Meeting patron needs with autumn on-site Library services
On-site services at the Library have been operating successfully in the opening weeks of Autumn Quarter. Responding to student needs, the Library began providing 40 additional seats in Regenstein and 5 additional seats in Mansueto beginning October 25.
Seat Reservation Service
More than 1200 students successfully made more than 4300 reservations for quiet individual study at Crerar, Mansueto, and Regenstein in the first three weeks of the Quarter. Reserved seating was also provided at D’Angelo Law for UChicago Law students, and at SSA Library for SSA students. Use of seats was close to capacity in Regenstein and Mansueto by the week of October 19.
In response to growing requests for seating, beginning on Sunday, October 25, the Library expanded this service to include 80 seats in Regenstein and 30 in Mansueto. Also in response to patron inquiries, maps showing the location of power outlets for Regenstein, Mansueto and Crerar seating are now available on the relevant reservation pages.
Paging & Pickup
From June 15 to October 18, the Library has provided 2,020 people with 13,246 items through the new Paging and Pickup service. Faculty, graduate students, and College students have all made significant use of the service.
| Category | % of Total |
|---|---|
| Student, Grad/PhD | 52% |
| Student, Grad/Non-PhD | 12% |
| Faculty | 13% |
| Student, College | 11% |
| Staff | 5% |
| Academic | 4% |
| Postdoctoral Scholar | 1% |
| Other | 1% |
Requests have been consistently fulfilled in an average of 1 day.
Scan & Deliver
The Library has met service time expectations for Scan & Deliver, filling requests in under 3 days on average. Faculty, graduate students, College students, and staff are all making use of this service.
| Category | % of Total |
|---|---|
| Student, Grad/PhD | 43% |
| Faculty | 16% |
| Student, Grad/Non-PhD | 14% |
| Student, College | 8% |
| Academic | 10% |
| Staff | 6% |
| Other | 2% |
Interlibrary Loan
After an initial period when only digital copies of articles and chapters were being provided, the Library resumed borrowing and lending books and other materials at the beginning of the quarter. PDFs of 828 articles or book chapters and physical copies of 1064 items have been requested by UChicago patrons between the start of Autumn Quarter and October 20. All the Big Ten libraries and all but two Ivy Plus libraries have resumed lending.
Appointments in the Special Collections Reading Room
Consultation of materials from the Special Collections Research Center are available by appointment only on Thursdays and Fridays. Patrons successfully made 42 reservations as of October 30, including reservations for upcoming dates in November.
| Category | # of Reservations |
|---|---|
| Student, Grad/PhD | 14 |
| Faculty | 17 |
| Student, College | 10 |
| Staff | 1 |
Items that have been consulted as of October 30 include 32 manuscripts and 12 monographs.
Book Return
Library patrons have resumed returning books to Regenstein Library without need of an appointment. Return processes have been operating smoothly, with very little need for interaction between patrons and staff. A total of 34,907 loaned items have been checked in by Library staff between June 15 and October 20.
