Welcome back!

Good day and welcome to the Fall semester! There have been many changes in the library over the summer:

• The Reference collection has been moved to the center of the library, next to the Reference desk.
• The Government Documents section has been "weeded" (unneeded items removed) and integrated with the circulating collection. Check with a librarian about finding government documents online!
• Work is underway to provide a 24/7 Student Study lab, a library conference room, and the Center for Excellence in Teaching (for faculty use).
• New restrooms are almost complete!
• The Special Collections are now housed as closed stacks. Please check with an ITS Service Desk staff person or Reference Librarian for materials from these collections.
• Unneeded materials have been removed and we have recently received new books for a variety of disciplines. Check out our new books shelves!
  

We hope that these changes make the library and its collections more relevant and user friendly.

Special Collections

The Special Collections are rare and unique accumulations of materials that exemplify a diverse people, culture, and heritage throughout the islands of the Caribbean. The primary purpose of the University of the Virgin Islands St. Thomas and St. Croix Campus Libraries’ Special Collections is to support the research and instructional needs of the University community. The general community has access to the collection for research purposes if their needs cannot be met elsewhere. In order to manage, preserve, and secure the collections, the stacks are now closed to the public for browsing, patrons may request to borrow materials from personnel at the ITS Service Desk. This is a recent development for the Ralph M. Paiewonsky Library on the St. Thomas campus) and is part of our current renovation project.

The Melchior Center for Recent History was started in 1979, thanks to the generosity of Ariel Melchior, Sr. The collection highlights recent history of the U.S. Virgin Islands. This collection is housed as a separate collection. The Caribbean Collection has also been relocated and, as with the Melchior Collection, materials may be requested through staff members at the ITS Service Desk. Materials from both collections may be used in the library.

Customers must have a library card in order to check out the materials for in-house use. As always, customers are welcome to make copies of the materials in accordance with copyright law.

By providing access to the materials in the Special Collections by request, we hope to better preserve the collections, and insure the availability of materials to our current and future customers.

Collections on the move...

As posted earlier, the Reference collection has been relocated to the central area of the library, next to the Reference desk. Additionally, all of the general collection has been "shifted," so that all titles are located in the main library area, not the wings of the library. The next collection that will be moved is the Caribbean Collection. This collection will be relocated to the area formerly occupied by the Reference Collection, once the area is secured. In order to protect these unique and irreplaceable materials, this will become a "closed collection." Users will soon need to request materials from the collection from staff at the ITS Service Desk. We will keep you posted as this project progresses.

Noise continues

Another update about the noise level in the library! Renovation work to improve accessibility to the bathrooms continues, as does noise from drilling between the hours of 8:00am and 1:00pm. We appreciate your patience and flexibility during this time.

Bathroom renovations will be noisy

Physical plant is renovating the bathrooms in the library. During the hours of 8:00am-1:00pm they will be doing work that will result in noise and dust. Please remember that the CA Lab Computer Lab is open during this time. To check on the status of the noise level, please call the ITS Service Desk at 693-1367. We do not know how long this process will take.

Noise in the library

Because of the bathroom renovations there are occasional outbursts of noise in the library due to the construction.

Library bathrooms are closed!

The library bathrooms are under renovation and are now closed. Please plan to use the bathrooms in the Science and Math building.