Information and Reference Desk: Policies

UNIVERSITY CLOSURES BEFORE WORKDAY BEGINS

In the event of a University closure (including cancellation of classes) before the workday begins the following people are designated as emergency contacts and as such are authorized to make arrangements to keep the public service desks at Hamersly Library open during emergencies.   All other library unit operations will remain closed.

• Library Dean                                                       Chelle Batchelor
• Collection Development Librarian                 Camila Gabaldon-Winningham 

Three employees in the Public Services Unit are considered “essential employees” and will report if they can travel safely to the Library.

• Public Services Coordinator
• Check-out and Reserves Coordinator
• Stacks Management Coordinator        

Hamersly Library will be open if emergency staff, including student employees, can travel safely to the Library. If staff cannot travel safely, the Library will not open. If the emergency contact staff are able to arrive safely at the Library and make contact with enough student employees to staff public service desk operations, they will only attempt to operate public services desks in the Library for a limited number of hours. Usually the Library remains open until 5 p.m. subject to weather conditions. During a University closure, student employees who are not contacted by the emergency contact staff are not authorized to work their usual shifts. Exceptions may be authorized by the Dean of the Hamersly Library or librarians.

UNIVERSITY CLOSURES AFTER WORKDAY BEGINS

In the event of a University closure after the workday begins, the Dean of the Hamersly Library or the Acting Dean will determine whether or not it is possible to continue operating public services desks at Hamersly Library that day. At the discretion of the Dean or Acting Dean, all other library unit operations will be closed. Hamersly Library will be open if emergency staff, including student employees, can travel safely to or from the library. If staff cannot travel safely, Hamersly Library will not remain open.  

GENERAL INCLEMENT WEATHER INFORMATION

During inclement weather when the University is not closed, each regular staff member is asked to call the Information Desk at 838-8418 before 8 am to leave a message indicating whether or not he/she plans to come to work that day. Early reporting will allow the Dean of the Hamersly Library to predict available staffing, whether or not it will be possible to open the library, and how many student employees will be required for public services operations.

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Gifts-in-Kind
Beginning August 1, 2021, the Hamersly Library will not be directly accepting any donations of physical items for the library collections, with the following exceptions:

1. Materials written by or about WOU faculty or staff that we do not own or need additional copies of.
2. Materials for which there is a known need (e.g. a faculty member uses it as a text and we do not own it).
3. Notable collections with a high value to the institution or need that have been pre-vetted through the WOU Foundation, WOU legal counsel, and the Dean of the Library.

If a patron believes their donation meets one of these criteria, they should be directed to the Acquisitions and Archives librarian, Brianna McFadden (503-838-8883; mcfaddenb@wou.edu) prior to making/accepting the donation.

Archival Materials
The Hamersly Library is currently accepting donations for its Archives on a case-by-case basis. This includes artifacts relating to the university and/or the surrounding area. For questions related to donations or Archives in general, please email libarchives@wou.edu. Please allow staff at least 2 weeks to respond to your email or process any requests.

To see the full Hamersly Library Giving Policy, see this page: https://library.wou.edu/policies/giving/

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In general, here’s what you need to know for borrowing equipment:

1. WOU photo ID is required for each equipment checkout. If you have barcode-only ID, a government-issued photo ID must accompany it.
2. You are responsible for caring for and securing the equipment while it is checked out to you. This includes knowing the due date; accounting for parts and pieces; safeguarding against theft; and paying late fines and costs for repair or replacement of equipment, components, or accessories.
3. You must return equipment directly to library personnel at the Checkout Desk.
4. Library staff may deny further borrowing privileges if you damage equipment, repeatedly return equipment late, or otherwise misuse the equipment.
5. You may renew equipment online through the My Library link on the library’s website.

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Hamersly Library provides access to the reference area workstations for educational purposes including reference, research and class assignments. The Library adheres to Western’s policy for Acceptable Use of Computing Resources.

Primary Users
Students, faculty and staff of Western Oregon University are considered primary users and will be given priority in the use of the workstations. High school students who are also enrolled in classes at Western are considered primary users. Use is limited to 30 minutes if other primary users are waiting.

