Maroon Opinions

Noise in Crerar

Did anyone consider the noise implications of moving the Crerar Usite cluster up to the first floor? The first floor bank of computers used to be the only place where one could work at a computer in a quiet atmosphere. Now with the increased traffic and people asking the Usite help people for computer assistance and various staff members loudly discussing the transition, it is just as noisy as every where else in this university library system. The upper floors are quiet, but the computers are not set up for convenient work because they are not placed at desks. I relocated to Crerar because of noise at the Reg. Where should I go now?

We checked with the Crerar folks, and they said: "While overall the John Crerar Library is a very quiet library, the 1st floor has always been considered a discussion area because it contains the Reference Desk, which at times can be a busy service point."

"While the 1st floor is a high activity area, the lower level, 2nd and 3rd floors are considered quiet spaces. As you mentioned the computers on the 2nd and 3rd floor are not ideal for continuous use because they are on kiosk stands and not tables, however you may want to consider using the Library computer on the lower level of the library, which is located on a table. Your other option would be to use one of the NSIT computers located further away from the Reference/Computing Assistant Desk to avoid the noise created by staff assisting patrons."

Lockers in Crerar

It would be much more convenient to have lockers available in Crerar. As a science major, it is a lot easier to access relevant materials. I tend to spend most of my days here, and I always have to carry the books I check out back and forth from my locker in the Reg to Crerar. Perhaps it would be nice to have a pilot program here to see if it is a popular idea. I do not mind paying for a locker here even if it is more expensive because I believe I would put the one here to better use.

While we'd like to offer storage space in Crerar, lockers in that library raise several concerns. Probably the chief one is that we don't have the funds at present to purchase additional lockers, and we don't want to cannibalize the locker stock in Regenstein. There's also the question of where to put lockers, since there isn't a lot of open space in Crerar.

Additionally, we're worried that patrons would be tempted to sequester unchecked out materials in lockers. This is an ongoing problem at Regenstein, but we fear the problem would be much more acute in Crerar, since most items in the bookstacks are building use only -- a limitation we imposed precisely so that the material would be available to all users.

As an alternative to lockers, Crerar Circulation is happy to hold books behind the circ counter for 24 hours.

Book Shelving in Crerar

Please shelve books in a logical order (I have more than once found little colonies of books that are basically totally out of order. This does not seem to be an accident because it is a whole shelf of books) and for god's sake change the placards on the ends of the bookshelves. They have been wrong since my first year, and I am a forth year. About half the time I try to find a book in Crerar I can't find it. The reg doesn't have this problem. You people really need to get your act together. You are a library in addition to just being a place for med students to study.

"Colonies" of books do occasionally happen, and when found we return the books to their proper homes. Although the shelvers stay alert for grossly misshelved items, we don't have the resources to systematically shelf-read the collection.

We updated the range cards this past summer, and while our (near-constant) shifting might produce slight inaccuracies, there shouldn't be a situation where large sections of stacks have incorrect labels. If you see an incorrect card, give us the call# location and we'll fix it.

Note, however, that there are fundamental differences between the Regenstein and Crerar bookstacks. Specifically, the Reg stacks follow a U-shaped pattern, while Crerar employs a "window to window" configuration.

If there are specific books you're having problems locating (or even a cluster of books on the same topic), tell the staff at the Crerar circulation desk. They'd be happy to assist you in finding the items.

Lights Out in Crerar

I would like to report that the bulbs above the study carrels on the 2nd Floor of Crerar [facing the front side of the building] need to be changed. Since Monday, when a significant number of lights were out, nearly every bulb is out. Please ask facilities management to change the bulbs as soon as possible; many students use these tables to study.

We forwarded over to the folks at Crerar, who report Facilities is on the scene with new bulbs.

Crerar Bathrooms

This comment is not about the library books or services, but about the restrooms in Crear in particular. They have been horribly maintained in terms of both cleanliness and function. The toilets do not flush properly and many of them leak water all over the floor. Furthermore, the waste baskets are always overfilled with waste falling out onto the floor. Lastly, the stench is unbearable. Many other students have expressed to me similar complaints. I am not sure whether they need to be entirely renovated, or simply cleaned more often. Either way, any effort to remedy this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

In the short-term, we requested that the custodial staff stay on top of bathroom cleanliness and empty the wastebaskets. If there continues to be overflowing wastebaskets, please let me or a member of the Crerar staff know.

