News from the Mudd

For Earth Day 2008. we asked visitors to suggest ways to make the Mudd Library more environmentally friendly. As usual, we got a bunch of good suggestions (the number of times something was mentioned is in parentheses):

• Make all student/faculty printers double sided and make this the default setting. (3)
• Make the urinals flush themselves less often.
• Turn down the heat. (3)
• Motion sensor lights in the bathrooms. (3)
• Turn off the lights at night. (2)
• Turn off the computers at night. (2)
• Use energy efficient light bulbs... the lighting is horrible here.
• Bring your own thermos/coffee mug to go at Lucy's Breakfast.
• Solar panels and/or gardens on the roof.
• Charge for printing (or give each student a quota). 3 agreed, 5 disagreed to the idea of charging directly.
• Replace bathroom fixtures/toilets with more water efficient models.
• Get a copier that works. (2)
• ID swipes for elevator use - encourage students to take the stairs for less than two floors. (2)

Do you have other ideas? Post them in the comments!

During mid-term reading period, we asked "What one book should every Lawrence graduate read?" As usual, the responses were varied, thought-provoking, and (sometimes) amusing. The list is below.

As always, your further comments and suggestions are welcome.

The Nature of a Liberal College by Henry Wriston
The Prince by Machiavelli
The Republic by Plato
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Jungle Book
Green Eggs and Ham
Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Manchild in the Promised Land
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Confessions of an Heiress by Paris Hilton
The Freshman Studies Book by Mark Dintenfass
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Anything by Ayn Rand
Life of Pi
The Bible
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
1984 by George Orwell
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
The Communist Manifesto by Marx
The Bone Parade
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by J. Barnes
Alice in Wonderland
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by McDanogh and Braungart
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruk Murakami
Ethics for a New Millennium
Middlemarch by George Eliot
On the Road
Le Petit Prince
Something by Jeffrey Eugenides
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The World According to Garp
Men Cry in the Dark by Michael Baisden
The Quran
The Torah
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Prophet by Khalil Gibrah
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? by Edward Albee
Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
Mountain Man by Vardis Fisher
The Flashman Papers by George M. Fraser
The Ender Series by Orson Scott Card

and the very fine:
The Biography of Skyler Silvertrust
The Myth, the Mystery, and the Man by Chris Wright

Members of the library staff were talking togther and wondered how we could engage our users in a conversation about the library. We decided that one simple step would be to set up a flip chart, ask a question, and let people respond. We had no idea what would happen, but we thought we'd give it a try.

So we asked the question, "If you could change one thing about the library building, what would it be?"

The answers we received are summarized below. One of my favorite parts of this was the way the pages became a discussion of sorts. The numbers following some of the suggestions represent the people who said, "Yes!" or "Word!" in response to an initial suggestion. In other cases, comments elicited responses like, "Already done" or "Can already do this."

We do take these suggestions seriously and, while we can't implement them all (as much as we'd like to move the library to Bermuda), we will take them into account as the library begins planning for future services and possible building renovations.

And because we want this to be a continuing conversation, feel free to comment on this list through the comment feature on this blog. We look forward to hearing from you.

• Coffee Bar (9)
• Or at least some coffee makers
• Other caffeinated beverages
• Better organize the music scores
• Wider selection of music
• More variety: world, metal, gypsy
• More movies
• Better lighting (6)
• More environmentally-friendly lighting
• More natural lighting (windows)
• Being able to log into Library account with username and password instead of Library Barcode #
• MS Office on 1st floor PCs (4)
• MS Word on all PCs (2)
• New furniture (13)
• Updated and modern
• More cozy
• New chairs on 3rd floor (3)
• More outlets for laptops
• Faster elevator (2)
• Extended hours (12)
• Especially during finals week and end of term (3)
• Open 24 hours (2)
• Open earlier on Saturday, at 8 or 9am
• Open earlier on Sunday, at 7am (2)
• More group and individual study rooms to cut down on the noise (8)
• With dry erase boards
• Soundproofed (2)
• More carrels
• More small computer rooms
• Color printer (2)
• Less sedate and depressing beige
• Air fresheners on 3rd and 4th floor (2)
• Another computer lab that is always open
• Move it to Bermuda or Tahiti or Russia
• Snacks or café (2)
• Printers on 3rd and 4th floor
• Access to more scientific journals
• Access to online sources while studying abroad or off-campus.
• Better air quality (2)
• Bring back Ceramics Monthly
• Student shredders
• Cots for overnight study
• Tall chairs around all the 1st floor computers