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VIVA: Roanoke College

Virginia's Academic Library Consortium

This guide has variable layouts and houses the majority of the "sub" pages for VIVA's website.

VIVA Featured Member Library: Roanoke College

An interview with Elizabeth G. McClenney, Director of the Library

Roanoke College

What are your top three points of pride in your library?

  • Fintel Library staff and student assistants! Users know that they are going receive excellent, caring service when working with us during a research appointment, needing to locate that evasive resource, or on the hunt for their favorite blue raspberry candy during exams.
  • Our users! Roanoke College students, faculty and staff are curious, creative, and eager to collaborate with us on projects and make use of our services and resources.
  • Our space!  From hosting peace and justice events, poetry readings, student film screenings, research showcases, and much more, Fintel Library is a much sought after space for classes, programs, and formal and informal collaboration.

What are the most popular spots in your library for your users?

Our users take advantage of every nook and cranny, but if we have to pick, Rooney’s Brews and our Collaboration Space win.  Rooney’s Brews is our library café and features locally roasted coffees and yummy treats.  Students and faculty gather for classes, just to have a bite, or play a game of chess.  Our Collaboration Space is a popular location for campus events, ad hoc classes, and student study groups.  It is a place where writing on the wall is OK!  And for users who prefer a bit less activity around them, our second floor quiet space is where they go to get away from it all.

Which VIVA resource or service does your school value the most, and why?

EBSCOHost databases are popular because they support cross-disciplinary access to scholarly content.  In addition, VIVA’s cooperative borrowing program is a great benefit to our users because it gives them direct, onsite access to VIVA institutions’ collections.