Year: 2020

Friends of the Libraries Board Issues Statement of Commendation for Library Staff

Statement of Commendation for Library Staff

Friends of the Libraries commends library staff for their valor in acting quickly to maintain public health and student, faculty, and community access to library materials and services as the covid-19 pandemic shut down campus.

  • Curbside service at Paul Laurence Dunbar Library started the day after the Dayton campus shut down. Our library was one of the first academic libraries in the state of Ohio to offer curbside service.
  • Library staff pivoted to expand online services.
  • Library staff rapidly revised internal procedures and schedules.
  • Library staff followed detailed CDC guidelines to prepare the library for reopening by removing and distancing furniture, installing directional signage and safety shields, and ensuring self-cleaning supplies for patron use.

Friends of the Libraries commends library staff for their valor in acting quickly to maintain student access to the Charles and Renate Frydman Educational Resource Center when the College of Education and Human Services cut its budget as a cost-saving measure.

  • On very short notice, library staff repurposed library space to house the 19,000-item collection.
  • Library staff moved all of the new and unique items formerly housed in 116 Allyn Hall, including media lab equipment, furniture, and computers, with an assist from Facilities Services. The massive move featured 250 trips through Dayton campus tunnels over a period of five weeks.
  • Library staff have made ERC materials and resources a featured collection of the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library. This not only allows students to have continued access to unique items, but has expanded access with longer daily hours, greater accessibility for a wider range of users, and longer loan periods.

Friends of the Libraries commends outstanding leadership of and teamwork within library staff for embracing opportunities for improved services to students, faculty, and community during a time of great challenge.

Dunbar Library now Open!

Welcome back, Raiders! The Dunbar Library is now open for the fall semester and our staff are ready to assist you.  We welcome students, faculty, staff and our community users for individual study, materials retrieval, computing, and staff assistance. 

We have a variety of safety measures in place to keep our users and our staff safe including:

  • Masks required while using the library
  • Physical distancing measures in place including the proper spacing of tables and reduction of chairs at our study spaces.  Please do not move the furniture!
  • Sanitation areas on each floor equipped with hand sanitizers and cleansing wipes
  • Signage to indicate the flow of traffic in/out of doors
  • Used material book trucks near each collection.  Please place any items touched on these carts for proper quarantining.

Dunbar Library hours for the fall semester will be:

  • Monday through Thursday – 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Friday – 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Saturday – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Sunday – 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Several of our services have been adapted to promote physical distancing and keep our staff and users safe.  These include:

Ask a Librarian Serviceremote assistance is available from our librarians for 78 hours per week.  We offer virtual appointments as well.  Chat, email, or call us for assistance.

Ask an Archivist Serviceremote assistance is available from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.  The reading room will open on September 8th by appointment only.  Please schedule appointments one week in advance.

ERC
ERC in Dunbar Library

Educational Resource Center – this collection and the media lab equipment were added to the Dunbar Library over the summer.  The ERC is located on the 2nd floor annex, near the STAC.  Questions about the ERC materials and equipment? Please use the Ask a Librarian service.

Book Stacks – users may browse our book stacks.  Please limit what you touch.  We ask that items that are touched and no longer needed be removed from the shelf and placed on our quarantine carts located near each collection area.  Our staff will pick-up these items and quarantine them for the required 3-day period.

Self-Checkout – Our circulation desk is equipped with a no-touch, self-checkout station. 

Book Drop
Library Book Drop

Book Drop – Please use the book drops outside of the library to return items.  You will find these at the front entrance doors under the overhang and at the entry doors in the tunnels.

Curbside Pickup – patrons may pick-up books curbside by calling our staff at 937-775-2525 during library hours.  We will need your UID to access your account. Our staff will bring items to your car.  This service is limited to books already on hold.  Request your materials for our hold shelf in the catalog using the “Request” button (instructions here).

OhioLINK and SearchOhio – both delivery services are operational.  Request your OhioLINK and SearchOhio items in their respective catalogs for delivery to Dunbar Library (instructions here).  Please know that items must be quarantined for 3 days upon receipt and so the delivery time for this service will increase to 7 – 10 days.

