December Events

Wake Up Wednesday

On December 4th, Public Services hosted Campus Life’s Wake Up Wednesday tabling event, providing doughnut holes, coffee, and other snacks to brighten the morning for students and staff. Campus Life has held several of these events at ZSR and we look forward to partnering with them in the future!

Wake the Library

Public Services worked alongside the Wake the Library committee to pull off another successful exam season for Wake Forest students! This year’s Library Decorating Committee put up some amazing Netflix-themed decorations with the tagline “Are you still studying?” Snack tables were permanently stationed near the Public Services Desk and regularly restocked with tea, coffee, and various treats for students studying in the library. Additionally, we partnered with several campus organizations to enhance student support during this stressful time:

  • Division of Campus Life: Provided snacks and goodies.
  • University Counseling Center: Brought their campus fairies to spread cheer.
  • Campus Police: Donated doughnuts.
  • Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success (CLASS): Contributed breakfast sausage balls.
  • Business School: Donated bagels and cream cheese for breakfast.

Chalkboard Book Truck Innovation Grant

Through an Innovation Grant secured by Jemma Johnson and Will Ritter, we introduced a creative and interactive way for students to share encouragement during exams. An aging wooden book truck was repurposed, thanks to Rodrigo Castro, who sanded and painted it with chalk paint. The grant allowed us to purchase chalk, chalk markers, and additional supplies. Positioned in the atrium by the fourth-floor stairs, the book truck became a space for students to leave uplifting messages for their peers.

A chalkboard book truck covered in colorful chalk drawings and messages, featuring phrases like "LOCK IN" and "YOU GOT THIS".

Writing Center Pop-Ups

For the first time, the Writing Center partnered with Public Services during exams, setting up pop-up hours at the Public Services Desk. From 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day, Writing Center student employees assisted peers with citation questions, quick paper reviews, and other writing concerns. These pop-ups not only provided immediate help but also introduced students to WC Online, the Writing Center’s scheduling platform.

Introducing “Shelf Life,” Highlighting ZSR’s Student Workers

The Public Services newsletter is getting a new section, “Shelf Life,” that will feature ZSR’s amazing student workers and their stories from the stacks. Get to know our students and what they do, and feel free to drop by the desk to say hello! This month, we asked our crew what they did over winter break:

  • Celina Seo, Senior: Played chess and binged “The Queen’s Gambit”♟️
  • Isabelle Smith, Senior: I went to New Orleans with my family and husband! It was the first Christmas I ever spent away from home.
  • Amine Bouchamaoui, Sophomore: I travelled a lot: I went to see my grandma in Tunisia and the other in Dubai. I was super jetlagged! I was in places that are 13 hours ahead of here.
  • Addison Engle, Junior: I went to Venezuela with my family for vacation!
  • Alaina Wheeler, Junior: I built a snowman with my nieces over winter break!

Shifting Projects

Through the hard work of the shifting team and ZSR’s student workers, the seventh floor shifting is now complete! Next up will be moving the portion of the collection in Reynolds 8 that follows the call number range of materials housed in Reynolds 7 to the newly created space.

A big thank you to all involved in this important project!

Professional Development & Presentations

In his capacity as Co-Chair of NCLA’s DEI Committee and Vice-Chair of NCLA’s Leadership Administration & Management Section (LAMS), Rodrigo Castro served as a panelist for a virtual panel discussion titled “The Whole Self Discourse in Libraries”. This panel discussion, which took place on December 11, 2024 explored operational, strategic, cultural, and historical factors that Libraries need to consider when embracing the idea of “having employees bring their whole self to work.”
Promotional flyer for "The 'Whole Self' Discourse in Libraries" panel on December 11, 2024, via Zoom. Transcribed Text: WILR, LAMS, REMCo, and The DEI Committee present an interactive panel discussion: The ‘Whole Self’ Discourse in Libraries with panelists Tammy Baggett, Rodrigo Castro, Jenny Dale, and Carlos Grooms. December 11, 2024 11am - 12pm EST via Zoom Register at https://nclaconline.org/event-5949878

Comment Board

Despite the shorter time on campus this month, students left 13 notes on the comment board in December!
Various notes pinned to a corkboard, including handwritten and printed messages. Purple note: "Thanks for giving out snacks & stickers during finals! I love putting the stickers on my laptop." ZSR Reply: "You are welcome! Hope you all had successful finals, and enjoy your break!" Blue note: "Finals week mood" Pink note: "I will survive..."

Book Displays

During November, Public Services put up their last book displays of the year. Erin Jones researched the top books on the New York Times Bestseller list for each month (both fiction and nonfiction), and picked 20 that ZSR owns to showcase. She used this year-end summary to both highlight the library’s Browsing collection and ZSR’s New York Times All Access subscription. Her second display features five of the books from the Deacons Diverse Reads list for 2024-2025. You can see both of these great displays in the entranceway cases.

Two photos of two book displays in a glass case. One of them is titles "Deacon Diverse Reads" and the other is "2024 NYT Bestsellers."

December by the Numbers

Infographic titled "December 2024 Stats" displaying library usage data: 1,673 checkouts, 183 items sent via ILL, 55 LibAnswers tickets, 3,026 study hours booked, 170 delivery requests, 19 chats.

View full statistics here.