As of August 2017, one main service point for users was established, located in the atrium of Waldo Library. This Service Desk is staffed by the User Services team and provides convenient and efficient library services. Whether the need is to check out a book, find an article, reserve a group study room, request or retrieve an interlibrary loan, ask for technical help or get reference assistance, the inquiry will start there. If more in-depth help is needed User Services will connect the person with the appropriate resource. This new service model will simplify and streamline support for all user needs.
Subject librarians continue to be available for consultation as in the past. Students can contact them by email or phone to discuss library research and to schedule information literacy instruction.
To create more flexible study and work spaces, a large area of the first floor in Waldo has been designed with modern, movable furniture units that can be configured to accommodate many tasks. Whether an individual is looking for a comfortable chair to quietly read a book or review notes before a test or a group needs a table and task chairs to collaborate together on a class assignment, users can choose from a variety of options. Couches with charging ports, moveable easy-chairs, portable desk chairs, a variety of table units, upholstered seating units with plugins, and colorful foot rest units are all conveniently available.
The maps collection moved to the south side of the second floor of Waldo near the government documents collection. As a result, access to maps and atlases is available to users during all the open hours of the library. Services for locating and working with maps also moved to the second floor. The open user space on the third floor was redesigned for graduate student use.
These changes are reflective of the University Libraries’ goals to improve the user experience and design physical spaces that adapt to users’ changing needs.
Courtesy WMU Libraries.