Hello everyone,
As we approach the end of the second week of regular semester classes, I have to wonder if you all feel the same way I do, that the fall semester hit like a tidal wave. Of course Law, School of Medicine and Vet Med students were already back, but they are fewer in number. Apparently the graduate students and administration are working through their differences with the help of the Chancellor’s task force and other groups, and we all wish them well. The campus strategic plan emphasizes graduate student enrollment and enhancing the graduate student experience, which should help.
We have been experiencing delays with returning Ellis rooms 114 and 202 to service, mostly because of the new carpeting. We need the rooms back, but we also need the new carpet that is still coming. Both rooms should be available now after Sept.14. A small committee will be working with Facilities to get the furniture in 114 re-arranged, and will plan for new furniture as part of the fee campaign. Without the orange periodical shelves, the traces of its old role as CPRR will be almost gone. It will have a very different look and feel, and we want to make it an attractive, usable space.
On the 24/5 transition for Ellis, we should be ready by Sept 8. Some new security staff has been hired and trained, and signs, some new locks, and other details solved or in process. We are hoping to get self-check machines installed in Ellis as soon as we can also, but that won’t be before Sept. 8.
Work continues on plans for the addition to UMLD, and I hope to have more good news on that soon.
Special thanks this week to Michaelle Dorsey and her staff for their vigilance in monitoring environmental conditions across the University Libraries to ward off any mold or related problems in library collections. It’s a thankless, continuing task but makes a difference.
This week was the second meeting of the newly re-constituted Library Management Team (LMT). Most of you have heard that in addition to Jeannette Pierce, Mike Holland, Deb Ward and me that Ernest Shaw, Sheryl Cullina, Ellen Blair, Pat Jones and Corrie Hutchinson are now LMT members. We all meet together twice monthly. I hope that adding more operational people to the team will help us address many issues more promptly and effectively.
Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend.
Ann