Lack of leisure reading at library concerns students

Many GCSU students believe that the library on campus, fondly known as the Russell Library, does not have enough leisure books to serve the needs of students who actually like to read for pleasure.
Susan Paige, a sophomore health sciences major and a voracious reader, said she personally is not satisfied with the library’s leisure book selections or availability.
“I rarely go to the library to get my leisure reading,” Paige said. “I just don’t think they have what people our age might consider fun. We have magazines, sure. But we seem to lack works by many popular authors.”
Matt Anderson, a junior psychology major, agrees when it comes to the availability and visibility of leisure books.
“We have an awful lot of academic journals. I know they are important because, for one, this is a research library. But I haven’t noticed many people using them unless they absolutely have to,” Anderson said. “Sometimes they look more like decorations to make the library look stately.”
Leisure reading is pretty hard to define when it comes to naming books and authors that it encompasses. Students’ tastes vary from person to person, naturally, and to accommodate that is just not feasible.
Through the library catalog, students can see what books the library has.
Stephen King accounted for eight books, the most recent of which is from 2002. There are four John Grisham books, the most recent from 2002, and the ever popular romantic, Nicholas Sparks, has only two books. There are no fictional works by Tom Clancy, Mary Higgins Clark or Danielle Steel, to name a few recent best-selling authors.
Bill Richards, collection development librarian and professor of library science, addressed the issue of why the library cannot satisfy the need for certain leisure reading materials.
“We try to get the books that support the curriculum and the academic programs,” Richards said. “We don’t have the budget to do both.”
The library’s mission statement also supports this:
“The GCSU Library actively supports and promotes the mission of Georgia College & State University, Georgia’s designated public liberal arts university, by identifying, collecting, and providing access to and instruction in the use of information resources and services. Library faculty and staff seek to create an educational and cultural environment that fosters academic excellence, a passion for achievement, and the critical thinking skills necessary for lifelong learning.”
Still, there are many great reads available in the library. The library has almost all the Pulitzer Prize winning books and other books that have gained literary fame and achievement. And they even have most of the books that can be found on Oprah’s Book Club list.
“Any book that has attained literary achievement will be in the library,” Richards said.
Some popular books such as “The Nanny Diaries” or “The Devil Wears Prada” will still be excluded from the library collection even though they have attained popularity.
“We do not have beach reads, or pulp fiction, unless of course they were books that made the news in a big, influential way,” Richards said. “What we do have are books that are not only great reads, but also stimulate the mind and support the curriculum in one way or another.”
Library personnel acknowledge that such books are really appealing . To address this issue they are organizing a book swap.
The book swap will be held this fall and students can bring in their favorite reads to share and borrow books, that would normally not be found in a research library, from other participants.
“We are going to have a pretty decent collection,” Richards said. “And hopefully, students will bring in books to contribute.”
In addition, any books that are not at the library can be acquired through the Georgia University Catalog, found on the library website. In just a few clicks, students can borrow any books not available at the library from any of the University System of Georgia libraries. All that is needed is to request the books, and in a few days it will be ready for pick-up at the circulation desk.
Richards would also like to encourage students to give feedback on books.
“If there is a book that students believe we should have, all they have to do is fill out a request form,” Richards said. “We might not always approve it, but we will consider it and give you our opinion.”
The library now has a survey available. Go to  http://www2.gcsu.edu/library/ and get the chance to win one of four $100 gift certificates courtesy of the Pawprints Bookstore.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 6 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry