I'll just repost these from the Technician website, which I will list soon.

Natural Resources Library may close due to budget cuts

University proposes closing as one possible response to the budget problems

Jake Goldbas

Correspondent

Print this article

Published: Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Updated: Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Working on a group lab report for their natural resources measurements class, juniors in natural resourses Liz Montgomery, Lee Anna Young and John Atkinson use the Natural Resources Library in Jordan Hall. "I'd rather come here than D.H. Hill because all the books and resources we need are in one spot, and it would take forever to find them over there," Montgomery said. Photo by Peggy Boone

The University has identified closing the Natural Resources Library as a possible budget reduction strategy, according to Karen Ciccone, the library's director.

This is a problem for students in the College of Natural Resources, many of whom use the library regularly. Graham Ford, a forestry major, uses the NRL on a daily to weekly basis.

"I think that the library is a great resource for CNR students," Ford said. "Shutting it down would be a bad idea, because it's a good place to go do some work, using the school resources. There has got to be other ways to cut costs."

As a center for specific reserves, the NRL is a resource for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The single subject library prevents the books from being housed in D.H. Hill where they would be spread out over the course of several floors. Three full-time employees, Ciccone, Pam Crooke, Kevin Atkinson, help users of the NRL find books and articles.

Ciccone, aside from overseeing the two full-time employees and student workers, selects the books and journals that are in the library and works with professors and graduate students to help them find specific information in the books.

Atkinson said that the NRL was placed under review in January by the Personnel Department and the Finance and Business Departments, which are responsible for budgetary oversight of the NRL.

"Our jobs have not been guaranteed," Crooke said.

Atkinson, who won the Pride of the Pack award in 2005, said the NRL should not be closed simply because of its size.

The NRL is the smallest seated library, but the tasks that are performed are just as needed; and we handle the same kind of quantity as the other branches. I've bonded with the professors who come here over the years, and it's getting harder and harder to think about closing for good,‚Äù he said.

Ciccone said the NRL is primarily important because of its ability to help CNR and Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences majors with the books that it has and the workers that help with access to these materials, but it is open to helping all students.

The reason that it is so convenient for major-specific materials is because it is in Jordan Hall, the Meteorology building. Likewise, all three CNR buildings are next to Jordan Hall. This location also makes the library a shorter distance than D.H. Hill Library for students in the Avent Ferry Complex, College Inn and Wood Hall.

According to Ciccone, each year the library circulates over 5,000 library items, as well as hundreds of interlibrary loan books requested by faculty and students to be delivered to the NRL for pickup. It also provides access to over 250 items on reserve for CNR and MEAS courses and was used over 40,000 times last year, or roughly 900 visits per typical week, Ciccone said. If the Natural Resources Library closes, students and faculty will need to go to the D.H. Hill Library to access these materials.

On the technical side of the operation, the NRL provides access to electronic devices for loan, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, laptop computers, and graphing calculators. Through the library's Tripsaver service, students can request other devices from D.H. Hill Library be delivered to the NRL. The library has three copy machines and seven computer workstations, in addition to lending laptops.