This fall, we welcomed a record number of students to campus! It is an excellent sign our students have continued embracing the great campus experience in their educational process, inside and outside classrooms. The students’ college experience also includes using the library collections, working on their projects and assignments in library study spaces, taking advantage of technologies at the library and consulting with our knowledgeable liaison librarians when they have questions. We are very happy to see them around this fall!
The pandemic situation has indeed presented new challenges to the Auburn Libraries’ daily operations. The library faculty and staff have put much needed efforts into planning and preparing for the reopening of the fall semester. These efforts included rearranging furniture to enable social distancing, displaying relevant signage everywhere in the libraries to remind people of the needed protocols, installing touchless faucets for safe handwashing and ensuring thorough cleanliness for all study spaces in the building. These actions enable us to maintain a safe and healthy learning environment.
In this issue, you will also see the recipients of the library faculty and staff awards for their contributions for better library service. It has been a gratifying experience for me to work with a group of high-caliber faculty and staff who are dedicated to constantly improving library services.
The Libraries’ newly renovated facility, the Innovation and Research Commons, is shaping up well. Located on the first floor of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library, the new facility will provide services and advanced technologies to support student and faculty teaching, learning and research endeavors. The new facility will be occupied by a makerspace, Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR) exploration space, audio studio, DataSpace and Adobe Creative Space. We are excited about this new facility and look forward to seeing the many ways our students and faculty will use it.
This fall, we are also bidding farewell to Dr. Rob Buchanan and Dr. Midge Coates as they retire. Both have made many positive impacts on the education outcomes of our students and I send my best wishes for their new journey.
You will also meet the recipients of the student scholarships. They are taking full-load classes, working in the Libraries for up to 20 hours per week and have kept excellent academic records. The scholarships will enable them to achieve their high goals. The funding of these scholarships come from generous donors like you. I am grateful for your confidence in us to provide the best services for our Auburn students and faculty. I am also grateful for your funding donations that enable us to do more…thank you for your support.
War Eagle!
Shali Zhang
Dean, Auburn Libraries