Long-term, restroom renovation is something we'd like to explore, but University Facilities has a few projects of higher priority in Crerar, such as overhauling the elevators, fixing the lights, and installing emergency lighting where necessary. Once these projects are completed we can turn our attention to the restrooms.

Call# Labels

For quite some time (~1 year), I have noticed that the Crerar Shelf labels in main corridors of stacks are mislabelled [ for example, shelf labelled "QD 401 A5 - QD 410 B7"  will not have any books in that range. Shelf labels in the non-mian corridors do not seem to have this problem ] This is extermely irritating in that what is usually a 1 min search for a book drags on to 5-10 min, for every book searched.

It should be relatively easy to fix, saving patrons of library quite a bit of time.

The Office inquired of our Crerar colleagues, who responded:

We are sorry for the inconvenience. We are in the process of updating call number guide cards on the third and the second floor and we should be done with the third floor in the next two-three weeks. The reason that the call number guides were not updated is that we were doing extensive shifting of the collection and had to wait till different shifting projects were completed.

Lights in Crerar

Could your office please contact Facilities Management and request that the light bulbs over the study tables in Crerar be replaced? At least on the 2nd floor, most of the light bulbs have burned out. Thank you.

Will do; thanks for letting us know.

3rd floor Lights

There are many light bulbs burned out in the thrid floor. Can you fix this problem? Thanks.

We're guessing you mean the third floor of Crerar. The crack Crerar personnel are on the case:

Thank you for bringing this problem to our attention. The request to replace all burned out light bulbs in the Crerar Library was placed with the University Facilities prior to start of the Fall Quarter.
The rush order to replace all burned out light bulbs over the reading room tables on the second and the third floor of the Crerar Library was placed on 10/09/07.

Missing Book and Range Markers

I went to Crerar today, in order to check out Jessica Riskin's Science in the Age of Sensibility, which I'm eager to read. First of all, the labels on the bookshelves in the "Q" section of the third floor of Crerar are all wrong and provide little or no guidance to what the book numbers actually on the shelves. Second of all, the Riskin book is missing (but not marked as so on the catalog). Can you order another copy of it?

Due to constant shifting, range guides (the labels at the end of the shelves) are sometimes out of date. We'll get those fixed.

Like the Reg, Crerar employs some savvy search staff who have great success in finding books, and we forward your report about the missing book to them.

24-hour Access to Crerar

This question was asked, but its second half was never answered. I understand why the faculty and grad students have 24-hour access to the libraries; but why can't undergrads have those same privileges? In particular, why can't undergrads have 24-hour access to all the floors of Crerar throughout the academic year?

As you probably read in an earlier response, 24-hour access to Crerar was limited to faculty and graduate students who needed such access for research purposes, and who had enjoyed such all-night access in their old departmental libraries.

Undergraduates -- at least as a body -- were not presumed to need 24/7 access to the Crerar collections. While undergrads might have a legitimate need to study into the wee hours, this was not the same as a physician who, say, urgently needed to consult a medical journal at 2am to help treat a current patient. Consequently, the Library limited after-hours Crerar access to those College students who could demonstrate a need to use these collections at such times.

Meanwhile, the University (including the Library) looked broadly across campus for a suitable location for 24-hour space. Several alternatives were considered and tested, including Hutch, Crerar, and Harper, before the Reg's A-Level emerged as the clear winner.

After lack of bookstacks space forced the Library to put shelving in the A-Level and move the 24-hour study space to the first floor of Crerar, we've been discussing whether it makes sense to open up the second and third floors of the building as well. I'm happy to report that either at the start of Fall Quarter or soon after, the 24-hour study space will expand to the first, second, and third floors of Crerar. Thus on Sunday - Thursday nights, undergrads will be able to "go upstairs" if they wish.