However you decided to continue your education this Fall, the team at Champlain Library is here for you! We know things are going to be different this time around to maintain the safety of everyone in our community, but we’re doing our best to find a balance of caution, productivity, and fun.
COVID-19 Operating Updates
First and foremost, is the Miller Information Commons building open? Yes! Our hours are listed on the Champlain College Library website and also at the bottom of this post. We are open for all students, whether you are studying remotely, living on-campus, or living off-campus. We have reconfigured our capacity per room based on social distancing guidelines and installed on-floor traffic directions to avoid close contact. Some furniture has been removed so that seated patrons are always 6 feet (or two full-grown beavers) apart. The classrooms, computer lab, meeting rooms, interfaith room, and study rooms all have capacity restrictions displayed on their doors. The popular first-floor color printer has been relocated to the first-floor tower room where there is more space to buffer between patrons. We are still conducting contactless checkout for books and other library materials, and still allowing in-library use of tools such as laptops, whiteboards, and noise-canceling headphones, which are disinfected after each use.
As for service modifications, all research assistance appointments will be conducted online over Google Meet or phone call. You can also ask for research help via email or chat. Many course reserves that were physical in the past will be digital, but those that are still physical copies will be quarantined after each circulation for 4 days. The same process is implemented for other materials available for check-out such as books and DVDs.
If you enter the library, we ask that you wear a mask at all times, comply with social distancing guidelines, wipe down your workspace with the provided disinfectants before you leave, and follow the traffic directives when moving about the library. Also, remember that all of the librarians are available and dedicated to helping all students no matter how they are studying this fall.
Fantastic New Research Tool
Despite the new changes, we have some great announcements as well! If you haven’t already heard, we added a new tool that is going to make your research and database navigation much easier. EBSCO’s Discovery service, or ChampSearch, allows you to search almost every database in our collection with one search bar, functioning similarly to Google. To learn more about what you can do with ChampSearch, read our blog post here.
Fall Library Events
We are also excited to be hosting events this fall, virtually of course. The famous Chili Cook-Off, in its 13th year, will happen during the week of October 25th. Traditionally, the Chili Cook-Off consists of an afternoon of chili tasting and awards. Since our efforts to stay COVID-19 safe don’t allow for gatherings of that sort, we will be adapting the event accordingly. We will be hosting competitions in chili foodie photography, chili-cooking video clips, and chili-inspired haikus which on-campus students, online students, staff, and faculty are encouraged to enter. IDX Dining Hall will be serving the People’s Choice Award-winning chili from last year, which was crafted with a touch of maple sweetness by Emily Fenuccio. For those living off-campus, there will be a virtual cooking demo so you can make your own chili at home. We’re hoping that this approach will reach all corners of the Champlain community so that we can all participate no matter where we are. It is important to us that we keep the tradition alive, and this virtual approach may even lead to a hybrid format in the future if it means we can be more inclusive.
Also on the itinerary is a series of events for this year’s Vermont Read’s pick The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Vermont Reads annually selects a title for state-wide discussion and public events, and Champlain Library is partnering with Saint Michael’s College to engage with the program in a variety of ways. So far, we have four main events. A discussion of the film adaptation is in the works for the end of September. Dr. Margaret Bass, Saint Michael’s Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Inclusion, taught a pop-up course on the book in the past and will be leading the online discussion. We will be breaking out into smaller groups so that everyone gets the chance to participate. Jen Berger, advocacy artist and educator, will be leading an art workshop focusing on the themes of The Hate U Give, which will be on a Saturday in October. For educators, there will be a panel discussion with instructors who have taught the book in the past. They will be addressing how to approach teaching the book and integrating it into your classroom. Lastly, we will be welcoming Rajnii Eddins for a poetry reading and following Q&A. Eddins is a local poet who addresses issues of racial justice and white supremacy, which aligns with the message of Thomas’ novel. There will be copies of The Hate U Give available to borrow starting later this week and we will have streaming access to the film in the near future. Watch for more information coming soon.
We are also planning to continue the Virtual Book Club that operated over the summer. We will be discussing Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey in our meeting later this month. If you have an interest in joining or have any book suggestions, please email Beth Dietrich.
Keep up to date on all we are planning by following @champlainlibrary on Instagram and @Champlib on Facebook. Thanks for working with us through this unusual time, and thanks for helping us make the most of it. In-person or virtually, we’re so happy to be back together!
Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 7:30 AM – 11 PM
Friday: 7:30 AM – 8 PM
Saturday: 12 PM – 7 PM
Sunday: 12 PM – 11 PM
Riley Earle ‘22 is a professional writing major specializing in editing and publishing, a writing tutor at the Champlain College SMART Space, and the Marketing & Media Production Assistant at Champlain College Library.