University branch libraries offer patrons a great deal

Although D.H. Hill Library and the much-vaunted, soon-to-be-built Hunt Library are well known on campus, the branch libraries are also important in fostering a strong learning environment on campus.

Students find the low profile and small size of the branch libraries to be convenient.

Rajiv Havapiter, a junior in environmental technology, said he found the branch library in the College of Natural Resources to provide a better study environment than D.H. Hill Library.

“Not a lot of people know about this area, so it’s less crowded and less distracting than at D.H. Hill,” Havapiter said.

Most colleges maintain collections of materials relevant to their particular fields of study. The largest collections are classified as branch libraries within the University library system.

The College of Natural Resources, the College of Textiles, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Design each house a library.

According to Karen Ciccone, the director of the Natural Resources Library, N.C. State has a relatively small number of branch libraries in comparison with other universities.

“The [University of] Illinois has over 40 [branch libraries], I believe, but that’s an extreme example,” Ciccone said.

According to the library directors, most branches are patronized by a mix of undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.

Ciccone said while the Natural Resources Library sees usage by College of Natural Resources students and faculty, students from other colleges within the University also use the library as a quiet study space.

“Study space on the south side of campus is at a premium, so this is really the only convenient place on this side of campus for students to study,” Ciccone said.

She said this was why the library was kept open when the University planned to close it last year as part of a budget reduction strategy.

“There was very vocal opposition from students [and] from faculty members who used the library, who explained that it’s the only place on the south side of campus where they can study or where they can access reserve materials or pick up books,” Ciccone said.

However, Ciccone said the south side of campus requires more places to study.

“This side of campus could use more spaces where students could gather,” Ciccone said
Greg Tourino, the associate director of the Burlington Textiles Library, said the library sees a variety of patrons on a given day.

“We have quite a few graduate students from the College of Textiles that use the library here. We have a lot of undergraduate students here too, so it’s quite a mix,” Tourino said.

Brian Wummel, a graduate student in textile management, said his studies cause him to use the College of Textiles Library more than D.H. Hill Library.

"As a master’s student, I use [the Textiles Library] more, about once or twice a week, though when I was an undergrad, I used D.H. Hill triple times a week,” Wummel said.

Jacqueline Gadison, a technical assistant at the Kenan Library of Veterinary Medicine, said besides students and faculty, the library is also visited by veterinarians and faculty from other universities.

“We have graduate students, we have interns and residents and students and staff here at the college, and then some undergraduates do come over from the main campus as well as veterinarians and individuals from other campuses,” Gadison said.

Usage of the branch libraries is also dependent on the time of year and the branch’s relative accessibility.

Ciccone said the Natural Resources Library sees 900 to 1,000 visitors in a given week, and Tourino said the Textiles Library sees about 400 visitors a week.

Tourino said more people, particularly undergraduates, use the library around exam time.

“We get a lot more undergraduate students around exam time, with all the preparation [required] for exams,” Tourino said.

Karen DeWitt, the director of the Lyons Design Library at the College of Design, said the library sees numerous visits by students and faculty.

“We have a lot of students and a lot of faculty who use the library. This is one of the most heavily used libraries, I think, on campus at least in terms of the branch libraries,” DeWitt said.

She said that the Design Library circulates around 18,000 volumes a year, in comparison to the other branch libraries which circulate 3,000 to 5,000 volumes each year.

Owing to construction on the veterinary school campus, the accessibility of the library there is limited. Visitors cannot enter through the main library entrance and must enter through a secondary entrance. For security reasons, upon entering they must first be paged in through a secretary and then be escorted to the library by an on-duty staff member.

This has altered the number of visits to the library, Gadison said.

“Because of the construction, [visitors] are restricted to being escorted, so [the number of outside visitors] has changed. We’re not freely open as we were when visitors would come in through the front entrance,” Gadison said.

The construction has been ongoing since the spring semester.

Overall, while most students are satisfied with the facilities available to them in the branch libraries, the limited availability of computers and seating in certain branches causes a degree of difficulty for some.

Havapiter said he would like to see more computers being installed in the Natural Resources Library.

“Perhaps [the library should] install more computers, because there’s only like four or five. If someone else is waiting, you [feel you have] to give it up, just to be a good person,” Havapiter said.

Wummel said he would like to have the computers at the Textiles Library to all be on one operating system.

“The computer labs are all kind of different, they’re not on the same system. They should run on one system,” Wummel said.

Upgrades are not planned for either the Natural Resources or for the Design Libraries, though DeWitt said renovations were planned for the Design Library earlier, but were stalled due to budgetary problems.

This past August, the Veterinary Medicine Library was remodeled to accommodate more people and a learning-commons style study area was set up to provide a better study environment.

Gadison said a new multimedia room was added, along with large whiteboards in each study room.

“This past August, the main floor was added with the learning-commons concept. There were some changes in the back to the study rooms. We have private study rooms right now,” Gadison said.

She feels the students appreciate the new library arrangements. “I think the students are pleased,” Gadison said.

Tourino said the Textiles Library is working to remodel its study space while the Hunt Library undergoes construction.

“We’re planning on redoing one of the rooms in the back to have more of a collaboration space for students, [install] some whiteboards and some furniture, so we’re in the process of creating that,” Tourino said.

However, he said that more study spaces are required on Centennial Campus as it does not yet have enough for students. Even so, Tourino said that the University as a whole has excellent resources and excellent students.

“It’s a great bunch of students we have here at N.C. State. It’s a really high level research university [and] it’s a really high level of students who are here. I find it a great place to work,” Tourino said.