Community Users
Community members eighteen years of age and older may use the workstations for educational purposes, but only during hours of low use when workstations are still available to primary users.

High School Students
High school students may have community user privileges only if accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or teacher, or with identification showing they are part of a WOU sponsored program, or with pre-arranged permission slips from a teacher or WOU library staff member.

• Note: Students under high school age are allowed to use Hamersly Library computers, books, and all other resources only when accompanied by a parent, legal guardian or teacher.

Procedures for community users, including authorized high school students

• Sign in at the Information Desk.
• You will be asked to relinquish the workstation at any time if it is needed by a primary user.
• Black and white printing is free for community users within reasonable quantity.
• All users of U.S. government information may access the workstations without any of the restrictions outlined above.

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Leave No Trace

The library has adapted the following Leave No Trace principles of outdoor ethics to its food and drink guidelines.* The primary goal is to ensure both the comfort of library users and a long life for library collections, furnishings, and equipment.

• Plan accordingly: If you do carry in food or drinks, avoid messy foods that may damage library material and facilities or be disruptive to others, and have drinks in containers unlikely to spill.
• Dispose of recyclables and waste properly.
• Leave what you find: Leave library resources, furnishings, and equipment as you found them–or in better condition than you found them.
• Be considerate of other visitors: Respect nearby library users, the next library user who will use your space, and the next generation of library users.
• Report accidents to library staff as soon as possible.

Specific Prohibitions:

• Use of tobacco in any form is prohibited throughout Hamersly Library and the WOU campus. Smoking areas are designated at the edge of campus. For more information on WOU's tobacco policy, see our policies page at https://wou.edu/policycouncil/policy-library/.
• Alcohol is strictly prohibited. The library complies with WOU’s alcohol policy.
• The library reserves the right to ask patrons to eat specific foods elsewhere.

Love Your Library ~ Leave No Trace

rev. August 2016

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Room Use

We encourage students, faculty, and staff to take full advantage of the resources of the Hamersly Library, including the group study and meeting rooms. Below is a general Room Use Policy and modified policies for rooms 106, 107, 108 as well as for conference room 301A

Priorities for reservations

• Instructional uses of library facilities have the highest priority; however, classes may not meet beyond four sessions per class per term. Please see the Exceptions section for more details.
• Meetings for Library and Academic Innovation, or for other campus units
• WOU organizations, or clubs
• Study groups
• Outside groups affiliated with Western Oregon University
• Community organizations

Students, faculty, and staff may make reservations for one-time only and short-term needs. Groups have a higher priority for group study rooms than individuals, except when individuals need access to the media equipment in the group study rooms.

• Individuals and groups may reserve rooms up to a total of 4 hours per day. Exceptions may be made for special events.
• Reservation requests must be made at least ONE day in advance.
• Reservations may only be made for the current term and may not exceed one term in length. (exceptions may be made for campus units and special meetings).

Patrons can make reservations through the Astra scheduling system or by contacting the Information Desk at 503-838-8418. We print and post room reservations every morning, and outside of any reserved time, these rooms are free for walk-in use.

During the last two weeks of each academic term (“Prep week” and Finals week), no outside groups or external agencies (non-WOU groups) will be allowed access to the conference or study rooms.

Repeated and Long-term Usage
Groups requesting repeated and longer-term usage (for example, a study group that meets three times a week all term) may be asked occasionally to make their space available for other functions.

Cancellations & Loss of Reservation
Please contact the Information Desk at 503-838-8418 or libweb@mail.wou.edu to cancel your reservation if you will not be using the room. Reserved rooms that have not been claimed within 30 minutes of the beginning of the reservation will be released for others to use.

Usage of all rooms is monitored by Library staff. If repeated or long-term reservations are going unused, the library will issue warning to or revoke that group’s reservation for the remainder of the term.

Food and drink
Please refer to the food and drink policy. Catering is allowed in rooms 107, 205, 210 and 301A only.

Room set-up and re-set
Room set up and re-set is the responsibility of the group using the room. Extra tables and chairs are available upon request for alternate configurations for rooms 107, 116, 205 and 301A.

