March Events

Wake Up Wednesday, March 5

Wake Up Wednesday is a recurring event where the Division of Campus Life provides breakfast items and snacks to students, and raises awareness about what the Division of Campus Life does.

Shifting Projects

Significant progress has been made in our ongoing efforts to optimize space and improve accessibility across ZSR’s collections. The 8th floor shifting project has now been successfully completed, allowing for better organization and future growth. Following this milestone, the team has officially begun relocating the “J” classification materials from the 4th floor to the 8th floor. This move continues our broader strategy to consolidate collections and improve navigability for our patrons.

Public Spaces

Rodrigo Castro worked with Veronica Escamilla-Brady on conducting a library-wide inventory of furniture, with a focus on public spaces. The results can be viewed here. Veronica and Rodrigo are also working on creating a waiting area, which will be located across from the Library Services Desk. Currently, Veronica is looking into the possibility of repurposing existing furniture and adding some branding elements.

On March 26, new whiteboards were installed in rooms 676 and 677, offering more collaborative space for students, faculty, and staff. These upgrades support our mission to maintain responsive, functional learning environments throughout ZSR.

Conference room with an oval table, chairs, and a new whiteboard on the wall.

Improvement to Course Reserves (Leganto) Interface

Leganto Questions (LQ) has been added to the Course Reserve interface, helping instructors provide the necessary information to get their citations processed more efficiently.

When an instructor creates a new request for course materials, LQ will ask questions based on the item. For example, if it is a book we own, LQ will ask if they want the whole item or a portion scanned. If they request a video, LQ asks them to pick between physical DVD and streaming. Thank you to David Link, Jess Saia-Wilson and Tim Mitchell for their work in decoding Alma/ Leganto configuration to make this feature a reality!

Pop-up window asking, "What would you like the library to do with this item?" with options for course reserves and item digitization.Transcribed Text: What would you like the library to do with this item? Place on Course Reserves Digitize item Page ____ To ____ Digitize item Chapter ___
An example of a pop-up window containing a question from LQ.

Professional Development & Presentations

On March 10, Will Ritter presented a lightning talk at the LAUNC-CH 2025 Annual Conference titled “Fostering Student Engagement Through Feedback Platforms: The Evolution of the ‘What’s On Your Mind?’ Program.” The session was well-received and provided a valuable opportunity to share our successes and challenges with a broader audience of academic library professionals.

What’s On Your Mind? Comment Board

March was an exciting month for the What’s On Your Mind? student engagement initiative! Thanks to a $475 ZSR Innovation Grant, Public Services recently implemented key upgrades to the board: the installation of a new black glass magnet board, improved signage, and a refreshed promotional strategy to increase student visibility and participation. These enhancements aim to make student feedback more accessible, organized, and impactful as we continue to refine how we listen and respond to the campus community.

The new "What's On Your Mind?" student comment board with colorful notes attached on a black glass surface.

In March, there were 25 comments left with opinions on food, pictures of cats, and the bemoaning of organic chemistry classes.

Comment 1: “Would you rather eat a bean-sized man or a man-sized bean?” Response 1: “Several individuals were consulted about this. Their responses— 'Is ‘no’ a valid answer?' 'Can I BE a bean-sized person? (But not get eaten)?' 'It would have to be the man-sized bean, because I’m a vegetarian.’ Make of that what you will.” Comment 2: “Meow” Response 2: A simple drawing of a cat face. Comment 3: “why does orgo 1 hurt my brain?” Response 3: “It’s organic chemistry, that seems plenty self-explanatory. Even if it hurts your brain, some of us were or even anyone who can estendy slightly understand it. Naming no names, some of us had to fight and claw our way to passing an intro chemistry class. TLDR; you’re smart and you’ve got this.”

Book Displays

March Displays

  • Further Reading for SCA’s “Fields of Fortune: North Carolina’s Legacy in Leaf and Labor” exhibit, curated by Laura Milcarzyk.
  • Spring Fling: Romance Novels, curated by Jemma Johnson.
  • Books to Take You Places, curated by Will Ritter.
  • The Luck of the Library, curated by Will Ritter.
  • Women Who Shaped History, curated by Erin Jones.
  • Complex Women of Fiction, curated by Erin Jones.

Upcoming Displays

  • Haunted by Nature: Eco-Gothic & Environmental Horror, curated by Will Ritter.
  • Natural North Carolina, curated by Erin Jones.
  • Earth Month, curated by the Office of Sustainability.
  • Remember the Oceans, curated by Erin Jones.
  • Sexual Assault Awareness Month, curated the University Counseling Center.

Offsite Storage

During the month of March, Offsite Storage
  • fulfilled 64 physical request,
  • fulfilled 30 electronic request,
  • accessioned 100 new items,
  • and audited 1,729 items.

Alayna Veasey is compiling information about all Special Collections and Archives collections stored offsite to share with the new Collections Archivist when they’re hired. She is also updating older records and continuing data analysis for offsite SCA items. In March, she

  • fulfilled 2 SCA offsite requests,
  • shifted 37 SCA rare books and periodicals offsite, and
  • and shifted 62 SCA boxes offsite.

March by the Numbers

March 2025 Stats 2,378 physical items checked out 298 items sent to other libraries via ILL 80 LibAnswers tickets 3,647 study space hours booked 322 document delivery requests fulfilled 28 LibAnswers chats

View full statistics here.