Madyson Brown
palmettoreport@gmail.com

(Rock Hill, S.C.) — Winthrop University’s Ida Jane Dacus Library holds a number of resources for students that many are not familiar with.

“The amount of resources that we really have, I feel like there’s not a lot of information that gets around about a lot of things we can do for people at the library,” said Student User Services Assistant Riley North.

From online chat services to booking a librarian, the Dacus Library prides itself on its services to help students succeed academically.

“I know a few professors now require that their students do it, but a lot of students who don’t have those professors don’t know that they can make a 30 minute appointment with a librarian and any research project they have we can help them find the sources for it,” said Outreach and Engagement Librarian Amanda Caldwell. 

Outside of housing a number of books and other academic materials, Dacus Library also partners with PASCAL Delivers and offers an interlibrary loan system.

“If you need to get a hold of an article or book that we don’t have in our collection, it’s possible that we can borrow it from one of our partner libraries in South Carolina or submit an interlibrary loan request and borrow it from a library across the country,” said Martha Smith, head of technical and digital initiatives.

Students can also reserve meeting spaces in the library study rooms and access a large database of academic journals and articles for research purposes. 

The Dacus Library also hosts seasonal events, in order to engage and help students relax from their day-to-day lives, such as “Murder Mystery” night, “Thanksgiving Food Tug of War” and “Snowflake Making.”

While their efforts can sometimes go unnoticed, library staff hope that students will take the time to utilize their services.

“Use your library. We are here to help you succeed, so take advantage of that,” said Smith.