LSU Libraries hosted “What Lurks in the Library,” a “spooktacular” open house, Wednesday and Thursday to inform students of the library’s services and resources available to them.
Library partners like the Center of Academic Success, Communication Across the Curriculum and East Baton Rouge Parish Library were at the event.
Agricultural librarian Larissa Miller helped coordinate the open house. She said the library staff wants students to use the helpful services, something that is not possible if students do not know about them.
“We hope students learn that the people that work in the library are fun, not scary. We won’t shush you,” Miller said. “We are here to help students. We want you guys to have the most success possible.”
First, students checked in with their email addresses or Tiger Cards to be eligible for door prizes. Miller explained that after the two-day event, the library will add the students that checked in to a list and will randomly select winners. The prizes include gift cards to places like Highland Coffees or Amazon and two LSU basketball tickets, one for the men’s season opener and one for the women’s.
Students could sip on free 7 Brew coffee at the open house while walking from tent to tent. The different departments in the library each had a booth to talk to students and hand out information.
The research and instruction department has librarians that can assist students with research papers and projects. The Special Collections Library contains university archives. The interlibrary loan service allows students, faculty and staff to access books, articles or other works that LSU Libraries does not own. LSU Libraries also has music resources and services to access government documents.
Arleth Milan, a mechanical engineering sophomore, said she already uses some of the library’s resources by checking out calculators or laptops. She learned about other services at the open house that she plans to use like free tutoring or help with developing learning skills.
“The people that work in the library are really helpful,” Milan said. “They always find a way, and I appreciate that.”
Another student at the event, sophomore anthropology and French double major Bailey Morrow, said the library has been a great resource for her since she regularly checks out books. She said she is interested in using the government publications service, which she learned about at the open house.
“I think sometimes it’s hard to find what LSU has for students because information is buried somewhere on a website, so I think events like this are really helpful for getting information out to us,” Morrow said.
Miller and the other librarians encourage students to come to events like this early on in their LSU career so they can learn about the library’s services and make the most of the resources available to them.
“We hate meeting students in their final years who are like, ‘I wish I knew this sooner,’” Miller said. “So we really try to meet students where they are and show them that the library is a fun and exciting place.”