Interlibrary Loan – we are pleased to offer full ILL service, including electronic and print requests.  Place your requests using the ILL form (instructions here).

Course Reserves – contact our circulation desk staff on the first floor for assistance with your course reserves items. You may email us at [email protected].

Public Computing – open seven days, computers, printers, and scanners remain available at appropriate distances.  Please, one patron per computer.  Visitors may request a guest account at the first floor circulation desk.  Keyboards are covered and we ask all users to wipe down the keyboard cover before and after use.  We have alcohol prep pads at the computer workstation area and the circulation desk to wipe down the keyboards and mice.

Technology Assistance – for assistance with computers, printers, or scanners, please contact the CaTS Help Desk at 937-775-4827.

Bookable Rooms – WSU students, faculty, and staff may book our individual study rooms after August 31st.  Please use the cleaning supplies provided on each floor to wipe down your area before/after use.

Whiteboards – our whiteboards are available; however, markers and erasers must now be borrowed or purchased at the first floor circulation desk.  Markers and erasers are $1.00 each.  Patrons are welcome to bring their own dry erase markers as well.

ATM
New ATM machine on 1st floor

ATM – we have a new ATM on the first floor in the group study room near the printer/copier. This is a Wright Patt Credit Union ATM.

Starbucks – Starbucks is open Monday to Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

University Libraries’ Book Club 2020-2021

Join us for our 2020-21 Book Club sponsored by the Friends of the Libraries, WSU Alumni Association, and the WSU Retirees Association.

When and Where:
Tuesday evenings at 5:30 p.m. WebEx (Meeting number: 160 395 4389  Password: read). Discussions will be held online and registration is available.

What We’re Reading:

September 15th, 2020

Two titles: The Widows, The Hollows by Jess Montgomery.

The author will join us for this discussion.

November 17th, 2020

Title: The End of October by Lawrence Wright

January 19th, 2021

Title: A Burning: A Novel by Megha Majumdar

March 16th, 2021

Title: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

May 4th, 2021

Title: The World That We Knew: A Novel by Alice Hoffman

2020 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Winner for Fiction

Books –titles will be available from the WSU University Libraries collection so check our catalog for copies. Don’t have a WSU library card? Join our Friends of the Libraries for borrowing privileges or borrow the titles from your local library.

More Information – Links to the discussions will be provided soon. Copies of titles are on order now and we will link to these as they become available. Other questions? Call the Wright State University Libraries at 937-775-2380.

The Educational Resource Center Relocates to Dunbar Library

When the Dunbar Library reopens this fall it will have 19,000 new and unique items added to the collection, all from the Charles & Renate Frydman Educational Resource Center (ERC).  The ERC, formerly maintained by the College of Education and Human Services, has now become a featured collection within the University Libraries.

bookshelves in Dunbar Library
ERC collection in Dunbar Library

Relocating to Dunbar Library provides the following opportunities for the ERC:

  • 7-Day service for the entire collection and media lab
  • Longer daily hours and extended finals week hours
  • A dedicated room in the Dunbar Library (210) for the collection and media lab services
  • Longer loan periods for print and non-print items (print now 112 days, non-print now 14 days)
  • Greater accessibility for a wider-range of users
  • Display cases to feature the Dayton Holocaust Resource Center artwork
  • Ask a Librarian service
staff with cart of books
Library staff moving the collection

University Libraries staff teamed up with Facilities Services to move the collection from 116 Allyn Hall to 210 Dunbar Library during the months of July and August.  After an extensive inventory, and over 250 trips through the tunnels, the move was complete in approximately 5 weeks.

tables of non-print materials
Temporary holding place for ERC items

Most of the Media Lab equipment, furniture, and computers were also relocated to Dunbar and the ERC webpages have been integrated into the University Libraries website. More information will be shared through social media about how and where to access the Media Lab equipment and services.  Future plans include integrating the University Libraries’ Children’s Literature collection into the ERC collection and expanded programming and outreach.

Next time you are in the Dunbar Library, visit the new Charles & Renate Frydman Educational Resource Center on the 2nd floor.