From the Dean

Greetings, everyone! We are well into the fall semester at this point and quite busy. Our biggest news is that the Princeton Review rated the SU Libraries the no. 10 best college library in the country, an astounding rise from the days when we were in the bottom five. The lovely Guerrieri Academic Commons is, of course, a major factor in that, but so are the staff who make it a warm and welcoming place where students know they can get help and where they feel at home. That includes not just our fabulous Libraries staff, but all the other folks who make the place special, from housekeeping and facilities staff to the people at the café to the staff at the other service points in the building.

We are not resting on our laurels! We instituted this past year welcome tables at the beginning of fall semester to help people find their way. We continue to offer and, indeed, expand our programming for students, partnering with student organizations. We constantly consider what new technology or other items we need to add to our circulating collection. And in the spring semester we will be opening a new soundproofed family study room, so that our students who are parents can feel comfortable bringing their children along with them when they need to use the library.

You also can see from the infographic our numbers. The number of people coming into the Libraries is rising, although, as is the case with most academic libraries, it has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels yet. The Libraries homepage is one of the most popular pages on the SU website. Study rooms remain much in demand. And thanks to our partnerships with the academic faculty, we provide library instruction for well over half the student body.

The University provides substantial funding to the Libraries for our basic operations. But paying for the extras—providing 24/5 hours at the end of the semester along with hot beverages and treats, creating the family study room, offering programming, providing student prizes, and so on—stretches our budget. We welcome any donations you might be willing to give us. There is a donation button at the bottom of this newsletter. Thank you, and may you have a wonderful winter season!