Library Website Unfriendly?

Suggestion: The Blinn college online library isnt very user friendly, its difficult to navigate through even after 2 months of using it. Very irritating.

Response: We are always open to suggestions for improvement, and the webmaster has emailed you privately to get your input. We work very hard to make the library website as easy as possible to enable you to accomplish a complex task: doing research or looking for help with your research. There are no clues in your suggestion as to what's not working for you, though. It would help us to know what you were trying to find, and whether you were actually navigating the library homepage, or a subpage, or a LibGuide, or a database, or the library catalog. The library webmaster appreciates any specifics you can provide.

Lighting in the library

Suggestion: It would be nice to have better lighting for the study carrels.

Response: The lighting in the Brenham library is a problem. Currently, a lighting consultant is working on plans to improve the lighting in the library as well as other buildings on campus. Meanwhile, we are ordering some battery-operated reading lamps. If they work out, we will make the lamps available for students to check out and use in the library.

Staple remover

Suggestion: Provide a staple remover & more paper for suggestions.

Response: Okay, we'll give it one more try. We have put staple pullers out there before, and they have all disappeared. We will try one more time, since it's been a while, but we'll have to order one. Paper is restocked.

Suggestion: Give everyone who works here a raise.

Response: We didn't drop this one in the box ourselves, honest! We're taking this as a great compliment, though. Thank you.

Check suggestion box!

Suggestion: Actually check the suggestion box!

Response: Our closing procedure each night includes checking the suggestion box. If there is a lapse in time before you see your answer in the blog, it's because it can take us some time to figure out how we should respond, or we need input from other people before we can respond. Sometimes it's just a matter of having too many other responsibilities that have to be attended to before we can get to this one.

Helpful people

Comment: Ya'll are doing a great job! Always very helpful! :)

Response: Thank you!

Customer service skills

Suggestion: Work on your customer service skills.

Response: We try really hard to give the best service possible. Really stressful situations can occur at any public service desk, though, especially if we can't accomodate someone's wishes.

If someone working for the library exhibits poor customer services skills, you are welcome to contact the Dean of Library Services (in Brenham) or the Bryan Campus Library Director. You can find this contact information on the Library website. You will need to be able to tell us specifics like date/time; description of library staff member, and a description of the situation that occurred.

Good job!

Comment: You're doing an amazing job. Thanks for everything this year.

Signed...Happy student

Response: Thanks a bunch - it's so good to hear a compliment!

Dirty walls

Suggestion: Clean the walls, they are nasty (Bryan Campus Library).

Response: I agree - the walls are looking pretty dingy. Sadly, most of our walls are non-washable paint. I've tried a couple of spots, and the paint and texture will wash off. It's especially bad next to white boards in study rooms. It might take us a while to remedy the situation, because funding is pretty tight right now.

I have contacted the Executive Directpr of Operations for Brazos County campuses about this, and hopefully we'll be able to work out a plan to address this problem.

Smelly library

Suggestion: Clean the library, it smells.

Response: The library is cleaned every week day (vaccuuming, mopping, dusting surfaces, wiping tables); in addition, the restrooms are cleaned hourly while we are open. I asked the staff if the library smells bad (I couldn't smell anything) - and no one else did either. I think sometimes when we first open, the air can be a little stale from the air-conditioning being mostly off at night. Perhaps it was that, or just a factor of too many sweaty people in the library on a particular day!

Movies

Suggestion: More movie selection! How is it only some Bourne movies are here?

Response: Purchase of DVDs of "fun" movies & TV series (as opposed to educational stuff) arises from multiple channels. We use lists of "best" movies, librarians pick some from reviews and personal knowledge, and Blinn faculty, students, and staff send in their suggestions.

Here's the link to the online suggestion forms that you can use for any format of material you think the library should have:
Recommend a purchase/Faculty & Staff
Recommend a purchase/Student

I have forwarded your request to our purchasing people, and will post an update when we get the others.

Paper cutter

Suggestion: Put a paper cutter in the copier room in the Bryan Campus Library.

