Message from the Dean

I love the fall light and cooler weather. Our buildings are humming with activity as we engage with the campus community.

My colleagues continue to think of fun, new ways to get students involved in the libraries. At the WSU Vancouver Library, collections and technical services librarian Carol Fisher had the fun idea of creating a library bingo game that when students complete the tasks, they can choose a bit of swag.

At the Health Sciences Library in Spokane, library and archives paraprofessional Sage Workman and director Ann Dyer developed orientation sessions for 125 new students. Those students have returned to the library in greater numbers, enjoying the spaces and requesting electronic and analog library collections, which in turn led to new materials being purchased to support their coursework.

In Pullman, students are enjoying new furniture in the Owen Science and Engineering Library. In Holland Library, the Digital Audio Collective student organization, mentored by Systems IT staff member Jason Anderson, is meeting and planning student-led workshops to demonstrate newly purchased equipment for the Synthesizer Lab, coming in January.

Penny Martinez, manager of veterans and military affiliated students, and her team at the WSU Veterans Center serve students and alumni and provide welcoming spaces in what was formerly a quiet space near the microfilm and microform collections on the Holland first floor.

In Terrell Library’s basement level, we are looking forward to the grand opening for the Disabled Student Center (DSC) on Oct. 1 and Oct. 8. Coordinator Maddie Joyce and the DSC are organizing a “pet your stress away” by inviting Palouse Paws to bring therapy dogs to the Quiet Study Lounge for a “relaxing and joyful” event for students stressed over midterms to “de-stress and reset.”

With the retirement of WSU Spokane Chancellor Daryll Dewald, Health Sciences Library Director Dyer is now reporting to me. She is a terrific leader, and I appreciate the opportunity to work with her to ensure the best possible library services on the Spokane campus and elsewhere, as the librarians there support nursing, pharmacy, and the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, whose students work in clinical settings across the state.

In this month’s issue, we have a guest essay by WSU entomologist Dave Crowder. I met Dave after he sent us an email about the importance of our agreement with Wiley for publishing his open-access (OA) research on pest management and mitigation of invasive species. His work is a terrific example of fulfilling WSU’s land-grant mission to conduct impactful research that serves communities throughout Washington and beyond.

Those of us who work in the libraries are proud to support this mission. Last summer, thanks to a strategic investment by the Office of the Provost, we kept our agreement with Wiley that includes OA licenses without paying article processing charges. Now faculty such as Dave can publish their research without additional fees so it is freely open to other scientists, farmers, and land managers. Since January, the libraries’ agreements with Wiley and Elsevier have reduced the costs of OA publishing by more than $600,000.

I am planning to read the new memoir by Mike Nolan, Hardhat Days: My Re-Education in Seattle’s Shipyards, recently published by the WSU Press. I am intrigued by his experiences there, and this book is likely my best option for understanding the experience of being a sandblaster in a shipyard.

Trevor