Library Overview

Library Staff

- Collection Management Team
- Public Services Team
- Technology and Administration Team

Library Collections

- General Collection
- Reference Collection
- Periodicals Collection
- Harmon Collection
- Wood Collection
- Rare Books/Archives
- Oversized
- Micofiche/film

Other Important Locations in the Library Building

- Center for Scholarship and Teaching
- Bibliographic Instruction Room (the BI Room)
- Library Mail Room/Recycling Area
- Photocopiers
- Lost and Found
- Compact Shelving
- Lockers

It in not uncommon for library users to come up to student employees when they are working at a public service desk or even in the stacks and ask a question that requires the student to know some basic information about the library in general. As a result, we ask that all student employees know things such as what the library departments are and where to find them and where the main library collections are in the building.

LIBRARY STAFF

First, check out the library staff!

We recognize that it's not fair to ask every student employee to know every staff member by name or where each of their offices are located, but you should know how to access this information. In addition to the staff web page on the library web site, most departments have printed staff rosters that include all department and staff phone numbers and office numbers. Ask your supervisor where this information is kept in your work area.

Remember that in the absence of your direct supervisor, you can (and should) contact any of the library staff to get assistance with matters that you are unsure about. Many library departments also have student managers that are available to assist. A supervisor is always available at the Circulation Desk whenever the library is open. So the message you need to remember is that a staff supervisor is never very far away - ask for help when you need it!

Below is a brief overview of the teams/departments in the library. Please make yourself familiar with these departments including where to find them and what they do.

Collection Management Team

Acquisitions:
Located on the south end (Shaw Field end of building) of the back work area on main level next to periodicals. Acquisition staff purchase new books and other materials for the library and process these materials upon their arrival before they are sent to cataloging.

Cataloging:
Located in the center of back work area on main level (near the back entrance to the library). Catalogers assign call numbers and put library records into CLICnet so people can find these materials and they get these materials ready to be put out on the shelves.

Periodicals:
Located on the south end (Shaw Field end of building) of the back work area on main level next to acquisitions. Periodicals staff are responsible for ordering, receiving and maintaining all of the journals, magazines and newspapers that we receive (we're talking thousands!). They are also responsible for maintaining many of the online resources that we have access to including e-journals and online indexes.

Public Services Team

Circulation:
Located inside the front entrance of the library. The circulation staff check materials out to people, receive and process returned materials, coordinate the exchange of materials between CLIC libraries, and maintain the stacks.

Reserves:
Located inside the front entrance of the library at the far end of the Circ Desk (near the photocopier room). The reserves staff process and maintain a special collection of materials that faculty have identied as being high-need and high-use for the classes being taught this semester.

Interlibrary Loan:
Located on the north end (elevator end of the building) of the back work area on main level next to reference staff office area. The ILL staff arrange to get materials from libraries around the country that are needed by our users. They process these materials upon their arrival, arrange for the pickup by the users and then process them for return to the owning library once the material is returned by our user.

Reference:
The reference desk and collection is located in the middle of the main level of the library across from the circulation desk. The reference staff provide research assistance and library instruction to library users. The offices for reference staff are on the north end (near the elevator) of the back work area on main level next to the interlibrary loan work area.

Technology and Administration Team

Library Office:
Located on the east side of second level of the library (facing Kirk Residence Hall). The library office is where you will find the library director and department coordinator. They handle most building and department administration issues.

Web Coordinator:
Office located on northwest corner of second level directly above the circulation desk. The campus web coordinator coordinates all aspects related to the campus web site.

Library Lab/Imaging Annex:
Located on the north end of the lower level directly below the circulation desk. The library lab is a public access computer lab with both Mac and PC computers. The imaging annex is located on east end of the computer lab.

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LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

General Collection

By far the largest collection in the library is the general collection. The general collection is located in the stacks located in the center of second, third and fourth levels. They are arranged by LC call number beginning with the A's on the north end of fourth level to the Z's on the south end of second level. Here is the general breakdown of what call numbers can be found on which level:

Level 2 - call numbers beginning with PR-Z
Level 3 - call numbers beginning with HB - PQ
Level 4 - call numbers beginning with A - HB

Don't panic! We don't expect you to memorize what call number ranges fall on what floor. What we do expect is for all student employees to know that located by each stairwell and also in the elevator are wall maps that let's library users know where to find what call number ranges. Also the reference desk on the main floor has bookmarks/handouts available which assist users in finding library materials.