Exceptions

HL 106, 107, 108, and the Mobile Laptop Cart
In order to allow Library and Academic Innovation instruction to be scheduled in the library classrooms, reservations for peak-hour use* of HL 106, 107, 108, and the Mobile Laptop Cart will not be accepted until the second week of the term. Please contact your librarian if you would like to set up a time for her/him to provide instruction for your classes.

*Peak Hours are Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during weeks 1-7 of Fall, Winter, and Spring terms.

• We accept reservations for non-peak-hour use at any time.
• We do retain a waiting list for the rooms. Once the reservation moratorium is lifted each term, we enter the room requests into the system in the order they were received. Please send your request to libweb@wou.edu.
• Please consider whether the conference rooms (116, 205, 210) suit your needs (floor plans).

Further use priorities for HL 106 & 108 computer labs:

• Other faculty class use (up to four sessions per class per term)
• Workshops and special meetings by other campus units
• Open computer lab

Further use priorities for use of HL 107 classroom:

• Other faculty use (up to four sessions per class per term),
• Meetings, conferences and special presentations.
• Campus units, organizations, and club activities can be regularly scheduled after 5 p.m. and on weekends.

Straub Conference Room (301A)

Scheduling of this room is limited to the WOU President's Office, and its use by outside groups must be approved by them. Groups that wish to use that room may contact the office at 503-838-8888

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Continuing Access Patrons

Students who require library privileges during a term of non-course enrollment (for example, during thesis research or to finish incompletes) need to pay the $50 Continuing Access Fee. Either the Business Office (in Lieuallen Administration Bldg.) or Lori Pagel in the library can charge this fee to your account (detail code A077).

The Continuing Access Fee provides you standard student access to library facilities and collections, most notably borrowing from the local collection and through Summit or Interlibrary Loan, as well as off-campus access to the subscription databases. The student is still liable for applicable overdue fines and replacement costs.

Please note that reactivating your account is a manual process–there is no automatic connection between the payment and the activation process, or even a notification to us that you are doing this. You must present confirmation to us that this charge has been added to your account: either a) present to the Checkout Desk a receipt from your WolfWeb account showing the charge, or b) ask pagell@wou.edu to confirm your payment. Then, during standard business hours, we can make the changes necessary for you to have access.

This same fee is charged to Independent Scholars.

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Special Borrowers
To become a Special Borrower, an applicant must meet one of the following criteria:

1. Area Resident: Individuals living in Polk, Yamhill, Marion, Linn or Benton counties are eligible for a Special Borrower Card.
   1. Resident must be at least 18 years of age.
2. Western Oregon University/Western Oregon State College/Oregon College of Education/Oregon Normal School Alumni.
3. Oregon Military Academy participant.
4. Spouse of WOU faculty or staff (not student spouse).
5. Current student, faculty, or staff member of another college located in one of the counties listed above.  [Corban College or Linn-Benton Community College].

Special Borrowers must observe the following policies:

1. General, juvenile, document, and recreational book collection material may be checked out for a 6-week period. (No AV, Recreational Videos, or K-12 items).
2. The Special Borrower Card is not transferable.
3. Cards are renewable on their expiration date if the patron has no outstanding fines/charges or unreturned items.
4. Courtesy notices are sent only via email.
5. Interlibrary loan and Summit borrowing are not available to Special Borrowers. 
6. It is the responsibility of the card holder to notify the library immediately of any change of name, address, telephone number, or email.
7. Items must be returned to this library. Book drops are located outside the East & West entrances and 1 inside the building. Return receipts are sent through email.
8. Fines for overdue items are set at the rate of $0.50 per item per day, maximum $20.00 per item.  Special Borrowers should pay their fines/fees at the Cashiers window in the WOU Administration Building as they are assessed and billed.
9. Privileges are suspended if total unpaid charges reach $10.00 and remain suspended until they are paid.  You may be asked to show a receipt of payment for verification.
10. If an overdue item has reached 40 days overdue and has not been returned, the patron is billed for the replacement of the item in addition to the fine:

                        Replacement fee:                  $75.00

                        Processing fee:                     $20.00

                        Fine:                                      $20.00

                        Total:                                    $115.00

If the item is returned before a replacement has been ordered or within one year of the due date, whichever comes first, the replacement and processing fee of $95.00 is refunded. The overdue fine continues to be the responsibility of the Special Borrower. Borrowing privileges are suspended until the item is returned and all fines/fees are paid.

