Nov. 12, 2009

Library will close for 11 days during winter break

The University Library -- including the Parks and Veterinary Medicine libraries and all reading rooms -- will close its physical facilities from Dec. 24 through Jan. 3, 2010, to conserve energy and reduce operating costs. The "e-Library" collection of online books, journals and other media will continue to be available around the clock during these 11 days, but staff-assisted services within the e-Library will be suspended.

Library users also may continue to submit online forms for services such as interlibrary loan or course reserve, but these requests won't be processed until Jan. 4, when the library reopens. The chat, phone and instant messaging features of the "Ask a Librarian" service also won't be staffed during the shutdown. David Gregory, associate dean for research and access, said the week between the Christmas and New Year's holidays is a time of "extremely low building use." Library leaders decided that a shutdown at this time would create minimal inconvenience to the university community.

Gregory noted that clients who access e-Library from a computer that isn't part of the campus network will see a login screen. Logging in requires a borrower ID (the last 11 digits of your ISUCard number) and a library PIN. Instructions for setting a library PIN are online.