NEWS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               DATE: 8/25/05

CONTACT: LESLIE SCHALER, COMMUNICATIONS ASST., (413) 545-0162

Learning Commons Opens

in Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst

Amherst , MA – The Learning Commons, an initiative of the Provost's Office and an innovative new space in the heart of campus opens September 7 in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst.  In the Learning Commons (LC) students will find comfortable study and social spaces along with numerous resources, technologies, and support services.  The LC integrates and facilitates access to library and campus services, staff, and resources. 

In the Learning Commons, you can meet for coffee at the Procrastination Station cafe, attend a study session, work on a group project, get help with researching or writing a paper, meet with teaching assistants, borrow a laptop, read email or use a software package, get help with SPIRE and course registration, receive academic and career advising, and discover tips for adjusting to life at UMass Amherst.  Starting later this fall, the Learning Commons will be open 24/5 hours (Sunday 11:00 a.m. – Friday 9:00 p.m. and Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.).  In addition to bringing together many campus resources, the Learning Commons features significant physical renovations of new paint, carpeting, flooring, and furniture.

        The services in the Learning Commons are:

Learning Commons and Technical Support (http://www.umass.edu/learningcommons/) :  A help desk staffed jointly by the Library and OIT to provide answers to questions about UMass Amherst and the LC.  Highly-trained staff and students will assist users with questions about library services and collections, campus and LC services, technology, network access, and software.

Reference and Research Assistance ( http://www.library.umass.edu/ask/ ): Librarians provide on-demand and by-appointment services to researchers who come to the Library in-person, and by telephone, email, and chat.  They teach students, faculty, staff and community users how to use scholarly materials, the library catalog, online databases, and the print reference collection, among other resources.

Academic Advising Link ( http://www.umass.edu/uaasc/PAS.htm ) :  A help desk staffed by Pre-Major Advising, to assist undeclared majors with questions, and help students explore academic issues, and connect with advising services on campus.

Learning Resource Center (formerly Learning Support Services) (http://www.umass.edu/lrc ) :  Located on the 10th floor of the Library, the LRC provides walk-in peer tutoring and supplemental instruction.  Tutoring is available for many first and second year courses in a variety of subjects on Sundays 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. and Monday through Thursday 1:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.  Supplemental instruction (SI) sessions meet regularly and are informal, peer-facilitated review seminars for a particular course and section.  SI leaders are students who have previously completed the course and now attend the course throughout the semester to lead the group.

Writing Center (http://writingprogram.hfa.umass.edu/writingcenter/writingcenter.asp ) :   Tutors are available to provide one-on-one writing assistance to UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff in any stage of the writing process (e.g., brainstorming and generative writing, drafting, revising, copy-editing) and in a wide range of genres and disciplines (e.g., academic and research essays, lab reports, application essays, senior and graduate theses, prose fiction).

Career Services ( http://www.umass.edu/careers/ ):  Career Services staff will help students explore career options, meet with potential employers, and plan field internships.

Assistive Technologies Center (http://www.oit.umass.edu/atc/index.html) : A drop-in lab that provides technology services to any member of the University community with an ADA-defined disability.

Other services provided in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library include General Information, Circulation, Building Operations, Periodicals/Microforms, Interlibrary Loan, and Reserves/Media.  The Library also has newly-renovated, quiet study space on the 2 nd floor that features Wireless Internet Access.

In the Chancellor's “On Improving Campus Diversity Action Plan” (April 29, 2005), he notes that the LC will “. . . support students in both their learning and their campus life – especially those students new to UMass Amherst. . . .” 

The LC's grand opening is planned for Friday, October 21, and will feature keynote speaker Roberto A. Ibarra, Special Assistant to the Provost and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico .  Professor Ibarra will discuss “ A Place to Belong: The Library as Prototype for Context Diversity.”

For more information about the Learning Commons and its services, contact Anne C. Moore, Associate Director for User Services in the Library at annem@library.umass.edu or 545-0148.