On Monday, Feb. 5, Falvey Library celebrated the official installation of its new popular reading service. The event, held in Speaker’s Corner, was a small affair in which University Librarian and Director of Falvey Library Millicent Gaskell, gave a brief speech, and there was a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
Gaskell’s welcoming points highlighted the fact that this new service is fulfilling a need in the Villanova student population – books to read for fun outside of class. Often, when a student goes into the stacks, they are searching for a book for a class and probably aren’t too thrilled about the whole ordeal. The stacks can be confusing, and most people probably don’t think to look there first for novels or popular titles. This service is working to fix that, encompassing more than 400 titles recommended by a student selection committee and sourced specifically for people to read for fun. The Popular Reading section of the library, found on the wall right next to Speaker’s Corner and marked with a brand-new sign, is intended to serve as a rotating collection of popular titles brought in through input from students.
The survey for students interested in joining the selection committee was created over the summer and was released early in the Fall Semester, but the initial idea much predated that.
“We actually started thinking about this last spring,” communication, sociology and criminology psychology librarian Nicole Daly said. “It did take some time to go from okay is there interest, how do we find out whether or not there is and then how do we make that an actual committee and get the books all on the shelf.”
It would take the team of librarians and students the rest of the fall to decide on which books to include, order them and prepare the final product that was unveiled at the opening event last Monday. The morning before the event itself is something metrics and assessment librarian Danielle Dempsey recalled fondly.
“We start every Monday morning with a department meeting, and right afterwards we went downstairs to set up all the books,” Dempsey said. “And the students came, and they helped us decide which books would face outward. Everyone was just very involved and excited.”
Natalie Schirmacher, a student on the selection committee, shared that it was an equally gratifying experience to walk into the launch event having been involved in the process.
“It’s one thing to see a list of hundreds and hundreds of books, and then you walk in and you’re like, ‘I actually picked that book and now it’s on a shelf,’” Schirmacher said.
It was especially exciting as the students who selected all these titles hadn’t seen the physical collection yet.
“The library community is so fun,” Schirmacher said, “And when you’re all of a sudden surrounded by a bunch of other book nerds, it’s super fun to all be super excited about books and reading.”
This energy came across at last Monday’s celebration, with attendees taking most of the time to peruse the shelves, pointing out books they had read before or taking stacks of titles on their list to check out. The joy evident at the event emphasizes the importance of having these sought-after books accessible to Villanova students.
The service allows students to take out a maximum of five books at a time, and books can be kept for two weeks (and renewed for two extra weeks). This is a much shorter window than Falvey usually allows, but in order to get these books to as many students as possible, this service uses different rules from any other collection the library houses. This allows there to constantly be new, fun titles for avid readers to try out. Schirmacher is an enthusiastic participant herself. When asked what books she was particularly excited about, she happily showed off the stack she had checked out at the event.
It should come as no surprise that many people in attendance went home with their own miniature collection of titles following the launch event. The display of the collection itself is eye-catching, showing off the colorful covers and buzzword titles that pull readers in. Many students are able to share in this joy for reading, whether by joining the selection committee, dropping their recommendations in Falvey’s suggestion box or just checking out the available books on their own. A new page on the Falvey website is dedicated solely to the popular reading service, and students can view the entire collection as well as view the main library catalog if the book they’re seeking is part of Falvey’s permanent inventory.
The newest edition to Falvey Library is a wonderful way to draw more students into the library community and to underscore the importance of all forms of reading. Whether it’s a textbook for class or the latest fantasy novel one has been dying to get their hands on, there is something for everyone at Falvey.
