Student Employment at the library

Students interested in working in the library for the 2013-2014 academic year should fill out an application and turn it in by August 2nd.  Applications are available by going to www.augustana.edu/library and clicking on the “Student Employment” link in the “About Us” section.

Applications may be returned via email or US mail, as per the instructions included on the application form.

Summer Hours

Please note that the library will operate on reduced hours throughout the summer. Beginning Monday, May 20, we will be open Mondays – Thursdays from 8 AM until 5 PM and on Fridays from 8:00 AM until noon. We will be open to the Augustana community on Friday afternoons by appointment only. On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays (Memorial Day and Independence Day), the library will be closed.

Extended Hours

During the final two weeks of the spring term, the library is open for extended hours.  On Thursday, May 16th, also known as the last day of finals, the library will close at 5 PM.

All about Augustana’s Field Stations

Ever wonder about the original purpose of that beautiful oak cabinet next to the printers? Here in the library, it has been a handy resting place for staplers and a three hole punch, but it is really a botany case, built over 100 years ago to hold herbarium samples.

Now as you staple those papers, you can take a peek into the world of our Augustana Field Stations.  With the cooperation of Dr. Bo Dziadyk in providing slides and plant specimens, Carlisle Evans-Peck and Darwin Club members put together this display. Displayed under the glass are descriptions of our three field stations and photographs of these natural treasures.

Pull open the  top drawers on each side  of the botany case. Here you find  specimen sheets created by Augustana students of plants found at our field stations. These dried specimens with their careful documentation are used by botanists to identify among species and provided a way a recording the plant life of a particular area.

Assessment in Action at Augustana

Augustana’s Library has been accepted as one of the initial participants in the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Assessment in Action program. The program’s goals include creating approaches, strategies, and practices that document the contribution of academic libraries to the overall goals and missions of their institutions. To that end, participants will be part of a one-year professional development program as well as carrying out assessment activities on their campuses. 75 institutions from 29 states and 3 Canadian provinces are participating in this cohort.

Augustana’s team, which consists of Sarah Horowitz (Special Collections Librarian, team leader), Mark Salisbury (Institutional Research), and Ellen Hay (Communication Studies and the CEC) will explore how students’ work with special collections materials affects their ability to think critically and develop intellectual curiosity. Special Collections works with over 700 students per year, including about 25% of the first-year class.

The official announcement is available from ACRL, as is more information about the program and a list of participating institutions. We’re very excited about this opportunity!

Many Thanks to our Student Workers

It is the people who make the library a welcoming spot on campus.  This week is National Student Worker Appreciation Week, and we’d like to say thanks to our 50 student workers.  Here is just a small sampling of the ways they help make library life function smoothly:

• Creating attractive displays
• Helping prepare handouts for library instruction sessions
• Processing interlibrary loan transactions
• Shelving books
• Tackling special projects for the Reference Librarians
• Working extended hours
• Organizing and describing archival collections
• Identifying historical photographs
• Assisting patrons

Our student workers are a wonderful asset to our department.  And Special Collections student workers can say that they literally work in the coolest place on campus!