Students respond to the new library

Faith Strege ‘05 “I like how the library is a lot brighter, with so much natural light. The old library was dark and I felt isolated studying late at night with the tall bookshelves surrounding me. When the wind blew it felt like the building was going to fall down. The building now is a lot prettier, and I think it’s well worth all the money that was spent on it. It feels like the library is now the center of campus and it attracts a lot of people. It’s nice that the space is so open and visible – I come here to see people. I’m a commuter, so I use the 24-hour space to study on campus early Saturday morning and sometimes late at night.”

David Kuriniec’08 “The new library is wonderful. I come here to study and it provides ample space to spread out and do work. It has a vast expanse of resources, such as books, Internet resources, and microform. It also allows for groups to study together in the group study rooms and elsewhere in the library.”

Olesia Shalayska ‘08 “I like the access to a lot of computers, and it’s easy to find quiet places to study. I’ve used the library to find magazines for my assignments, and I’ve found the staff to be very helpful. I like the coffee shop a lot, too!”

Adam O’Neil ‘05 “I like how the new library is a lot cleaner and more organized. It’s easier to find books. It’s open and there’s more light. The old library sucked! My favorite part is Carlos in the café. I like the bathrooms too. They’re nicely designed – with the niches they feel more private.”

Improvements Coming to a Network Near You

During the spring and summer, LIT will be engaged in several projects that will significantly improve campus network services. The first project is the upgrade of our connection to the internet. A T-3 line is replacing the five T-1’s that the campus had been using to connect to the internet. This new T3 has almost six times the capacity of the T-1 cluster. The end result is that students, faculty, and staff should all experience much quicker response times online. LIT will also upgrade and improve the existing campus network infrastructure, including new wiring and high-speed switches. This will provide LIT network staff with more efficient ways to monitor and manage the performance of the network.

The most significant part of the project for our students will be the implementation of a wireless network in most residence halls. The wireless network will utilize state-of-the-art industry standards for security and performance. In the immediate future the wired network in all residence halls will remain in place and will be fully functional for students who choose not to use the wireless network. Work on the wireless network is scheduled to begin in Moore and Roberts in April. Most of the residence halls are expected to have a fully functioning wireless network by the time students return to campus in August.

Work on network infrastructure upgrades to academic and administrative buildings is also planned. The majority of that work will focus on replacing and upgrading the wired infrastructure in these buildings. More news about this project will be forthcoming.

TRC: Advanced Technology

Build web pages Manipulate images Burn CDs Take digital photos using cameras from Media Services Scan printed materials Create professional-quality printed documents on a color laserjet printer Create custom posters using a large-format color inkjet printer

Students can perform conversion or scanning tasks for you
Create video presentations
Shoot your own footage with video cameras from Media Services
Use excerpts from pre-recorded videocassettes
Save to DVD, mini DV cassette, or VHS videocassette

One Hundred Rare and Notable Books

A booklet, One Hundred Rare and Notable Books, was printed in honor of the new library dedication in Fall 2004. It describes one hundred representative books from the new James R. and Betsy N. Getz Archives and Special Collections, located on the library’s lower level. An exhibit showing some highlights is on view. Categories cover strengths within the library’s Special Collections, among them Chicago, Lake Forest, Americana, Scotland, literature, the history of science, illustrated books, and travel. A 1552 history of Venice by Pietro Cardinal Bembo (#7) is an example of an early printed book. Its most striking aspect may be the book’s printer’s mark on the title page of Gualtiero Scotto of Venice. In the 1970s the library’s late technical services librarian, Joel M. Lee, published an article on this Renaissance printer’s complex, emblematic, elegant device. A study in contrasts, it shows the classical gods Hermes, holding a symbol of peace, and Athena, carrying two spears. The vellum-bound volume was a gift from Mrs. Alfred E. Hamill in the 1950s and is one of 6,500 books from her late husband’s collection given to the College.

Did you know?

30 laptops can be checked out for use in the library from Media Services.
A wireless network is available throughout the library.
French and Chinese satellite tv can be viewed in the classrooms.
The classrooms have units that allow the teacher to control the computer from anywhere in the room.
The library has 225,932 volumes of books, and 2,000-3,000 new books are added each year.
You can renew your books online from any computer, anywhere.
You can request books from 65 Illinois libraries through ILLINET Online.
The new library is 72,000 square feet, has seating for over 200, and has over 100 computers.

Art in the Library

Upper level: On the second floor in the northeast hallway are ethnographic photographs reproduced from the collection of Alan Teller, who taught a museum/gallery practicum (Art 350) to art and anthropology students in Fall 2004. These were included in an exhibition the class curated in the Sonnenschein Gallery entitled Clouds of Fantasy, Pellets of Information. Main level: Four black and white photographs are located behind the Circulation Desk. They are by Ralph Gibson and are titled Candles (1980), Sundial (1981), Gate (1981), and Latin-Roman (1980). They were donated by Lynn Hecht Schafran. Near the cyber cafe is Lake Forest Gates by Michael J. Greene '04. There are photographs of gates from Lake Forest, including the Cemetery, the College and Open Lands. Greene was born and raised in Lake Forest. He studied photography under Professor Arthur Lazar and specializes in architectural and landscape photography.

The gouaches in the main floor reading room were done by Alex Mitchell, former Art History professor and long-time chair of the department. All are untitled. They are of a sky/sea theme and were painted during Alex's annual respites to Florida. The large earth-toned painting in the main floor reading room is Winter Rocks, No. 2 by H. Lee Hirsche. It is polymer tempera on canvas and was done in 1962. It was donated by emeritus faculty member Art Zilversmit and his wife Charlotte. Lower level: There is an abstract green painting in the lower level reading area. It is untitled and was done by Ramona Mitchell, wife of Alex Mitchell and instructor in the Art Department. She taught drawing, painting, and mono-printmaking.