For those who didn't see the article, "New UTB-TSC library short on space," in The Brownsville Herald on Saturday, it is worth checking out. The reporter, Laura Tillman, does a good job explaining the issue. Even so, I would have liked to have seen more about the oddity of splitting up sections in a library's collection. I have a feeling what we are doing at our libraries is unusual in library circles. The new library was clearly poorly planned. If you only have a small amount of room for books, then keep the general stacks together in Oliveira; move other library functions, such as computer labs, to the University Boulevard Library to give those departments the space they need. Anyway, here is the start of Laura's story:
When UTB-TSC students were welcomed into their attractive new library last week, they may have been surprised: Two-thirds of the books were missing.
The new building, one of several projects paid for by a $68 million taxpayer bond issue, is able to house 100,000 of the university’s total collection of 300,000 books, administrators said. The new $12.5 million library is about half the size of the old Oliveira Library.
Students learned on Monday that they are not able to directly search the shelves of the library’s remaining collection. Instead, they must fill out an order form and wait until the following day to access books from the school’s Arnulfo L. Oliveira Memorial Library.
"We don’t have the staff to run two libraries," said Douglas M. Ferrier, dean of instructional support for the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
To read more, click here.
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