Response: This blogger has a nearest & dearest who, when tired after a long day & night of work, chopped his fingertip off with a paper cutter. This despite the fact that he was a very experienced paper-cutter user! Combine this with how crowded it gets in our copier room, with people using the hole-punch, pencil sharpener, stapler, etc. and I think this is an accident waiting to happen.

Sorry!

Change machine

Suggestion: Get a change machine.
Response: You can ask at the library service desk if you need change for making photocopies, or for adding money to your print account. If we have enough change we will help you out, but generally don't change anything larger than a $20, since a $50 bill will usually wipe us out of change, and we can't always get more right away.

We don't give change for the snack machines, so I'm wondering if that's the problem that led to this suggestion? Feel free to leave your comments to let us know...

I have passed this suggestion on to the Blinn College Administration.

Free copies

Suggestion: Free Copies. All you can eat pancake buffet for free. No more classes.

Response: Nothing is free, but we try to keep the costs down. Thanks for the laugh!

Designated Computer for Catalog Searching

Comment: I would really love to see at least one computer designated for book look up/ location

Response: Thank you so much for the suggestion! We had been thinking about this for a while, but see how it can be helpful for students just needing to find the location of a book, especially during our busy times when all of the computers are taken up. Were looking into getting an older computer moved to a spot that has an existing data connection since we don't want to take away the use of a computer we already have, and we can then designate this computer just for quick look ups of books.

Pencil Sharpener

Comment: Get a new pencil sharpener

Response: We had a staff member test out the pencil sharpener and it is now working properly.

Trash Can

Comment: It would be helpful to have a larger trash can on the wall outside the copy room.

Response: Thank you for the suggestion. After you pointed it out, we too noticed how full that trashcan can get at the end of the day. We have placed a second trashcan there for student use. We did notice that many of the items in there are plastic bottles. What could also help with the overflow of trash is to place the plastic bottles and aluminium cans in the recycle bin at the entrance of the library. Thank you!

Library Hours

Comment: Please open earlier, maybe 7:30? Classes start at 7:45 and there are a lot of students who need the library to print. There is always a line in the mornings and someone at the front desk, so I don't see the issue with opening the doors 15 minutes earlier. Thanks.

Response Update:  The library staff has an opening procedure that must be completed before we can let people in. The staff you see in there before we open arrive early in order to complete this procedure. If we brought them in to do this even earlier, they would have to leave earlier, which means we'd have a shortage of staff to run the desk for about 30 minutes (until the evening shift arrives). This would happen at one of the busiest times in our day.

In chatting to the Learning Center staff about this issue, the Learning Center Director said that if her staff members are there early, they will go ahead and unlock for students needing to print early, so you might try going upstairs.

Please remember that it's dangerous to assume that you'll be able to come to any computer lab on campus and print something that is due in the next 5 or 10 minutes. If the print system or computers are down, as has occasionally happened in the past, you are up a creek. It's not an excuse that instructors usually accept.

Friendly Staff

Suggestion: Madge and Christina are great at their job. Every time I come in they're friendly and helpful.

Response: Thank you so much!! It is always nice to be recognized for a job well done. We appreciate the feedback.

DVD Request

Suggestion: Could you please consider adding the following to the DVD Library: THE UNFORESEEN, DIRECTED BY LAURA DUNN 2007.

Response: A request has been placed for this DVD. We will update this post when it arrives. Thank you for the suggestion!

American Chemical Society Study Guides

Suggestion:  Would it be possible to get the ACS (American Chemical Society) study guides for the ACS test (all chemistry students are required to take this test as 20% of their final grade) in the reserve stacks?

Response: Thank you for the suggestion! We have placed an order for three copies of the study guides for the Bryan campus and one for the Brenham campus, all of which will be placed on reserve. As soon as the books arrive we will update this post with a comment to let you know they have arrived.

Update: These books are in & are now on reserve at the Bryan campus. You can see if they are in through this link to our catalog: http://trexel.blinn.edu:8080/lib/item?id=chamo:258445&theme=blinn