Students have always had an interesting relationship with their college library. There has been at least one night in the library where students have stayed up all night studying for a grueling exam that will count as 40% of their grade. Even if some have not stayed up all night in the library before, the students that are in the library are usually drained and can only think about when they are going to get their next drop of coffee to keep themselves going. Besides being a major study space and conversation area for social butterflies such as myself, the library actually has more helpful resources than students realize. Here are some (but not all) benefits found in R.M. Cooper Library at Clemson University that will help students thrive in this space.
1. Cool Equipment
Want a super nice camera but don’t have the money for it? Students have the ability to check out different types of cameras and video cameras for free at the front desk over a certain time span. I have rented cameras every once in a while for projects and even social events when I want a nice camera to take high quality pictures of me and my friends! There is a fee for turning in the camera or video camera overdue, but as long as you turn in the camera on time, you will have great photographs for your projects or Instagram without having to go buy a $1,000 camera!
2. IT Services
What have you done when your computer has crashed at the library or your forgot to bring your laptop charger? The CCIT office is located on the second floor of Cooper Library, and many people do not even know what the letters CCIT mean or what it has to offer. Clemson Computing and Information Technology deals with everything technological on campus, like the printers that we can use around campus, the my.Clemson app and the Adobe Digital Studio. As a Clemson student, we all have access through CCIT free repairs on laptops, free workshops, and even a place to charge your laptop if you forgot to bring a charger with you!
3. Books
You CAN check out books. Yes, you read that correctly. The main job of a library is to house different kinds of books for people to check out and bring back after a certain period of time. However, it’s easy to think the books at Cooper Library are untouchable or just for show since we never see students actually checking them out. These books can be checked out, and each book does not have to be used for research. The library even has basic fiction novels that can be checked out for leisure! If you are not an avid reader, you can even check out movies if they are available and bring them back just like library books!
4. Research Database
Have no idea how you’re going to gather research for your next research project? Clemson library has a website called www.libraries.clemson.edu that gives students access to all different kinds of research to use for classes involving different types of resources. The resources are separated under different topics ranging from major to major. This site helps students greatly when figuring out how to get research quickly but it also be research that is going to benefit them and their projects.
5. Study Rooms
Do you sometimes not have a spot to sit in the library and planned on meeting a group at a certain time to study or work on a project? Students have the ability to reserve rooms in the library for study spaces at certain dates and times. You can either book a room by going to the front desk or by going to the library’s website. These reservations give students an extra private area that is guaranteed to be open to collaborate openly and use the enclosed space to get more schoolwork accomplished than they might have outside of these study spaces.
Whether you despise or adore Cooper Library, I hope these tips help everyone get more excited about being in the library 24/7!
Written By: Sallie McLeod
10/25/2018