One of the perks of living in Kansas is the wind. A side effect of the wind is wind damage to roofs. Thanks to a storm in May, Hale Library's roof suffered wind damage. Crews are now repairing the roof, hence the orange safety fence and the terrifyingly long ladders. Those ladders, by the way, are the number one reason why I am a librarian and not a roofer.
The work should be completed in a couple of weeks. Sooner, if this cat has anything to say in the matter.
Sometimes all you need is a little peace and quiet. A place to sit and think or work, on your own, without a lot of noise and ruckus.
We're working to create a place like that for you, on the 1st floor of Hale Library. Although the area was actually designated for quiet activity this summer following the 2nd floor renovations, we've recently done a little more obvious marking of the area to help remind folks how the space is intended to be used. You'll see signs like the one to the right throughout the 1st floor. We also have them on the "staff side" of 1st, reminding us that when we leave offices and meeting rooms there, we should try not to disturb you with our noise.
So, what exactly does "quiet zone" mean for you? Well, we can't enforce complete and utter silence, but we'd like you to keep conversations to a minimum, leave the area to make phone calls, keep your headphones turned low, and choose other areas of Hale for group work.
The Great Room, former bastion of quiet study, is becoming, well, somewhat less quiet. With ongoing restorations to the Overmyer Murals, increased tour activity, the need for contained space for evening group study, and library staff moves away from the third floor, the Great Room no longer meets student and faculty needs for a place for independent study. It will probably remain less noisy than your average spot on 2nd floor, but we're not going to maintain or enforce anything beyond basic courtesies in the Great Room.
We're expecting a little transition time, while everyone adjusts to the new spaces, and we're viewing this as somewhat of a experiment. Think of it as Quiet Zone beta, if that helps. We'll be working to find ways to improve the usefulness of 1st floor as a quiet area, and we'd love to have your feedback along the way.
Feeling a little ooky about all of the people around you who are sick? Have you noticed that campus this week seems a little bit emptier than last week due to people staying home because they are sick? Yeah, us too. So we now have hand sanitizer all over Hale.
If you are using a scanner, there's a bottle of hand sanitizer. If you are using the supply table on the 2nd floor next to the print stations, there's hand sanitizer. We have hand sanitizer at the help desk. I think I even saw some hand sanitizer bottles perched atop a few of the computer pods.
Please use it. We'll buy more.
And if you are sick, please stay home. We like you, we hate your germs.
Progress on Hale Library's 2nd floor construction continues. The latest and greatest change is switching out the two entrances on either side of the former Reception Desk for one grand, central entrance. I can almost feel the building sigh at the perfection.
Just look at how it frames the arched window:
Nice, isn't it?
And when you walk in the gates, you know immediately where to get help.
The old entrances are being converted into display cases.
They'll be snazzy when they're done. For now, you mostly see a lot of plywood.
And, if you've been following us on Twitter, here's a shot of the new chairs in the InfoCommons.
And I thought my childhood bedroom was crowded. By my count, there are five baby swallows crammed into one nest.
If they follow last year's schedule, they should soon be jumping out of the nest and trying to fly. My money is on the dinky one (second from the right) to be the first to shove his way out.
Photo credit: swallows 2009 003 by K-State Libraries on Flickr.com licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
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