Message from the Dean

The WSU Country Swing Dancing Club demonstrated their precision moves and enthusiasm during a welcome-back dance on Jan. 13 in the Terrell Library ground floor atrium. The club meets every Friday in Smith Gym for lessons and dancing. Photo by Trevor Bond.

This spring brings exciting developments to the WSU Libraries as the Cougar Commons begins to take shape. For the next month or so, you will see construction underway, and when that is finished, some areas may look bare. We are also ordering new furniture, but that will not be in place for a few more months.

We started this semester with a lively partnership: the WSU Country Swing Dancing Club hosted its welcome-back dance on Tuesday, Jan. 13, in the Terrell Library atrium. The atrium floor is perfect for dancing, and just before winter break, WSU Facilities Services replaced all atrium lighting, making the space vibrant and well lit, an ideal venue for events.

Next week, we will celebrate the opening of the Synth Lab, made possible through student technology fee funding and the work of WSU Libraries Systems’ staff member Jason Anderson and the registered student organization Digital Audio Collective (DAC). The Synth Lab, located on the Holland Library first floor, will offer a suite of electronic instruments and recording tools for creating electronic music and sound design, including synthesizers, keyboards, samplers, drum machines, a record player with vinyl for sampling, and recording equipment. All WSU undergraduates can reserve the space for four-hour sessions, with no restrictions based on department or group affiliation.

Together with DAC students, the Synth Lab will foster a welcoming, collaborative environment where patrons can explore ideas, share expertise, and support one another’s audio-based projects. Club members, who will have early access to the equipment beginning Jan. 22, will offer workshops to help the WSU community learn what is available and how to use it.

WSU Libraries’ latest digital media creation space, the Synth Lab, opens to patrons with a reception on Thursday, Jan. 22, in Holland Library’s Dimensions Lab on the first floor. The reservable lab for using electronic music production equipment is available to all Pullman students, faculty, and staff. Photo courtesy of Jason Anderson.

We are pleased to share another facilities update from Holland Library: four unisex restrooms are now available, with two located on the second floor and two on the third floor. These spaces feature new occupancy-indicator locks for improved privacy while still retaining many of the original 75-year-old tile and fixtures that give the building its classic mid-century character.

Starting Jan. 20, the WSU Libraries will launch trials of three AI-powered research platforms: Consensus, Scite.ai, and Undermind. These tools are designed to support research discovery, evaluate sources, and help users navigate scholarly information in new ways. We encourage the WSU community to explore these platforms during the trial period and share feedback about their experiences. I want to thank Alex Merrill, Emily Cukier, Jon Schoenfelder, and Suzanne Fricke for their work on the AI trails. More information is available at this library guide.

WSU Libraries recently announced a major expansion of our Cambridge University Press holdings beginning this year. We will increase our journal subscriptions from 10 titles in 2025 to more than 420 titles, significantly enhancing access to high-quality research across the humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields.

This agreement not only ensures comprehensive access to Cambridge University Press’s extensive portfolio of peer-reviewed journals; it also includes unlimited open access publishing. WSU authors can now publish in Cambridge University Press journals without article processing charges, making their work freely accessible worldwide. By purchasing this package through the nonprofit Northwest library consortium Orbis Cascade Alliance, WSU Libraries will realize more than $50,000 in savings annually compared to our previous read-only agreement canceled in 2020.

Access Services’ Libby McKeighen prepares a WSU Press book for mailing to a customer. Several units and individuals in the WSU Libraries have worked to support the university press since its move to Terrell and Holland Libraries in fall 2024. Photo by Nella Letizia.

Finally, in this issue we feature the WSU Press and highlight the many ways our departments and staff have collaborated to advance its success. In Access Services, the team of Brian McManus, Amy Thielen, and Libby McKeighen handle the mailing of book orders and will soon sell WSU Press titles from the Terrell Library circulation desk. Alan Fey and others in the Library Administrative Office organized and are completing the gargantuan move of 5,812 boxes of WSU Press inventory from the Cooper Publications Building to Holland Library’s basement compact-storage area and fourth floor. WSU Libraries are committed to advancing the press’s critical mission of chronicling Pacific Northwest history, culture, and creativity, with continuing support from WSU Provost Chris Riley-Tillman.

Amid all this positive news, I would be remiss if I did not mention that it appears we will have a very challenging budget next year. I will keep you all updated as we learn more in the coming months.

As always, I would love to hear how you use our collections and your ideas on how we can support the WSU Libraries. I am continuing to work on my latte art, so please feel free to stop by my office; your visit helps me practice. And if you know others who might enjoy receiving Browse, kindly let me or newsletter writer and editor Nella Letizia know so we can add them to our mailing list.

Trevor