PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 20, No. 8, Oct. 19, 2000

Undergrad Library celebrates 30 years of service

Becky Mabry , Assistant Editor
(217) 244-1072; mabry@illinois.edu

Photo by Bill Wiegand Shhhhhh Julie Sims, a student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, takes advantage of one of the study carrels in the Undergraduate Library. Future plans call for the carrels to be updated with plug-ins for laptop computers.

Thirty years ago, the Undergraduate Library was built to give undergraduate students their own collection of books and materials.

In 1970, it had about 80,000 volumes, two PLATO terminals for students to use, and a fledgling card catalog.

Today, it has more than 250,000 volumes, more than 60 computer workstations for student use, including a computer lab operated by the Computing and Communications Services Office, a multi-media based classroom and a Web-based catalog.

Joyce Wright, director of the Undergraduate Library, said it is one of only 30 such libraries dedicated to undergraduates in the country. It was the first to be built underground; Purdue University at West Lafayette, Ind., later also built one underground.

Photo by Bill Wiegand On the Web The library's Web-based catalog makes it easier than ever to find the right resource among its more than 250,000 voumes. Patrons can perform searches and place holds on materials from computers at the library or from the Internet through any other site.

UI architects planned the library’s unique underground location so it would not shade the historic Morrow Plots next door, but yet it is handy to the Main Library and is, in fact, connected by an underground tunnel.

Wright said the services provided at the library have expanded through the years to meet the needs of the students. Among them:

• Electronic reserves – This is a pilot program that is expected to be in full service by the end of the 2001-02 school year. This service scans reserved items and offers them online so those students can read the items from computers in their own rooms or any other location. This is a great convenience for students, Wright said, because in the past they have had to go to the library to read and copy the reserved items themselves.
  
  
• Career Cluster area – This is a collection of books and materials that provides information on colleges and careers, such as how to write resumes, what to wear at interviews, hot jobs available, and how to study for graduate or professional school exams.
  
  
• Self-Help Information Center – This area of the library provides a collection of items that offer self-help materials to students for concerns that range from eating disorders to how to study for finals.
  
  
• Convenient hours – The undergrad library is open 107 hours a week. Monday through Thursday the hours are from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday the library is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday it is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.
  
  
• Instructional classes – The library offers courses and workshops on how to use the online catalogs and also basic courses on how to use the library, required of speech communications or rhetoric students.
  
  
• Media Center – This contains items ranging from DVDs to videos to old LP albums. Many professors put these items on reserve for their classes, and students can reserve times to view the materials at one of 16 stations.
  

Future plans for the library call for some remodeling, since it has not been renovated in 30 years, Wright said. The need is for a better use of space to accommodate more computer workstations and also such necessities as study carrels with plug-ins for laptop computers, and areas where students can meet in small groups for team assignments.

The remodeling is on the university’s wish list for the future, Wright said, and plans are being made to budget and prepare for the project in the coming years.

The Undergraduate Library collection includes:

• More than 250,000 books.
• 320 current magazine and journal subscriptions.
• 3,200 reserve items.
• More than 75,000 non-print items.
• Plus, adaptive equipment to assist users with disabilities.

You’re invited …
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Undergraduate Library, free cake will be served to patrons from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 27 at the library. Informational fliers about the library and free bookmarks also will be available.