Many changes awaited students when they returned for another year at Longwood University. Many of these changes were apparent, such as the construction of new steam pipes behind Blackwell, and some were not so apparent, such as the new Dean of the Greenwood Library, Ms. Suzy Szasz Palmer.
Palmer came to Longwood after most recently having been the Deputy State Librarian at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, Va. This is the first time she has been in a Dean position.
Palmer says that the library has a terrific staff of about thirty people and about thirty student workers. She says that having student workers in the library is essential because without them "there is no way they would be able to stay open the hours that they are open."
She wants to make sure the library services offered are the best they possibly can be and that the collection is geared toward both the students and the faculty because, in addition to students using the library for research, the faculty is also doing their own research. Palmer wants to be able to offer more laptops to check out for times when all of the computers are occupied as well.
Many students are aware of the laptop checkout program where a student may check out a laptop for up to three hours. However, not many students are aware that the library has projectors and digital voice recorders available for check out for up to three days. Many students are aware of the e-Reader program, which allows a student to check out an e-Reader (the library has 12 Nooks, 12 Kindles, and one Sony e-Reader) for up to three weeks, due to the display on the desk as one enters the library.
You may not be aware that each person is permitted to request one or two titles for purchase which the library does not already have in their e-Book collection, which the library would purchase. However, there is a $20 per person, per academic year limit on how much each person can request when it is bought and placed in the library's e-Book collection.
Many students are aware of the availability of the Multimedia Lab but may be unaware of the ability to check out many electronics, including eight MacBook's, ten MacBook Pros, various Canon digital cameras, Canon digital camcorders, various types of projectors, clickers for presentations, digital voice recorders, LiveScribe Echo Smartpens, microphones and tripods. Each of these is available for use in the Multimedia Lab or for check-out for 72 hours.
There is also a green screen available for use in the Multimedia Lab as well as eight flatbed scanners, eight Macbook Pros, a light table and a negative reader and two Bamboo drawing pads, which are connected to two of the MacPro's which are especially good for drafting projects or film projects.
Palmer said she wants to make some of the library's lesser known programs better known among students. Overall, the presence of a new Dean of the Library is a positive step forward for the university.
