Firestone staff deals with aftermath

After walking through the construction overtaking Firestone Library's façade, I noted yet another library anomaly. Inside the lobby, my eyes were drawn to the large stacks of books lining the counters and shelves of the Circulation Desk—books finally home after, in many cases, very, very long absences. A quick perusal revealed titles such as "The Subjectivity Effect in Western Literary Tradition," "Guide to the Cinema of Spain" and The Oxford Shakespeare "The Complete Sonnets and Poems."

What could be the origin of such eclectic and massive book returns but senior theses?

As Wayne Shyy '04, a history major, said, "As long as we have to complete the senior thesis, books will naturally be hoarded away from the melancholy that is the stacks of Firestone."

Shyy estimated having borrowed a total of 70 books from the library throughout the past year, and Anna-Rachel Drey-Siegel '04 and Rishi Jaitly '04, also history majors, made the same approximations of their borrowings. Other history majors, such as Martha Mártir '04 and Lauren Nichols '04, said they had checked out approximately 30 books, emphasizing that the number of books students retrieved from Firestone (or other University libraries) for their theses varied between departments.

Emily Buckley '04, a politics major, borrowed about 20 books from Firestone, while Woodrow Wilson School major Emily Stirba '04 checked out 35 to 40 books and English major Vanessa Snowden '04 borrowed approximately 70 books. Contrastingly, Karim Branford '04, a philosophy major, borrowed a single book from the library. Science and engineering majors usually do not check out any books at all.

While the checkout rates for Humanities majors are impressive enough, the real import lies in the fact that the May 20 due date for all book returns (save Borrow Direct) results in Firestone mayhem.

Jaitly avowed, "I still have not returned most of the books [I borrowed], as they are all still sitting in my carrel in Firestone."

Drey-Siegel's books, also currently residing in her carrel, are "waiting for [her] to get strong and motivated."

Shyy jokingly agreed: "I still have most of [my books] because they are very, very heavy. That and they make me look smart."

Snowden took a different approach: "I definitely didn't return all the books at once. I have friends who work at the library, who I know do not appreciate huge stacks of returns, so I decided the best way to go about it would be to stagger them, maybe five or so every time I left the library," she said.

Snowden accurately summarized the viewpoints of the Firestone Circulation Desk staff. Youssef Ezzyat '05 estimated checking in 150 to 200 books within an hour-and-a-half shift and described this number as "definitely a lot higher [than normal]." As we talked, he opened a huge drawer filled to the brim with hundreds of books and unloaded stacks of books onto the table.

"It's not something we look forward to," he said.

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Circulation Services Director Trevor Dawes said, "It's a very busy time," but added, "It's something that the staff is prepared for because it happens every year." In order to plan for the huge book returns, Dawes said, "We have more book trucks available, [and] we try to get more student workers."

What, then, would be an effective way to reduce the book-return rush around thesis time in order to eliminate the need for these proactive measures?

Jaitly offered several suggestions: "[Firestone could] encourage seniors to return books that they are not or have completed using while they are writing their theses. Or perhaps after theses are completed, Firestone can set aside one week during which those who have carrels on the A-floor are encouraged to return their books, then another week when those with carrels on the B-floor are encouraged to return their books, another week for the C-floor, and so on and so forth."

Stirba proposed "staggering out the due dates of theses," while Shyy said, "A great improvement would be inter-campus book loans, essentially a service provided by the University that would allow for book returns at certain locations throughout campus."

Though these suggestions might improve book returns in years to come, current student will likely see flocks of books migrating to their Firestone home in the next few weeks.