Photo by Ava Traill
Tucked in the corner on the top floor of the Student Center, Daytona State College’s library offers a plethora of resources and a staff of eager librarians. Aside from checking out materials both physically and through their website, the library is a crucial support hub for conducting and gathering credible research, or if you just need a quiet escape.
Constantly receiving new material, the library offers a wide range of print options in the Student Center in addition to online access to thousands of e-books, videos and scholarly and peer-reviewed articles. Right upon entering the Daytona State campus library, you’ll find a regularly updated book display and a monthly display to highlight certain monthly themes. The library’s infoguides also come in handy to find the latest material.
The physical environment within the library is a great area for students to utilize. “Our students use our physical space a lot for quiet study or group study,” says DSC Technical Service Librarian and Library Services Supervisor Elizabeth Martino. “We have the only study rooms in this building that have closed doors, so it’s a little bit quieter.” Study rooms can be booked from the library’s website.
Students can also take advantage of course reserves within the physical library. Much like the bookstore on campus, the library offers textbooks for usage, but course reserves can alleviate the financial pressure. Through course reserves, professors can provide the library with an extra copy of their textbook for a four-hour checkout to be used within the library. Students can always request a certain textbook to be put on course reserves if it is not already available.
While students have full access to the in-person libraries on the Daytona and Deland campus, non-student Volusia and Flager residents can take advantage of the space too. However, the digital resources the library provides are only provided to students of DSC.
To promote awareness of the library to the community, it is planning to host more events. In the past, Pizza and Paws, an event that lets students unwind with therapy dogs, yielded much success and is held every fall and spring semester.
The library also has an abundance of resources online, from research tools to chatting with librarians. The website and all it has to offer can be accessed remotely from home as well.
An important service the library provides to students, often those taking research-based classes such as English and Speech, is the access to dependable, scholarly resources, and librarians who aid in the researching process. “Our library databases provides you with free, freely available, credible sources that are appropriate for your schoolwork,” Martino says. “If you use credible research sources online that you find in conjunction with our library research tools, it can get you what you need for your classes.”
Two newly added databases to the library’s catalog are Boundless and Kanopy. Through Boundless, students are provided access to audiobooks for the first time at DSC. Kanopy, a streaming movie service, is the school’s “first foray into feature films,” says Martino, and is a great platform for students passionate about film and digital media.
Navigating through the databases is one such instruction that our librarians provide. They often visit classrooms to teach students how to use the library’s tools and how to efficiently conduct research. Often, you can find librarians at the center desk in the library, but they are always open to speak via chat.
Other people of service within the library include student workers. One such worker is Rhema Sheavly. “I book study rooms,” she says, “and check out books and things like phone chargers and headphones.”
From a student perspective, Sheavly notes how the library’s services have impacted her. “The library has given me a lot of resources that I’ve been able to use throughout my time here,” she says. “It’s a great resource for whether you want to finish your homework or research something that you’re interested in.”
Student workers and librarians are here to assist in any ways they can. “We often get students who come in, and they’re frustrated because they tried to look online for hours and hours and could not find what they needed,” Martino says. “I’m like okay, take a deep breath and we can do this together. We’ll get you through it.”
The Daytona Beach campus library is located in building 115 room 314 and is open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Visit the library’s website anytime. Next time you are wandering around the Student Center, make sure to take advantage of the help the library is more than willing to offer.