University upgrades library services and facilities

Photo Courtesy of Ma. Isabel Medez - BS Psych 3

An additional reading area for the University Library is now being constructed between the Fray Luis de Leon Building and the Mentrida Hall, to accommodate the needs of the growing student and faculty population. The Library extension will house the foyer, library information desk, photocopying service, depository counter and library discussion area. This is part of the on-going effort of the University to continuously upgrade its instruction services and facilities.

All sections of the Library are now air conditioned. Additional OPAC (On-line Public Access Catalogue) terminals have also been added. The internet section has already been transferred to a newly renovated portion of the main library. To support the programs offered by the University, the USA Library continuously updates its collection of both print and non-print materials. It has already acquired 1,616 titles and 1,718 volumes of printed materials as well as 48 titles and 55 volumes of non-print materials – all of which are already in circulation and are used by the faculty and students.

It has also received 64 titles and 72 volumes of printed materials acquired as donations/gifts from alumni here and abroad. The latest donation, which came in this March, was a box of different titles of journals in the medical sciences from Dr. Marlon Torrento – a former faculty now based in the United States of America. The Library also subscribes to professional journals, magazines and bulletins to help students and faculty become aware of the latest in their respective fields of study.

The USA Library maintains its membership in a Library Consortium together with University of the Philippines Visayas, West Visayas State University, Central Philippine University, University of Iloilo, Western Institute of Technology and Western Visayas College of Science and Technology. Through this consortium, USA aims to share its resources with other colleges and universities, subject to each library’s rules and regulations. Resource sharing is one way of extending help to other universities and colleges. It also makes additional materials available to our students for information gathering.

With the continuous accreditation of the different courses offered by the University and the constant inspection from the Commission on Higher Education, the students are assured of excellent services not just by the updated materials but also by the improvement in learning ambiance necessary to encourage and motivate the students to use and visit the Library.

Source: A.C. Natividad / Communitas