Graduation season

It’s getting to be that time of year again. Students panicking over graduation, our preparation for the oncoming summer, and the LURP Award.

Just because I’m in that kind of mood, let’s take each thing in reverse order.

First, “LURP” is short for “Library Undergraduate Research Paper.” We do this every year; undergraduates submit their best papers from the last couple of semesters and a group of Library people reviews them and determines a winner in a blind judging. Winning relies on a number of factors, including the use of Library resources in the paper. The prize? A $200 gift card to Amazon.com!

There’s a link to the submission details and form on our home page, but here it is as a Word document anyway.

Second, our summer is going to go pretty much as usual; there’ll be a few projects we’re undertaking. This year, however, they won’t be disruptive to people who want to use the Library.

One thing I’d like to add for students, though: Even if you aren’t registered for the summer semester, you can still use the Library if you’re in town! Just come in after the end of the spring semester (after May 6, in other words) and let us know:

• You’re here and want to use the Library
• You’re registered for the fall
• You’re going to be around long enough to return your materials on time

Every time we come upon a break between semesters or the beginning of the summer, we get a few students, staff, and faculty who ask if we can extend the due date while checking stuff out because they plan to leave town at some point and don’t want to end up with fines on their record if the due date falls before their return.

We also get a few people who contact us after a month, upset because they suddenly have fines; maybe they thought they could borrow an item for the entire summer, or someone else placed a hold on their item, so it can’t be renewed, or they just maxed out their number of permitted renewals. After asking some questions, we generally find out they’re not in town, one of the local states, the country, or -- in rare cases -- on this planet*.

Our advice in each case, often given pre-emptively and sometimes far too late, is the same, and here it is: Although we understand the desire for some free vacation reading, books have a nasty habit of being left behind on planes, forgotten under hotel beds, dropped on mountain tops, or buried in beach sand. Depending on how conscientious you are about keeping track of your things while backpacking through Peru, it may be a better idea to spend the money on a new book for yourself. Better safe than sorry!

Third and finally, graduation. If you’re graduating in May and have outstanding fines or fees on your record, please don’t forget to get that taken care of before you leave. Commencement is still more than a month away, but as the victim of two graduations myself, I know those final weeks can be hectic!

That’s three. Vlog next week. Ditto MLB’s Opening Day. Spring is here!
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*Just kidding. As far as we know, no one at Gallaudet University has been definitively proven to be an extraterrestrial.