Library News

The Z. Smith Reynolds Library will be holding a student focus group on our new catalog on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 from 1p.m. to 1:30p.m. We want to evaluate the usefulness of the new catalog and gather suggestions for improvement. If you have a few minutes, we would appreciate your help. Please visit the Circulation Desk or email zsrcirc@wfu.edu for more information.

Update: The following discussion is available online.

Join Tim Westergren on Tuesday, April 7th at 3pm in Library 204 for a lively discussion about Pandora, online music, and the evolution of digital technology in general, followed by an informal Q&A with the audience.

Need to pay an overdue fine or purchase a CD, but don’t have cash or Deacon Dollars? ZSR Library now accepts payment by credit card for DVD and CD purchases, overdue fines, and replacement fees. We accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

Join the ZSR Library staff for a video game night and tournament on Friday, January 30th, 2009 from 7-11pm. Register in advance to reserve a seat for gaming or just drop by during the event for some entertainment and pizza! To register email itc@wfu.edu

Beginning in early January, the Z. Smith Reynolds Library will charge overdue fines on DVDs.After a two day grace period, fines will accrue at $1 a day.If the DVD has been recalled by someone else, overdue fines will accrue at $5 a day.As this will be unwelcome news for some of our patrons, we would like to explain why we have come to this decision.

We have long had a problem with borrowers who check out DVDs from the collection and then neglect to return them until long after the due date.Our DVD collection is very heavily used, and we only own one copy of most DVDs.One person keeping an item beyond its due date can impact many others who want to use it.

More often than not, emails sent indicating an item is overdue or has been recalled get no response, and we do not have access to telephone numbers for the majority of our borrowers.Therefore, we are implementing these fines, not to penalize delinquent borrowers, but to benefit our entire community of users.

We are also implementing other changes which should ease matters for those who may need DVDs longer than 3 days.We will email courtesy notices to borrowers one day before the due date.As long as the DVD in question does not have a hold or recall placed on it by another patron, the borrower will be able to renew it twice, for three-day periods.We will publicize the link to the website where eligible items may be renewed.We will continue to work with faculty to be sure their needs for items related to course instruction are met.

We hope the fine structure will not discourage usage of the collection and that it will make our DVDs more readily available to all our patrons.If you have any questions about this policy, please contact Mary Beth Lock, Head of Access Services, at ext. 6140 or lockmb@wfu.edu.

The Z. Smith Reynolds Library is working with other Forsyth County libraries to create a digital archive of historic photographs. Please join us to kick-off a traveling photography exhibit and see the archive in action!

Forsyth County Public Library

Telling Our Stories Photography Exhibit–Thursday, October 16 at 1:00 pm

Central Library auditorium

The Forsyth County Public Library will launch a traveling photography exhibit that will be on display at 50 libraries across North Carolina.This exhibit celebrates the story of North Carolina’s rich arts, heritage and cultural life.Featured photographs include Our State Magazine 2008 photograph contest winners, photographs from the North Carolina Archives and an Artist Invitational Photo Exhibit.The exhibit is sponsored by the Department of Cultural Resources.

Forsyth County Public Library, Old Salem, Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem State University will also be demonstrating the Digital Forsyth online photograph collection featuring over 7,000 historical photographs on Forsyth County.

L-R: Mike Lancaster, Director Lynn Sutton, Provost Tiefenthaler, President Hatch, Mark Williard

An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 30 to celebrate the Summer 2008 renovations in Z. Smith Reynolds Library, including a new Starbucks, which opened September 22.

James Alty, associate vice president for facilities and campus services, was the master of ceremonies for the Sept. 30 ceremony. The program included brief remarks by Jill Tiefenthaler, provost; Lynn Sutton, director of Z. Smith Reynolds Library; Jermyn Davis, student government president; Chuck Hoover, senior regional development manager for Starbucks; and Randy Rogan, associate dean of the Graduate School. Mark Williard, the architect for the library renovation project and Mike Lancaster, vice president & principal for Frank L. Blum Construction Company were introduced and applauded for the superb project. Refreshments were provided in Starbucks before and following the ceremony.

Stop by the library and get some coffee at the new Starbucks!

Hours for Starbucks are:

The grand opening will be next Tuesday, September 30th at 11:30 am. Enjoy!

Check out our renovation and construction photos: ZSR Renovations 2008!

The construction season will begin in ZSR on May 9th with the emptying of the front two “24 hour” study rooms, and the simultaneous removal of the shelving from the Periodicals Room.

Once the Periodicals Room is emptied, the furniture from the 24 hour rooms, (except for the huge study carrels, which will be disposed of) is going to be moved up to the Periodicals Room to be redeployed through out the library over the next few weeks. The couches from the Rhoda’s side will end up in the new Mandelbaum Reading Room.

The coke and snack machines are being relocated to the hallway outside of room 204. The lockers will be in the Reynolds 2 hallway by the study rooms.

Beginning on Monday, May 12, the usual entrance to the library will be closed. The new entrance will be through the door closest to the parking lot in the Atrium, west side. Signage will be posted beginning Friday, May 9. The exit desk and the gate will be moved on May 12.