Cell phone booth in the NE corner of the upper level of Davis Family Library

After consulting with LIS staff and the Student LIS Advisory Committee, and after seeking suggestions through this blog, we have relocated the two booths in Davis Family Library.  They are both on the upper level in more low profile locations so there is less of an aesthetic impact on the architecture of the building.  One is in the NE corner closest to Twilight Hall opposite elevator #2, and the other is in the SW corner closest to the Axinn Center next to group study room LIB301F.  When you’re on the upper level of Davis Family Library and you want to make or receive a cell phone call, please take advantage of the private booths.

Cell phone booth locations on the upper level of Davis Family Library

Post as of 2/24–  A group of LIS staff recently attended an open meeting to consider various options for locating the two new cell phone booths.   Below please see a summary of our conclusions.  If you were unable to attend the meeting but would like to share some ideas, please either comment here or email me (jwatson@middlebury.edu)  Also, if you prefer, feel free to stop by my office so I can point out the options on a floor plan.

 Cell phone booth location notes:

-General agreement that it doesn’t make sense to put a booth on the Main Lvl.

-General agreement that it makes more sense to put both booths on the Upper Lvl. because the signal will be more reliable and it’s more likely they’ll be used.  However we also agreed it makes sense to check back in with stakeholders who weren’t at the meeting to get their reaction to this before proceeding.  It’s a difficult call.  (LOL!  “call”, get it?)

-No general agreement on the ideal placement of the two on the Upper level.   In order of popularity the three options are:

1. Kitty corner.  One opposite elevator #2 in the alcove with the recycling bins and the other in the separate little hallway between group study 301F and the carrels on the south wall.  The advantages are a low aesthetic impact, at separate ends of the upper floor.  The disadvantages are the low profile for finding them, one of them is near assigned study carrels where people might be bothered, the other displaces a few nicely located lounge chairs, the possibility of providing too much privacy for mischief.
2. By elevators on east end.  One each in the alcoves opposite elevators #2 and #3.  The advantages are the low aesthetic impact and the feeling that it’s a semi-private spot. The disadvantages are the low profile for finding them, the nearness of assigned study carrels, the possibility of providing too much privacy for mischief.
3. Center of east end.  next to the public access computers that are adjacent to the East Reading Room.  Advantages are the ease of finding them, that they’re not very near anybody studying, and they could be easily hardwired with a land line phone.  Disadvantage is the high aesthetic impact.

Photo by Yiling Zhang

We’ve installed these in an attempt to solve two problems.   For years we’ve had complaints about people having cell phone conversations adjacent to study areas.  Other academic libraries like ours have successfully used cell phone booths like these to solve that problem.  Also, there are about thirty staff members working in shared offices in Davis Family Library and these folks don’t have a private place for phone calls to their doctor, baby sitter, etc.   Part of the reason we acquired the cell phone booths was to enhance the work/life balance of these staff members.

We purchased them at a deeply discounted price and we hope they’re worth it.  Only time will tell.   In Brittany’s post she mentioned that the location of the one on the upper level might not be ideal.  If you have suggestions of better spots in Davis Family Library for these, please feel free to drop me a line at jwatson@middlebury.edu  Thanks!

Over the winter break we moved thirty-six of our most popular magazines to Harman from our current periodical shelves. So now, twenty-four of our newspapers from around the world live side-by-side with thirty-six magazines. So, if you have the urge to leaf through the most recent copy of Wired, The Economist, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Atlantic, MacWorld, Mother Earth News, or many others, pull up a chair.

Those of you using Apple’s Newsstand app for your magazine and newspaper reading can kindly ignore this message.

Davis Family Library, 110 Storrs Ave., open at 9:00 AM on first day, continuing during regular library open hours thereafter.

The Davis Family Library will offer withdrawn and duplicate copies of books, music scores, and other media for sale at great prices.   Choose from a wide variety of items for scholarly work or recreational reading, listening, and viewing.  Proceeds from this year’s sale will be donated to the Vermont Public Library Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund, assisting libraries that were impacted by the recent floods.

(Because the low price asked for materials is in part a service to the college community, anyone purchasing items on the first day of the sale will be required to show a Middlebury College ID.  Book dealers are not welcome to purchase items for resale on Tuesday, Nov. 15th).

FMI, contact Joseph Watson 443-5487 jwatson@middlebury.edu

AND!!!  Look for a small preview sale of antique/collectable/like new/especially nice items in the Atrium starting on Wed. the 9th.

New compact shelving was installed in the SE corner of the lower level, and all of the books in the “stacks” (aka general collection shelves) were shifted toward Z.   Therefor, if you’re used to finding your favorite PQ books in a specific spot, to find them now, keep following the alphabet toward Z until you run into them.

The Vermont Collection was moved to the middle of the lower level, as were the Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese Collections.   The VHS collection was moved to open shelves in the center of the Main Lvl just east of the Government Documents.

The consolidation of the Music Library into Davis was proposed by the College Administration, with the stated aims of strengthening ties between the curriculum and the Middlebury Museum of Art, also located in the MCFA, and increasing the use of the MCFA building, which has declined substantially especially since the closing of the Rehearsals dining space.  The moves will also free up studio space in Johnson for the Program in Studio Art and Architectural Studies.

From the library perspective, it is my hope that incorporating the music collection into the Davis Family Library will increase the visibility of this fabulous library resource, one that has perhaps been underutilized due to its location on the periphery of the campus.  With almost 20,000 compact discs; over 18,000 scores; and 13,000 books about music, this is a tremendous resource for anyone with even a passing interest in music, encompassing everything from the latest contemporary classical and avant-garde works to jazz, blues, and popular music for study or recreational listening.  We hope that integration of the music collection into Davis will inspire the musically-curious to investigate our collection and take advantage of the riches it contains.

Moving a collection of this size entails, of course, a great deal of planning and no small amount of disruption, especially during the summer months of 2011.  LIS hopes that our constituents will bear with us through this transition period, and have patience for any temporary inconveniences you encounter.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments at: Terry Simpkins (tsimpkin@middlebury.edu) 802-443-5045, Davis Family Library 202C

The Latin epic about the destruction of one civilization and the founding of another, Vergil’s Aeneid recounts the wanderings of the hero Aeneas from the ruins of Troy to the shores of Italy, and describes with moving detail the wars he must fight in order to establish a line of leaders that will eventually lead to the Roman Caesars. (Thank you to Randy Ganiban for the blurb!)

The Aeneid will be read from at the following times:
Friday: 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Saturday: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday: 10:00 am – noon (or until completed)

Baklava will be provided, and if you’d like to read (usually done in 30 minute increments), you also get a text and a nifty authentic Olympic crown* while you read!

*Crown made in present-day, not in Ancient Greece. No Olympic medals or achievement of world records included with crown.

If you’re interested in signing up ahead of time for a reading slot, please contact Giulia Scelzo or Christian Brady.