Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
I’m sorry you have had to experience that. Secondhand smoke is a genuine health issue. Boston College policy: “Smoking is… prohibited outdoors within twenty-five feet of all campus buildings.” Library staff will look into ways to communicate this policy effectively.
In 2018/19: 6 undergraduate and 18 graduate. The BC Fact Book is a great source for answers to questions like that: bit.ly/BC-FactBook
Yes! We welcome visitors from everywhere. You can browse and read our books here, use our guest computers to access most of our electronic journals and databases, get research help at the Reference Desk, ask The Answer Wall (me) anything, and if you want you can pay to get a card to check out books. More info on guest access: bit.ly/BCLibGuest.
Lookin’ at ’em right now!
Do you mean the mailroom on the 2nd floor of O’Neill? Unfortunately, that’s limited only to official deliveries to and from the Library. There is a mailroom in McElroy that anyone is allowed to send mail and packages out of (http://bit.ly/BCMailRoom).
Alas, not. Staff are busy shifting library collections so those empty shelves will not remain available for long. If you do need a place to store your books, check-in with staff at the 3rd Floor Circulation Desk and ask about registering for a locker. We still have a small number up for grabs.
My assistants are looking into this and will respond when they receive an answer. My assistants are looking into this and will respond when they receive an answer. Update: 10/16/19 From Office of Res Life: “Health and fire safety inspections are the main reason a student room would be keyed into. These are always performed in tandem with a graduate or professional staff member (resident director) and an RA. Additionally, if there is a health or safety concern, RAs in consultation with a professional staff member may key into a room to ensure the community safety. For example, if they smell something burning behind a door and no one is home or answers.” If you think a situation arose that was outside of these bounds, please speak to someone in Res Life: bit.ly/res-life.
My assistants are looking into this and will respond when they receive an answer.
Update 10/25/19 from BCPD: “When a crime on or near the campus is reported, BCPD promptly assesses the potential danger or threat it presents to the campus community or a portion thereof in an effort to determine whether or not an immediate threat exists, which would result in a timely notification. Many times, incidents are isolated to specific areas, and a community awareness bulletin is issued and disseminated to the affected area.”
How about one of the cushy chairs near the windows on level 5? One of the booths in the reading room or level 1 might work too. Then there’s also “The Spot” on level 4.
Yes, stronger staplers can be provided to the access service desk for your use! I’ll alert my assistants to look into this & see what we can do.
Yes! There are therapy dogs here at O’Neill during exams. But we recognize that’s not the only stressful time when humans can benefit from dog love. They’ll be here in O’Neill (in the 3rd floor Reading Room) this week. See signs in the lobby.
Yuck! Probably the oddly-named silverfish. I advise placing a work order through the Agora Portal. “My Services” tab → “Facilities Work Request.”
BC definitely has it’s own problems with race. And it has a culture of preferring not to talk about problems. But BC is probably equally racist as most other long-extant institutions in America, no more or less – it’s a fundamental part of the makeup of this country unfortunately. The school is doing work to improve itself. The Office of Student Affairs is acting on a recent student survey that showed differences in satisfaction with BC life between students that identified as black vs. other races. Many departments (including ITS, the Provost, the Libraries, Res Life, and others) are at different stages of undertaking a renewed focus on how to better serve AHANA and other minority populations. It’s hard work that takes a long time unfortunately. But we want to be better.
That’s a very busy bathroom; the more people use a space, the higher the probability that someone makes a mistake, such as flushing something down the toilet that doesn’t belong there – the usual source of bathroom flooding. But I’ll also alert folks, in case it’s the other common cause: a plumbing problem that can be fixed.
That’s wonderful! But you should thank her yourself. And you know what’s even better… write an email to the Director of Custodial Services (Gerard Boyle, boyleg@bc.edu) and tell him. That sort of action, not just here but everywhere you go in life, is valued by employees, and can have good repercussions.
I asked one of my helpers, and she said that the vestibules as you enter Stokes N are both very toasty, and surprisingly nice places to sit and concentrate. The warmest place she’s found (she’s done a lot of research on this) is in the cloak room at the Burns Library, but it would be a terrible study space. Same for the warmest spot she’s found in O’Neill; the level 2 women’s restroom!`
You see, being a library wall, I’ve come to know academics pretty well. They’re all a little… eccentric. A whole lot of specialized knowledge does that to you. One famous academic once referred to it as the “re-entry from orbit” problem (bit.ly/percy-orbit) You spend weeks or months or even years working on an intractable problem that few people in the world even know exists. It can be hard to return to everyday life. Does that answer the specific weirdness you’ve observed?
Using Library spaces for anything other than typical library activities must be approved by library administration. I think you should start with our public services guy, Scott Britton (scott.britton@bc.edu)
It is cold, I know. We keep it colder than lots of places because books have special needs for temperature and humidity. There are some potential problems with loaning things that need cleaning regularly, but I’ll definitely pass it along to my wall friends in the Big Offices.
Audio can be found by visiting this link http://frontrow.bc.edu/program/obama/
