Biddle Law Library is blessed with a number of single, double,
and group study rooms. With the help of a number of folks on
this list, we came up with a serviceable policy for allocating
rooms to faculty members, visiting scholars, etc., while
reserving a pool of rooms for general use by law students.
To our dismay, we've found that our system for controlling the
use of the student rooms (we keep them locked and check out keys
at the Circulation Desk on a first-come, first-served basis) is
working poorly. Excessive staff time is consumed in policing the
operation; students are inclined to leave the library without
returning keys (we don't charge students fines for overdue books
or keys.) This omission is deliberate, the object being to
retain possession of a study room while denying access to others
during one's absence. Needless to say, when other students
observe that a room is vacant for hours at a time, and then find
that the key is checked out and unavailable, they are unhappy.
We've found that most of our problems occur with the single and
double rooms -- especially during the examination period, when
students are seeking a quiet place in which to study.
We've considered lotteries (during exams) and sign-up sheets, but
it seems to me that there ought to be a way to handle this chore
electronically. I'd be especially interested in hearing from any
libraries which have computerized this process -- but we're not
technology snobs. If you have a system that works with a minimum
of patron irritation, I'd be grateful if you'd share it with me,
no matter how low-tech it may be!
Bill Mulherin
Assoc. Dir. for Public Services
Biddle Law Library
University of Pennsylvania Law School
wmulheri@oyez.law.upenn.edu
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