Rodney A. Briggs Library at UMN Morris is so much more than a place for students to check out books, study, or do research. It’s a place where students can come to feel safe, comfortable, and just be themselves.
“[T]his can be your study room, this can be your living room, this can be your hang-out-with-friends space, for you,” says Angela Vetsch, Briggs Library director.
Vetsch knows there are “a million” reasons students need and use an on-campus library and she wants to be sure they know Briggs is here for them. From finding a good book to read or checking out a movie for the weekend, to researching a topic or studying for a test, students can depend on the library as a resource.
“[W]e try to have a variety of services and opportunities to meet those different needs,” says Vetsch. “I think how students use the library really varies.”
Vetsch urges new students to get to know the library early on during their time at college. She recalls feeling intimidated when she went to a college library for the first time.
“I always encourage students to just get comfortable here,” says Vetsch. “Just get through the door. That way, when you do have a really big research question, it’s not as scary to ask about it.”
And it’s those big research questions that often bring students to the library. Briggs has the resources students need to do in-depth research—resources that are only accessible through the library. Much of this is because Briggs is part of the University of Minnesota System.
“[We have] lots of resources for students to get to in a variety of ways,” says Vetsch. There are resources here that you just can't get to on the open web. You can’t just Google it.”
Briggs continues to keep up with changing technology and services to match what students need. Students can access many different databases through the library, as well as physical books and ebooks. Briggs also offers several services to support academics and research, along with frontline help for how to use those services. Reference librarians assist with answering research questions, and an interlibrary loan office that makes it possible to access books from all over.
Director of Briggs Library
“[T]he library offers not just circulation services of books, and not just online articles, but rather, people who help support all those things,” Vetsch says. “I just think that Briggs offers a sort of wealth of online and in-person resources. [We’re] able to respond to things quickly. When we get asked about developing a maker space, or something like that, then we are able to make that change and do those things and hear those things and work in the community to come up with those answers.”
For students not familiar with Briggs Library yet or how they should use it, Vetsch wants them to know that there are many ways to use the library and that it serves so many purposes.
“You can relax here, you can study here, you can meet friends and come to game night and play laser tag in the basement here! I think that libraries get this sort of stereotype of shushing librarians and really old dusty books, and that’s not the case. We’re a very active place.”
Vetsch says not using the library at all would be a big disadvantage. “Don’t avoid it.”