Libraries host introduction meeting, display new assets

To familiarize old and new faculty with one another and receive an update about the new amenities of the libraries, UNC Libraries faculty and staff members hosted the annual Cheese and Chat, a meet-and-greet, hosted in the Howard Skinner Music library on Thursday.

About 40 members attended, including special guest Darrin Pratt, director and acquiring editor of University Press of Colorado, and UNC Provost Abe Harraf.

"Some library faculty thought it'd be a great idea to get together and meet the faculty in their subjects," said Helen Reed, the interim dean of the University of Northern Colorado libraries.

Since 1965, UNC has been one of the eight universities in Colorado to fund the University Press of Colorado. Pratt said the University Press of Colorado is a non-profit scholarly publishing company.

"We exist to publish the scholarly work of faculty at Colorado universities, which ends up being about 20 to 25 books a year, and we also publish a few books written by scholars for the general public," Pratt said.

Harraf said of all the universities he's visited, UNC libraries are the most organized. He also said the stabilized library fee added to the student bill helps the libraries maintain the continuity of obtaining current resources each year.

"It is important to stay connected with the faculty in order to keep the resources up-to-date and accessible to students, as well as maintain the high quality of services given to the students," Harraf said.

There have been many additions and improvements to the libraries for the students, from adding classrooms to Skinner Music Library to extending Coffee Corner hours in Michener.

Annie Epperson, assistant professor and subject librarian, said. "This past year, we've added technologically-equipped study rooms, a paging system where students contact us, more computers in the reference lab, 15 new laptops for circulation, and the biggest thing is obtaining online resources. We actually just bought a package of 1,000 titles in science-related topics alone."

Reed said the university has made many updates to accommodate studying in the libraries.

"We are really working to make the libraries more student-oriented by extending the Coffee Corner hours, more technology and online resources," she said. "We have about 30,000 titles online; whereas five years ago, the students would have to come into the library to do their research, and now they have it online 24/7. We also recently added a new chat service for students to ask a librarian questions until 9 p.m."

UNC Libraries staff said the programs will continue to grow as technology grows in order to keep up with students and their need for quality information. For more information, visit www.library.unco.edu.