Thanks to an endowment from a former president, West Liberty University has upgraded its technology in the Paul N. Elbin Library. Some of the upgrades are easily seen like the strange looking egg chairs equipped with iPads and the white board tables topped by big screen computer monitors, others are buried deep in the infrastructure of wires.
“From acoustic sound egg chairs to internet accessible data creation stations, the Elbin Library welcomed technologies that will enhance the overall student research experience. Each renovation is powered by an updated information infrastructure providing fast, reliable, data transfer rates that reduce response times and enhance the total student production experience,” said Lu Ann Johnson, staff librarian, who coordinated much of the technology upgrades with Chief Technology Officer James Clark.
“The technology upgrades focused on the backbone of the high speed WiFi system and included many unseen improvements that result in better internet service for our students using the library on a daily basis,” said Clark.
The upgrades were funded through the Paul N. and Helen P. Elbin Endowment, established by significant bequest gifts from former West Liberty President Paul Elbin and his wife, Helen. Elbin led the school from 1935 to 1970.
“We are so grateful for Dr. Elbin’s foresight and generosity in sharing this gift that provides for these improvements to our academic offerings of the library,” said Cheryl Harshman, library director.
Unseen upgrades include: fiber optic cable upgrade to support high speed internet delivery, fiber optic switches and state of the art WiFi access points and replacement of legacy wiring with new cable plant.
“I love the egg chairs. They really eliminate distractions and are so comfortable to study in,” said Becky Beiter, a College of Education sophomore who spends several hours every week studying in the library.
Four of the egg chairs, each with its own iPad air are available to library patrons. Two creation workstations with 32-inch monitors, capable of accommodating groups of six to eight people, are also available.
“We have had a lot of interest in the work stations and expect it to grow even further as faculty take time to try them out. The white board table surface makes note taking and brainstorming easy and the technology allows Facetime and Skype teaching to further enhance the content delivery system,” said Johnson.
Hundreds of students use the library on a daily basis and make use of its technology, research and reference tools.
The library collection features over 150,000 items in print, audio, and video formats; plus two special collections – The Henry Lash Sheet Music Collection, and the Nelle M. Krise Rare Books Collection. The library staff assists students and visitors with research, reference, course work and other informational needs. For more information, please call 304-336-8261 or visit westliberty.edu/library.
