Photo by Ali Meizels '23. LITS staff joined SGA senate on Tuesday, April 18, and responded to questions from the senators.
By Paige Comeau ’26
Staff Writer
Senate opened on April 18 with a reading of the land acknowledgment, followed by welcoming administrative staff of the Library, Information and Technology Services to the floor. The presentation, comprised of both general information and answers to the senators’ questions, was given by eight members of the LITS staff — Alex Wirth-Cauchon, the chief information officer and executive director of LITS; Debbie Richards, the head of archives and special collections; Margaret (Peggie) Stevens, associate director of budgets, contracts and procurement; Krista Denno Bader, strategic operations manager and summit change management lead; Marie DiRuzza, director of campus technology and media services; Rachel Smith, director of discovery and access; Chrissa Lindahl, director of research and instructional support; and David Powicki, director of technology infrastructure and systems support.
To begin the presentation, LITS provided background information on their department. There are currently 65 people staffed at LITS, which is a little under their normal number of over 70. Although there are several units within the department, LITS has a OneLITS policy, meaning that should a student go to any member of the staff for help, that member should be able to connect the student to the right services. The presenters then went on to describe the spaces that are a part of LITS. There is the LITS complex, which includes Williston Library and the Miles-Smith extension, the archives and special collections and MEWS in Dwight Hall, the Eleanor Pierce Stevens Music Library in Pratt Hall and the Language and Culture Commons in Ciruti.
LITS asks that students keep a few common guidelines for use in mind. The stacks are open; students should feel free to browse and check out a book. There are both group study spaces and solo-study spaces, which can be reserved for up to three hours. Keep the noise zones in mind — if students are in a talk zone, they should feel free to speak, just make sure to keep quiet in the quiet zones. Finally, in response to a commonly asked question, LITS stated students are free to eat in the library, although they ask that students try and keep the spaces clean.
LITS then moved on to answer pre-submitted questions, sent anonymously by senate members. The first asked if LITS could host M&Cs in the library. LITS stated that they were open to the idea and would work with Dining Services to hopefully bring the tradition to their department a few times a semester. The second question wondered if there was any sort of textbook and device donation program at MHC. LITS confirmed that there is a used-textbook program, hosted by the First-Generation and Low-Income Partnership and that there had been device recycling programs hosted at MHC in the past. They declared that they would look into if there was one being hosted this year. n. LITS then confirmed that they occasionally host workshops on research, citation and how to use LITS, but they often went unattended. If interest arose, they would offer more. Addressing the school’s subscriptions to publications, LITS stated that they have over 6,500 subscriptions, many of which contain more than one publication. To find the titles, LITS suggested the online Journal Locator, the News Sources Library Guide, Discover! Search or a librarian. One student wanted to know why Adobe access was revoked. LITS explained that Adobe was available during the pandemic thanks to emergency funding used to finance online learning. Currently, Adobe is available on all campus computers, but expansion beyond this would require a new budget request that would have to be weighed against other college priorities. Another senator asked if there were accessible versions of books available from the library. LITS replied that there are over one million eBooks that are able to be used with accessibility technology. A final question was asked about the circulation desk — was there any way to put items on hold? In short, LITS said, most circulation items are in high demand and meant for short use. If they allowed students to put items on hold, which can be held for a week at a time, those important items would not be available to people at the moment.
To end their presentation, LITS asked the senate for their opinion on the best way to communicate and interact with students. Most senators agreed that LITS should focus on more social media and creating engaging emails.
After thanking LITS, the senate proceeded to other matters. The winners of last week’s senate elections were announced and are as follows: the new chair of the senate is Julia Madonick ’24, the new chair of halls is Serynn Nowlin ’25 and the new chair of interests is Lillian Wade ’26. Then the senate reported E-Board updates. This upcoming week, on April 25, is the last senate and the Dining Services town hall. Tiny Business Tuesday is also being held on April 25 on Skinner Green from 11:30 to 1:30. Since the last senate meeting, the potholes around campus have been filled, and there is an update on the Gloria Anzaldúa LLC. The update reports that there is currently work being done on the Rockies, but there is still much to do. However, the LLC has found a new home for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year — Abbey Hall.
Senate then opened the floor to any announcements, questions and concerns. A student representative asked a question pertaining to a recent email to all club E-Boards. Starting this upcoming school year, all clubs are required to have a staff member as an advisor. The student wanted to know why and how this was supposed to be implemented, especially since most student organizations have had considerable autonomy up until this point in time. Laura Sattler, the Director of Student Involvement, answered this question by stating that advisors were simply meant to provide a role as a mediator, contact and support — they were not meant to take away student leadership roles. Many student organizations already work with staff, but if they do not, Sattler noted, the Office of Student Involvement is happy to connect them with someone. She also made a point to mention that there is no plan to penalize clubs that cannot find an advisor by the fall semester.