Reference Collection

The reference collection is located on the main level of the library near the reference desk. It includes information sources such as encyclopedias, almanacs, atlases and dictionaries that are frequently used by reference librarians in assisting library users. Generally speaking, these materials cannot be checked out by library users and must be used in the building.

Reserves Collection

The reserves collection is located behind the circulation desk (the end of the desk closest to the photocopier room) and includes high use materials that have been identied by faculty as being needed by a class.

Periodicals Collection

The periodicals collection includes the many magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers to which our library subscribes. This collection can actually be found in two different locations: newer issues are kept on the south end of the main level; and older issues are kept on the lower level of the library. In both cases, they are arranged in alphabetical order by title. Like reference materials, periodicals cannot be checked out by library users and must be used in the building.

Harmon Collection

Located in the Harmon Room (the glass-in room) on the southwest corner of main level, the Harmon Collection includes newly purchased materials and items that are more popular in nature. This collection is where you'd find the newest book in the Harry Potter series or that controversial new nonfiction title that everyone is talking about.

Wood Collection

The Wood Collection is our library's children's book collection. It is located in a room north end of the second level of the library between the BI Room and the elevator. The Wood Collection includes all of the Caldecott and Newberry award winners as well as a wide selection of other children's book titles. Wood Collection books can be checked out.

Archives/Rare Books

Located on the east side of second level of the library (facing Kirk Residence Hall) next to the library office, the Archives/Rare Books Rooms are where college historical documents and materials that are rarer in nature are kept. These areas are available by appointment only.

Oversize Collection

Some materials are just physically too large to fit on the regular shelving. These materials are kept on special shelving located at the end of the general collection on the second level. The really big books are kept on shelves in the group study area in the sothwest corner of second level. Materials located in both the "oversize" and "super oversize" collections are clearly marked as such in the library catalog.

Microform Collection

To save on space and to better preserve some materials, they have been converted to microfilm or microfiche. These materials include newspapers like the NY Times and government materials like older census records. These materials are located across from the lower level information desk. Microform equipment is located nearby for use with these materials.

Greats Collections

The greats collection is located on north end of the main floor (overlooking the chapel and campus center)and includes materials identified as "great works" of literature and the sciences.

Sound Recordings/Media Collection

The library's sound recordings and DVD collections are located on the north end of main level in the racks between the circulation desk and the elevator.

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OTHER IMPORTANT LOCATIONS IN THE LIBRARY BUILDING

Bibliographic Instruction Room (the BI Room)/Instruction Annex

This is the instruction room located on the north end of second level of the library directly above the Circulation Desk. Lots of classes are held in this room as well as a variety of meetings.

Center for Scholarship & Teaching

Located on the south side of third floor (facing Shaw Field). While CST is not a library department, they are housed in the library and you may have inquiries about where to find them.

Library Mail Room/Recycling Area

Located on the south side of the back work area (right inside back entrance near facing Shaw Field). This is where staff mailboxes are and where trash/recycling is kept.

Photocopiers

There are two public photocopier rooms in the library: one on the main level near the Reserve/Circ Desk and the other on the lower level near the information desk. Staff photocopiers are also located in the back staff work area on the library main level and in the library office on second level.

Lost and Found

Two lost and found "collection points" are maintained in the library: one at the circulation desk the other at the library lab/lower level desk. Periodically, library lost and found items that are unclaimed are taken to the campus-wide lost and foundlocated at the Information Desk in the Campus Center.

Compact Shelving

Located on the lower level near the elevator, compact shelving is special shelving that allows the library to store a large amount of materials in a smaller space. Typically these are materials important enough to keep in the library collections, but which get little use. The compact shelving actually has cranks on the ends of the ranges that you have to turn to move them apart so you can walk in between and access the materials on the shelves. Materials that are on compact shelving are clearly marked as such in the library catalog.

Lockers

Lockers are located in The Link. Current Macalester students may check out a locker for one semester at a time. Priority will be given to students living off campus, students working on honors projects, and students having other special needs. Otherwise it is first come, first served. Locker requests may be made at the Circulation Desk.

Below are some links which you should check out that give more important information about the library:

Building Information

Library Hours

Library News

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