By Jess Deibert Photography editor
On Sept. 21, the Blough-Weis Library held its first ever open house geared toward first-year students.
The purpose of the event was to show students various services the library offers. Many perspectives class professors required their students to attend the event.
The theme of the event was “Tailgate Party.”
The library had decorations hung from the ceiling as well as a display in the archives relating to the theme.
Upon arrival, students went to the registration table where they were handed a ticket to bring to five different stations.
The stations were the service desk, EBSCO Discovery Service—the library’s online search engine—the library’s main collection, Jane Conrad Apple Rare Books Room and the archives.
At the service desk a student worker explained library services such as interlibrary loan and general circulation. The worker also talked about how to check out books and what to do if students have reference questions.
Another station required students to search for books using the Blough-Weis Library online search engine, EDS, to find a call number. Next, the students went to that book in the main collection with the Library of Congress call number system.
In the rare books room, students could try and guess the age of the oldest book in the collection. Students suggested a vast variety of answers. The correct answer was 1500.
The final station was in the lower level of the library. Students learned where periodicals, DVDs, audio cds, music scores and oversize books were located. They also discovered what types of documents, photographs and artifacts can be found in the archives.
After receiving a stamp from all five stations, students were able to take a brief survey about their experience learning about the library and enter a raffle for prizes.
The prizes included a FitBit and gift cards.
First-year Morgan Dartnell said she enjoyed the event. Dartnell said it was a great way to learn about the services offered at the library, as she had never officially toured the Susquehanna campus.
“I liked learning about everything they have in the library, especially since I worked in the library my senior year [of high school],” Dartnell said.
Dartnell explained that even though her perspectives professor required her attendance at the event, she would have gone anyway because most of her friends attended.
Ryan Ake, collection development and outreach librarian, was in charge of planning and executing the open house.
“At my last job we had a similar event and it was really well received,” Ake said. “This is a good opportunity for students, particularly first-year and transfer students.”
According to Ake, over 150 students participated in the open house and about 95 percent were first-year students.
The online survey showed him that over half of the participants enjoyed the tour of the rare books room the most.
First-year Hannah Powers said the event wasn’t required for her perspectives class, but she went to learn more about what services and resources the library offers.
“My favorite spot was the rare books room because I was impressed that [Susquehanna] carries original copies of famous poems and books and that it is open for students to look at,” she said.
Powers said the staff was very friendly and helpful during the open house. “I liked that there were prizes too,” she said.
Librarians and staff members helped the event run smoothly. Ake said this gave students an opportunity to interact with library employees and learn about their relationship with the library.
He said he hopes this event helped to make students more comfortable about approaching librarians and other staff for help.
Ake said he hopes to make this an annual event.
The library will hold other events throughout the semester including a local harvest history, dog days and chill out.
The library is open from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday. It is also open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday.
