Maroon Opinions

Cold and Hot Water on the First Floor

1. Is there someone I can talk to about making the reg a little less cold? It is always freezing, especially when you are studying late at night...
2. Can the reg get a hot water dispenser for those who study past 3am when bart mart is closed??

[The Suggestions Office staff would like to note this is our first submission via Facebook.]

We take regular temperature readings (during the day) and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. That being said, the first floor is essentially a big open space with lots of doors opening and closing to the outside, making it a difficult space to precisely control temperature.

We've had previous suggestions for a hot water tap, and normally direct people to Ex Libris for their hot water needs. As you point out, though, neither Ex Libris nor Bart Mart is open past 3am.  It's a little complicated to place a tap -- we need electrical and plumbing in close proximity -- but it's something we will keep in mind.

Reading PDFs with non-Roman fonts

Could you install language packages for Adobe Reader in shared computers? Currently, I cannot read PDFs in non alphabet languages and it's pretty inconvenient.

The font packs for Adobe Reader are set to install "on demand," but unfortunately require admin privileges to complete the installation. We're investigating deploying the font packs on our newer computers running Windows 7.

In the meantime, we suggest using the USITE cluster, which has Acrobat Reader + all font packs installed, to read PDFs in non-Roman scripts. You can get to the USITE server by using the "Access USITE Software" desktop shortcut, or by opening a Remote Desktop connection to commander.uchicago.edu.

Dusting in Mansueto

I'm writing to request that the tables in Mansueto be dusted daily. Every morning I wipe away crumbs, hairs, and other things before I can set my things down.

The University contracts with an outside company to provide custodial services for many buildings, including Regenstein and Mansueto. We've reminded the company that one of the regular custodial services include dusting of the tables.

New Study Carrel and Running Water in Women's Restroom

Hi, Two comments:

First, regarding the pinwheel, I think it is great but would be even better if the lights were LED lights. Friendly for our eyes and the environment.

Second, the water in the women's restroom on the first floor has been running for the past few days. (Far right sink)

Thank you for the comment about the new study carrel -- we'll pass that along to our colleagues in charge of the carrel surveys. (Readers: although the official carrel comment period has ended, we're happy to continue taking feedback.)

We'll also let our building services staff know about the problematic sink in the women's restroom.

The clock on the 4th Floor

It seems as though there is a lot of buzzing, clicking, white noise, etc., in the library. I understand that most of this derives from necessary functions, but I'm curious about some of the older clocks that contribute some of the more grating noise. Specifically, I'm thinking about the clock in the Northeast corner of the 4th floor, but I'm sure there are others. It seems that most people have phones that can tell them the time, so these clocks are probably unnecessary. Alternatively, newer, silent clocks are pretty cheap. In short, focusing with a constant variety of noises is difficult for some of us, and any efforts that can easily reduce these noises would be much appreciated.

While we probably aren't going to get rid of all the clocks--there are still several patrons who appreciate not having to constantly check their phone for the time--that particular clock IS rather loud, isn't it? We'll see if a newer (and quieter) model might be available.

We like the food trucks, but...

I'm sure this isn't the first time you've heard this, but is there anything that can be done about people eating in the library? This is the second time that I've seen someone go out to the food truck parked outside, bring a whole meal in, and eat in the reading room...

I know the library staff don't have time to be the food police, but what about some short-term campaigns--signs everywhere for a week or so and then a day of strict enforcement every now and then? Or maybe stricter consequences--rather than just asking them to stop eating (they'll likely resume as soon as the library staff person has walked away), kick them out of the library for an hour or so and limit library access for repeat offenders? I think if the library staff would be REALLY strict about this now and then, people would get the idea.

Here in the Suggestions Office, we admit to enjoying the food trucks and the greater variety of dining options they bring to campus. (Hutch gets old after a while.) But we agree that their yummy entrees are best consumed outside...or in Ex Libris.

Look for more "no eating" signs around the Library soon.

 

Existential Angst on 4th Floor

The seat of the toilet in the left stall in the men's restroom on the 4th floor was smeared by graffiti.

Indeed, someone has had gotten creative with the Sharpies again, writing "Is this all?" on the seat.  We're happy to report the toilet has been returned to its original tabula rasa white.

More Signs = More Better

(1) Someone has rebooted the computer on the 4th floor, on the immediate right of the staircase, and left it as it is. It is showing a blue screen and cannot be used. It is numbered jrl-ref4-11.lib.uchicago.edu

(2) I have noticed that signs saying "No eating in reading areas" have been installed in Ex Libris cafe. I think those signs are very effective, so I suggest you to put similar signs on each reading table too. There have been few courtesy signs in the reading areas from the first place, and I'm sure many users will be deterred from eating and talking if they are constantly reminded of the rules.

Thank you for the information about the computer, and for including the machine name! Our crack ADS staff, unsurprisingly, had already noticed the gimpy PC and are on the case.

As for the "no eating" signs, we used to have table tents with this information and they all mysteriously disappeared. Hmm. In any case, look for the table signs to make a reappearance soon.

Lockers and Hot Water Taps (though not necessarily together)

As a frequent library user, I would like to make some suggestions...

...it would be nice to have a water station that also has hot water on the first floor of the Reg. Ex-libris as well as other cafes on campus closes on weekends and during interims /breaks, and there is no way to get hot water. This is very crucial during the winter times, when it is very cold. I think one solution would be to install the water hydration stations like the ones in the Maroon Market, Hutchinson Commons and Midway Market. Instead of buying bottled water, people can fill up their bottles with filtered water (hot or cold) for free there.

Thirdly, it would be convenient to have lockers installed in the Crerar library. Crerar is the only library that stays open late consistently on weekdays and weekends during the interims and breaks. But there are no lockers to keep personal belongings. It is impossible to carry laptops or personal items all the time, and this is one of the main reasons that keep students from going to Crerar. It would be nice to at least have coin lockers, so people can leave their belongings in for a short while without having to worry about theft.

It seems a well-kept secret, because we hardly ever see anyone using it, but there is a hydration station on the first floor of the Reg. Admittedly, it only dispenses cold water.

However, when Ex Libris is open, we've noticed the cafe staff will often fill up your cup with hot water (note "yours" -- don't ask for a free cup) if you ask nicely.

***

We get occasional requests for lockers in Crerar (see this post), and while it might seem a fairly trivial exercise to move some of the lockers in Regenstein across Ellis Avenue, there's actually staff costs involved in maintaining locker operations.  We've achieved some economies of scale at the Reg -- locker rental being one of many services offered by our multi-talented IPO staff -- but it's not something we can replicate at Crerar without significant time from our circ staff.

We're also a little worried about uncharged Library material being "cached" in lockers -- in the past, we've had problems with patrons hoarding materials at both Regenstein and Crerar. (The old-timers in the Suggestions Office remember regularly discovering O-Chem textbooks squirreled away on the 2nd floor.)

Noise in the Stacks

DON'T schedule loud work in the bookstacks during finals week.

Unfortunately we have a couple of noise-making projects in the stacks this week, including plumbing work on the B-Level and the ongoing collection move. Although we've asked the workers to be quiet (and would appreciate any notice of loud talking, radio playing etc.), a certain amount of noise from equipment is inevitable.