If the item has not been returned within one year or is returned after a replacement item has been ordered, the full assessment must be paid.

Renewals are possible if not on hold for another borrower.

• Items can be renewed once: phone & online renewals are allowed. 
• Items are subject to recall if needed by WOU students, staff or faculty.

Hamersly Library web page: library.wou.edu

Hover over Accounts and then click on Summit Visiting & Community Patrons.

WOU Username: enter V-number, C-number, or barcode

Password: enter last name

Click Renew button for each item you wish to renew.

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Summit Visiting Patron

1. Have patron fill out “Summit Visiting Patron Information” application located in top right hand drawer of the checkout desk.
2. Check that patron does not have an existing record in Alma. If they do it will need to be edited with the current information. 
3. If the patron didn’t list a WOU Vnumber (University ID#) on their application and it’s not listed in an existing patron record: go to Intranet then click Look up your WOU ID and enter requested information into search boxes. If it brings up a record – confirm it matches the patron name and write vnumber on the form.
4. Visit the patron’s library website to verify they are a current student, staff, faculty member. In Intranet click Log in to other Summit libraries then click on university that they belong to. Have patron key their information on the Login page. When page is loaded look in Personal Settings for User group and Expiry Date and write information on application. Log out of patron record. 
5. If you didn’t find an existing patron record:
   • Click Manage Patron Services then click Register New User.
   • Enter name into fields: Last name, First name and Middle Name.
   • Enter Birth date.
   • Primary identifier: Delete long number. Enter the patrons Vnumber in this field. If they don’t have one, then enter the Cnumber from the brown special borrower card or ID number from their university.
   • User Group: select Summit Visiting
   • Expiration date is end of current term at their school or June 15^th for Faculty/Staff. Students can update their application each term & faculty/staff each year.
   • Password: It needs to be at least 8 characters with 1 capital letter & 1 number. Select the force password change on next login.
   • Enter email address. (Courtesy notices are delivered via email only).
   • Enter address.
   • Enter phone number.
   • Click Update User
   • Click on ID number. Click Identifiers tab. Click Add Identifier. Identifier Type: choose Barcode. Value: scan barcode on brown special borrower card or from patron’s university ID card. Click Add and Close. Click Save.

*It may take a few days for patron to be updated in Proxy Server before they can order summit items to be delivered here. Notify Camila or Lori P.

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Patron Confidentiality

All checkout and patron information must be kept confidential. We cannot tell anyone what materials are checked out to a patron.

Addresses and phone numbers of patrons, student workers, and staff are confidential. If someone needs to contact a student worker or staff, the person can leave a message, or we can call them at home and give them a message.

A federal law prohibits libraries from giving out patron information. If one patron wants a book that is already checked out, do not tell the patron who has it. Ask the person if they wish to place a hold on the book. If it is necessary to contact the current borrower, a supervisor will do so. We may tell the patron when the book is due back to the library.

Fine/billing information is also confidential. If a patron has questions on fines or billing, refer them to a supervisor.

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Socializing Policy

One of the challenges in being a student worker at the public service desks of the Hamersly Library is controlling the number and length of personal contacts with friends and fellow students. We recognize, however, that some of your effectiveness as a public services student worker is based on your being a student- sometimes you are in the same classes or involved in the same activities as the students who need your assistance. They may be more willing to approach you since you are also a student. Library staff members recognize that and value your hard work and assistance to them and library patrons.

However, when you are at work, you are expected to concentrate on your work tasks. When your friends come to your work site, they may not understand that you are on duty. You are certainly welcome to greet your acquaintances, but you must limit the interaction unless the student has a question or needs assistance. Please focus on providing assistance to them rather than engaging in personal conversations. The trick is to get out of the conversation gracefully. You might look for an opening to state that you have to get back to work. Find a method that works for you. We expect that you will make an effort to control these interactions.

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