Getting Outside the Box
Welcome to another academic year at Xavier. You’ve heard about “thinking outside the box,” but we’ve decided to go that one better in the Library. This year we’ll be “getting outside the box.” I’ll explain more about that after I introduce you to our new crop of Access Services Librarians.
Susan West has joined us as our new Outreach Librarian. She comes to Xavier with a varied background in public, law, and academic libraries, and a great love of New Orleans music. Her academic specialty is education and in addition to reaching out to the chairs and departmental liaisons, she’ll be direct liaison to the Division of Education.
Nancy Hampton comes to us with both a library science degree and a brand new Master of Fine Arts degree. She’ll be our first Fine Arts Librarian, working closely with our friends in the Art Department. She’ll also be liaising with the Communications Department.
Still in her first year at Xavier is Michele Woods, who is not only a graduate librarian but also the holder of a Juris Doctorate from Louisiana State University. She’ll be working in the capacity of Social Sciences Librarian.
Tom Bender, who many of you already know from the Reference Desk and library instruction lectures, has taken over as our Electronic Resources Librarian. Tom is the go-to guy for information on, and instruction in the use of the many electronic databases and serial collections we offer. He continues to liaise with the Music and Theology Departments.
Another familiar face is Paula Singleton, who continues in her role as Government Documents Librarian. As we expand our capacity to collect and store Federal and State publications, Paula can provide access to and instruction in the use of the many print and electronic documents published each year. She continues as liaison to the Biology Department.
Thanks to the expansion of the wireless computer network throughout the campus, these people can now be found in dormitories and the University Center offering what we’re calling Reference on the Run. Equipped with state-of-the-art wireless laptops, these librarians will be on hand wherever students congregate to offer assistance with assignments and answers to questions.
More detailed help can be scheduled during an appointment with one of these librarians during their posted office hours.
This is the beginning of what we hope will be a revolutionary service on this campus, and we look forward to working with all of you throughout this new school year.
Sincerely,
