As a result of student feedback, Oregon State University’s first meeting of the new Library Services Review Board is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. 

The Library Service Review Board was created to provide students with a voice in order to propose new ideas and provide input regarding decisions and topics pertaining to The Valley Library. Meetings will be held once per term. 

LSRB is an extension of the Library Hours Task Force, which was created as a result of student feedback to budget cuts made throughout the last academic year. As cuts were made in Spring 2018, students signed petitions and sent other complaints regarding the ways in which the cuts were conducted. As a result, the Task Force was created to address the library’s service hours, in order to help students view the library more holistically and ensure that their voices and opinions were heard and valued. 

Head of the Library Experience and Access Department, Beth Filar Williams, says that the LSRB will help establish a sense of community within the library, and will allow time for students to provide their feedback and suggestions. 

“We are here for the students,” Filar Williams said. “We want to hear what they need, what we can change or add to better support them. Though we have thousands walking through the library doors daily, we do not often get to hear from them unless we interact with them at the desks or virtually.”

LSRB discussions will likely vary based on the students who are on the board, but Filar Williams anticipates conversations regarding social media, library resources, the library’s space and furniture, marketing and how the library can improve. 

“Many academic libraries across the country have implemented a type of student-led advisory group, so we thought this would be a great addition to OSU,” Student Coordinator for the OSU Valley Library Teaching and Engagement Department, Rodrigo Fernandez-Ortega said. “The LSRB is important to the OSU community because it allows a diverse group of students to share their thoughts directly to Valley Library staff and faculty.”

Filar Williams also emphasized the importance of the LSRB on inclusivity and community building within the Valley Library. 

“The best way to make our library more inclusive is to listen to those we serve and in turn help them understand the intricacies of the library as part of the larger system of the OSU campus,” Filar Williams said. “We want to build an OSU community particularly in the library, where students feel it is their library and their community.”

More information on resources available to students can be found on the OSU Library website.