Tag Archives: Library

Midnight Rescue Team

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By Maggie Malone

Recently, I joined up with an unofficial student group called “The Whatever” to impact the Baylor campus with a kindness challenge called #arkweek2015. It was a great chance to step out of my dorm, make some new friends, and shower my campus with love and kindness by completing different challenges.

One of the highlights of the week, though, was Thursday night, where a group of us banded together around midnight to encourage those studying in the library. We divided into two teams: Team Delivery, and Team Propaganda.

Team Delivery loaded up into cars and acquired dozens of fresh tortillas from Taco Cabana, meanwhile, Team Propaganda went ahead to the library to create encouraging notes that would be passed around with the tortillas.

After all the prep was complete, my little group of four disappeared into the crowded basement of the library, and handed out the warm snack and cute little notes. It was great to see the reactions of the exhausted students, some surprised, and then absolutely delighted, as a delicious tortilla and a note was placed into their hands.

The Midnight Rescue Team mission was a success, and it brought us closer together, as well as perked up some of our fellow students. Although I was exhausted by the end, my heart was happy and my spirit was overflowing with cheer.

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Library Lowdown

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By Maria Dillman

In my childhood whenever I thought of a college library, I had a distinct image in my brain that was formulated from scenes I had seen or heard about. My parents would say “I used to spend every night in the library…that’s all I did was study.” Or the movies would describe a steamy encounter between couples among the bookshelves. When I got to college I was able to formulate my own opinion from spending time in the different libraries on the Baylor campus. Times have changed since the imagined scenes from my parents, movies, or friends. But I will impart a little information about the Baylor libraries to give you a better glimpse into life at this university.

We have five libraries on the campus: 2 central ones Moody and Jones, then special collection ones named Poage, Carroll, and Armstrong-Browning.

Moody:

Moody is the main library: with four floors ranging anywhere from a hustle and bustle of the Starbucks café to quiet study rooms where you can hear a pin drop.

The entryway of Moody hosts the nation’s largest Starbucks located on a collegiate campus. The foyer has brown comfy chairs and café style tables for group projects to meet at and talk. It is more of a social entryway, and not much studying would be accomplished here without the help of ear phones.

moody

The Study Commons of Moody is located on the Garden Level and is lovingly known as “Club Moody” among students due to the 24 hour available study space and wide variety of individual and group study spaces. It also is host to the largest computer lab on campus hosting a variety of PCs and Macs along with laptops available for checkout.

Jones:

This is where the research magic happens. The library hosts more than 2.5 million printed volumes, but 80% of the budget is spent on electronic resources with over 70,000 e-journals, and 500 databases for use. This can all be accessed via your login credentials from the comfort of your own home. This is also where the information desk of libraries is held. Librarians provide research assistance via the walk-up assistance desk and additionally, can be reached by an online chat session similar to a Facebook message.

jones

Poage:

R. Poage Legislative Library holds a variety of materials used for research and educational use on the history of Congress, the legislative process, and current issues facing state and national governments.  It is also home to the offices for our multiple study abroad programs.

Carroll Library Housing the Texas Collection:

This library hosts the special collections and archives of Baylor University and Texas history. The librarians here are so helpful in finding anything you could ever want to know about Texas or Baylor history. Most research materials cannot be checked out from here but must be handled within the building…sometimes even with gloves on for fragile documents.

Armstrong Browning Library:

This is a true gem on the Baylor campus. This library looks more like a museum than a library and hardly anyone actually studies here. It has the largest collection of secular stained glass windows in the world. And it hosts the largest collection of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s work (you may recognize that name from English class…”How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”) Several weddings have taken place in this library and its serenity gardens on the outside are a great place to relax or enjoy a picnic.

armstrong

The libraries at Baylor are a range of sociable, studious and stunning opportunities for enrichment. Maybe now, you have a better picture of them for yourself.

 

Fueled by Distraction

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By Aaron Carter

One of the more nostalgic parts of my childhood is in the form of a restaurant that my family frequented when I was about five. It was a cheap, Greek-style place, with torn up carpet floors and dusty, fake plants hanging in every ceiling corner. Back then, you still had to specify that you wanted to sit in the non-smoking section. The glasses were a strange yellow color and all the food seemed like it had been fried. The placemats were thin white paper with an odd tan border design that looked like it had been borrowed from an ancient city somewhere.

I remember when that place got a TV. Everyone was excited. When that happened, instead of specifying whether or not they wanted to sit in the non-smoking section, customers began to specify whether or not they wanted to sit near the TV. They always did. Even some smokers abstained just to be near the screen. It was a major attraction.

Of course, we were all excited, especially my brother and I. It seemed like the future was finally moving in. I remember telling him that some day we’d have TVs that could fit in our pockets and play video games with graphics that were on par with the Nintendo 64. We would never be bored again.

Now, almost every dine-in restaurant has a TV. And if there are none in the dining area, there is nearly always one behind the bar. I used to make fun of my dad for spacing out and becoming absorbed by the screen. We would strategically position ourselves so that he wouldn’t face it and we could talk with him without worrying about him getting distracted. Today, there are screens everywhere, and I find myself getting distracted just like my dad, but not just by TVs. Everything has a screen now.

I’ve learned pretty quickly that I can’t actually study if there’s a screen in front of me. If I put my phone on the table next to my homework, it takes less than a minute for me to pick it back up again and click it back to life. It takes effort to have a conversation that goes further than simply skin-deep. If I go to a restaurant, there is almost nowhere I can sit where there isn’t some flash of light and motion ocurring in the corner of my eye. It takes work to stay focused.

I’m no Luddite, but it gets out of hand at times. I see students doing math problems at the library with a laptop open so they can take momentary breaks to check up on some notifications. I even see some people trying to read a textbook with their phone sitting on the page. It’s not an effective way to work and it’s definitely not an effective way to connect with a book, a writing project, or a person.

Even if you don’t think you are distracted, try eliminating screens from your view, just to see how much of a difference it makes. I know once the TV was set up in that restaurant, my family stopped engaging at the table as well as we used to. I also know that once we all had smart phones, interaction became shallower than a tide pool. Something tells me that it would be easy to get back to really focusing on each other if the screens weren’t such a big part of everything. It’s better to just plain focus than it is to have to continually refocus.

Baylor’s Hidden Jewel

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By Joe Bridgeman

There is a place on campus that many have seen, but few have ventured into its halls. The Armstrong Browning Library is on the edge of campus and is one of the most beautiful buildings on campus.  It’s even been ranked by outside sources as one of the top five most beautiful college libraries in the country.

If you ever take a step inside, you’ll see why.  The front doors are giant and made of six-inch thick bronze.  They are difficult but satisfying to pry open. The first floor is comprised of massive two-story vaulted ceilings, pillars and marble. The “meditation foyer” is the centerpiece of the building, showcasing 26 feet-high vaulted windows that make you feel like you’re somewhere in Europe.  The foyer is lined with cushioned, stone benches, where you can sit down and read a book in-between class.  The rest of the building functions a bit like a museum, sporting various letters and Victorian-era furniture for perusal.

Garden

Outside the library is the “Garden of Contentment,” a beautiful and serene area with tables, fountains, trees and infamous Baylor squirrels. The library is only open until 5 p.m., disqualifying it from being a favorite study spot for many students whose study hours are usually late at night.  However, the garden is open 24/7 and is well lit at night.  It is truly one of the most peaceful, serene and beautiful locations on campus, and a surprising number of people have never been there or only visited once. It’s definitely worth a visit as both a remarkable landmark on campus and as an occasional respite during a day of busy classes.