By Zo? Erdenebileg

The library is partnering with Wellness Housing and the Kenyon Film Society to host its second game night of the school year on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:00 p.m. Game Night is another initiative the library has carried out to improve the use of Olin and Chalmers facilities. Students will run the event in order to create “more of a space for faculty, staff and student interaction,” explained Nina Clements, a library and technology consultant. There will be a viewing of Finding Nemoin Olin Auditorium and plenty of board games and snacks will be provided. All members of the Kenyon community are invited. “On the first game night, a lot of first years came. This time, we’re hoping that there will be more of a diversification,” Clements said.

Moreover, on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 4:00 p.m., the library and the History Department will be co-sponsoring a reading and reception in the Greenslade Special Collections and Archives Reading Room. “Writers of the African Diaspora” will be an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to read from their favorite writers of the African Diaspora.

The library has made several changes this year in order to better serve students and faculty. The New Instructional Technology Center, located in what used to be a quiet study area, teaches film cutting, instructs more sophisticated usage of Moodle pages and features editing stations. “It’s still study space,” Clements said, “but is especially useful for people working on projects utilizing multimedia technologies.” The third floor of Chalmers, where old science periodicals could once be found, now is a comfy study area. The current magazines and periodicals are still there but are placed on new shelves, allowing more light into the space. The science periodicals have been moved to the first floor.

Student input is very important as the library continues to reorganize and plan events. Clements and Julia Glynn Warga ’96, also a library and technology consultant, described the flexibility of the library to respond to students’ needs: “We heard some students say during finals week that their carrel was taken … it seems that everyone has their own space that they like to study … [so] we’ve been trying to create more [areas] for that. … In general, we want the library to be more useable to students.”

“When the Gallery moves over to the new art history building, we’ll have to rethink that space,” Clements said.

[starbox id=”zoey_erdenebileg”]