Fall Break Hours

Going Back to School Can Be Fun

Ready or not, school starts (at least for Fayette County students) tomorrow. Are you or your children nervous about that first day? If so, stop by the library to borrow these back to school titles to share with your family. The call number for the books is after the book description. Ask one of the librarians if you need help finding a title.

Argus by Michelle Knudsen- Sallie’s egg doesn’t hatch a chick like the eggs of the other children in her class. Her egg hatches into a. . . dinosaur. Yikes! JF K

Butterflies in My Stomach by Serge Bloch-Phrases that we take for granted like, “Opening a can of worms,” or “Butterflies in my stomach,” seem strange and almost scary to a boy who is unfamiliar with them. Humorous illustrations will probably have you and your child laughing out loud. JF B

A Few Blocks by Cybele Young-Ferdie and his older sister Viola trek to school on the first day of classes. Ferdie’s fortunate that his big sister can show him the ropes at school. Or is he? JF Y

Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? By Audrey Vernick- Buffalo’s first day of kindergarten is a little tough, but when he listens to his teacher and follows the rules, he knows that school will be ok. JF V

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney-Loveable Llama Llama’s first day of preschool is kind of hard because he misses his mama. JF D

Marshall Armstrong Is New to Our School by David Mackintosh-The new kid Marshall Armstrong is a little different from his classmates. When he invites them to his house for a birthday party, the other children wonder what kind of party he will have. JF M

Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten by Hyewon Yum- Is it the kindergartener or his mother who is more nervous about him going to kindergarten for the first time? JF Y

Rosie Sprout’s Time to Shine by Allison Wortche- Rosie’s classmate Violet usually gets all the attention and praise in class. An unexpected turn of events changes who gets noticed though, and it is quiet Rosie who shines in the end. JF W

School Bus by Donald Crews-For the youngest child who may be starting preschool this year, this title has simple words and an object that children can quickly relate to, a school bus. JF C

2013 Student Survey Results

Each year during spring quarter the library conducts a survey asking students to give us their opinions about the library's resources and services. Responses are analyzed to determine how well student needs are being met by the library and find ways to improve. 215 students (or 26% of enrollment) responded to the 2013 survey.

Survey questions offer students the ability to both rank the library using a numerical ranking as well as make a written comment to a question. Examples of some of the numerical ratings include:

• 98% of students visited the library over the last year to use resources or ask for assistance 
• 87% of students rank the library service very important to their education 
• 75% of students use the library’s database collection at least once each week to help with their classes 

Editorial comments give students an opportunity to provide specific feedback and suggest improvements.  Since some comments are emphasized by more than one student, we have listed a few below with the library's response to the suggestion.  

More pleasurable books to read
Expand the leisure reading section.

More book for entertainment

To make leisure reading more available to students the library offers the Paperback Exchange collection. Primarily fiction books in a variety of genres are available in a take one/give one format – trading books means what is available is always changing and evolving for the next person. The Paperback Exchange is located on the shelves across from the reference desk, stop by today for something to read.

Why don’t you provide textbooks?

The library does not have textbooks in the collection for many reasons--they are expensive, highly prone to theft even when they are not allowed to circulate, and quickly replaced by new editions. If they are allowed to circulate, they tend to be checked out almost constantly, which leads to increasing demands to purchase more copies. Unless a copy is purchased for each enrolled student--which is simply not feasible—having textbooks available will only benefit a small number of students with the vast majority disappointed and angry. This situation doesn’t serve our mission, which is to provide the best possible service to as many students as possible.

The online databases can be very confusing

Provide more information on the resources that are available and how to use them.

In addition to the material physically in the library, the library offers database searching for journal articles (many of which are full-text) by subject as well as electronic copies of books. The list of these resources is available on the library’s web page along with tutorials on how to get started. If you need a particular type of resource or would like a quick demo on how to use the databases, stop by the library desk anytime – we’d love to tell you more about what you can find!

Enforce a whispering policy.

For it to be more quiet so we are able to study if we want or take an exam without distractions. 

sometimes it can get loud in there just from people having study groups

The library offers many services out of our space – computers & printing, study tables, browsing for library books and DVDs, paperback book collection, magazine & journal research – just to name a few. During certain times of the day things can get quite busy in the library. The library staff want to help each student use our resources and asks everyone to respect their fellow students and behave appropriately. If you are having problems, please talk with us and let us know how we can help!

The library appreciates each student that took time to respond to our survey. Thank you!!