Book Review: A New Life Section
The Class of 1945 Library is a centerpiece of tour guide routes, the Exeter campus skyline and history paper research, but most of its services often go unrecognized. In the coming weeks The Exonian Life section will provide a short synopsis of the new books that librarians have recently acquired to get more students interested in all the things the library has to offer.
“Having ‘embedded librarianships,’ where librarians get into classrooms more, would help us make decisions about how to develop the collection.”
On the first floor of the library, three shelves beside the circulation table are designated to display all the newly-arrived books, both fiction and nonfiction. Shipments of new books arrive twice a week, and new books find their way to the shelves nearly every day. Each of the librarians has different academic fields they acquire new books for, whether it’s sports, music, British literature, economics or any other area of interest. Students can also recommend books they would like to read by visiting the library website, navigating to “Help & Resources” and using the “Request New Materials” link. Due to the library’s extensive funding, these suggests are almost always taken into consideration to buy new books or movies and update the collection.
Acquisitions Librarian Christopher Roy, uses the recommendations from other librarians, students or faculty to purchase books that aren’t yet in the library collection. Due to numerous alumni funds, of which there are over 50, the Exeter library is able to find and buy the vast majority of these suggested texts. However, many of these new acquisitions go unnoticed, despite librarians’ continuous efforts to the contrary.
Although the librarians, especially Beth Rohloff, Reference and Outreach Librarian, try to market the many services this place offers, students are often constrained by time or work from making good use of the resources in the library. “I only check out books one or two times a term, usually for research projects,” senior Jack Pimental said. Senior Tanner McGowan added that he regularly uses the library to study or do homework but rarely for pleasure reading. Senior Kevin Lyskawa said he often checks out movies for team trips but only uses books for his classes. Some students aren’t aware that new books are regularly added and don’t know where to find them. Others only get the chance to use the library for coursework, missing out on the books, periodicals, movies and programs that make it an invaluable community resource.
Margaret Schoene, a part-time library assistant, said, “During research intensive weeks, normally a student would borrow half a dozen books at a time; on the other days, a person usually borrows one or two books at a time.” If students knew more about the library’s collection or had enough time to explore it, the library would be used far more often. Such programs have been attempted in the past. Rohloff said that some classes go through a “book-tasting” before one of the school breaks. Students have a class period to visit the library and read parts of books spanning all genres that the librarians have chosen. Student Lyskawa also expressed interest in incorporating the “book-tasting” program into the regular English curriculum.
Librarian Andrew Gatto said, “Having ‘embedded librarianships,’ where librarians get into classrooms more, would help us make decisions about how to develop the collection.” Navigation and use of the library is a crucial part of the Exeter curriculum; especially in earlier years, students visit the library to see the archives and learn how books are catalogued. In history classes, a couple weeks of the term are usually reserved for a research paper that takes place in the library to use its available resources, online and print. However, Gatto acknowledged that it would be unrealistic to expect students to wander in their own volition. If they knew more about the myriad of uses for the library, something that could be achieved through “embedded librarianships,” perhaps the library’s abundant resource wouldn’t be overlooked as frequently.
In that spirit, from next week, The Exonian Life section will open a column to profile some of the new books in the library. Everyone is welcomed to contribute! If you like reading and sharing, pick up a book in the library, write a paragraph about it and send it to us. (exonian@gmail.com) We are more than excited to see your recommendation and read your comments!