Waubonsee Community College (Sugar Grove campus) - part 1

A few weeks back, I had the good fortune to visit the Waubonsee Community College Sugar Grove campus (one of four campuses, they must be going for a record!). I wanted to visit the library because - hey, that's what I do - but it wasn't easy. Amazingly, not one sign on campus points to the library, as if the college does not value its library at all.

As you can see, it's a lovely interior once you find the library with earthy tones. This is the roomy entrance at the top of the stairs. Unusual for - well -- any library, at this one you enter via stairs from below in the middle of the room.

The library has fine, but small, special collections that are displayed in cabinets rather than housed in a separate room.

Sorry for your eyes, but some of my photos came out blurry again. I still wanted to show this one because the library seems to have a robust budget for new books and appropriately highlights them here. I was impressed with the range of this selection on display (particularly the graphic novel-related titles, given my well-known weakness for those).

I've seen comfortable seating and I've seen recharging stations at plenty of libraries, but what I rarely see is them combined. It seems like a no-brainer that you would want to sit comfortably while waiting for your phone to recharge.

Another blurry one -- grr, whenever I was trying to show you titles! Here was, what I felt to be an impressively large paperback collection for light reading. Not everything in an academic library need be, or should be, academic in nature.

Full shelves (the library has a good-sized collection) behind an array of seating, with a warm mix of colors.

















Speaking of seating, I am fascinated by this chair I found with a handle on the back and wheels underneath! What easily portable library furniture! I daresay you could push something like this in a parade with your book carts.

A tiny Public Access Catalog computer on a stand. I'm not a fan of making the catalog this tiny and easy to miss, particularly when there is no signage close enough to it.

The highlight of the visit was this, though I was actually there on the wrong day to get popcorn. What a great idea, to bribe students with popcorn to get them into the library. Once there, of course, you can sell them on your services, but better to have them satisfied with a belly full of popcorn first!