Featured Image: Junior Breana Mahoney works at the front desk at Hofheimer Library. Madelyn Yale | Marlin Chronicle
Student library employee sings praise for a forgotten resource.
As a little girl, one of my favorite places to visit was the library.
After-school library visits were the highlight of my week in elementary school. Though I largely fell off in middle school with my regular library visits, as a college student, my love for the library has returned just as strong as it was in my early years.
You can easily find me in the library on campus on a school night– not just as a patron but as an employee. I spent a month or two over a year ago working in the library from my childhood in Richmond, Virginia, and really enjoyed it.
The relaxing atmosphere and routines of shelf reading, retrieving holds and reshelving books are incredibly pleasant ways to spend my hours and make some spending money.
Unfortunately, despite the love I have for it, the library seems to be a largely untapped resource!
I’ve only worked at Virginia Wesleyan’s Hofheimer Library for a little over a semester now and it’s an incredibly peaceful job. Between the hours of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, the library is a relatively quiet place.
My interactions with patrons are often seldom, as I can go an entire four-hour shift without someone ever approaching the desk. The liveliest time of the semester is the days approaching finals week. The library has so much to offer! There are study rooms to study in. The open area is also a great place to work, as being around other students hard at work might boost your morale.
The research librarians available are great people to go to if you need guidance for a research paper.
If the academic merit of the library doesn’t pique your interest, perhaps another thing will: the money. With every new semester comes a list of books to read for reading-heavy courses that might not be cheaply obtained or easily found through online libraries.
A personal tip from me is to add the library to your list of alternative sources to buying expensive course-required books. Though some may be well-adept in finding alternative sources for their necessary texts, some others may not be too eager to try to figure out which dubious website offering free PDFs won’t give them a virus.
Through the Virtual Library of Virginia Consortium or VIVA, students can borrow books from the various libraries across Virginia that VWU is partnered with. This has saved me loads of money on expensive books for my courses and research projects.
Aside from the convenience, there’s something incredibly satisfying about picking up a book from the top of the hold cart by the front desk and quickly being on my way.
Ask the student assistants for help if you need it when scanning a book with our ScanNx system or printing through WebPrint.
Schedule an appointment with a research librarian to get an extra eye on your research proposal so they can recommend sources that might be up your alley.
Put a book or two on hold so you can pick them up later, and don’t be afraid to stop by the desk and say hello. Libraries are here to help. Visit the library!
By Breana Mahoney
brmahoney@vwu.edu
