Finding a book may be one call away for students in E.S. Bird Library. 

A hotline opened this fall for students who can’t find books to call and ask for immediate assistance. Once a student calls the number, a Bird staff member will answer and either help the student find a book over the phone or meet the student in the stacks and guide him or her to the book.  

‘The library is so big that students get up to the upper floors and sometimes can’t figure it out by themselves,’ said Gerry McCarthy, the supervisor of the Learning Commons, which includes the basement and first and second floors of the library.

The phone line is open to students Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to midnight, when the second through fifth floors close. It is also open on Sunday from 10 a.m. to midnight. The phone is a cell phone that rotates between staff members on duty.

The hotline started when the Learning Commons combined forces with the Excess Services Department, which deals with circulation and course reserves for the whole library. Excess Services had tried having a book-searching program before, but there wasn’t enough staff for it, McCarthy said. Now the combination of the Learning Commons and Excess Services allows for more staff to cover the program. 

‘What I think is so great is that the staff loves it as well, because they get to actually help the students, and they get to go out and get involved,’ McCarthy said. 

Anna Wu, who works in Bird’s interlibrary loan section, which allows students to borrow books from other libraries if Bird doesn’t have them, said she thinks the book hotline is a great idea. 

‘I would definitely use the hotline if only I didn’t know where most books were,’ said Wu, a junior hospitality management major. ‘It seems like a helpful tool because I’ve seen, firsthand, many students who have trouble finding books, especially with Bird being so big.’

There are no official numbers on how many students have called the hotline because it’s new, but McCarthy said it has been very successful. There are signs on the second through fifth floors with the hotline number. It is up to the students to use the phone for assistance, a change from previous help programs.

‘Before, we were doing a roaming program where we sent staff out to the floors, and the staff didn’t like it as much because they felt like they were bothering the students,’ McCarthy said. ‘This way, we’re giving the students in need the opportunity to come to us.’ 

Simon Choi, a senior accounting and finance major, said he didn’t know the hotline existed, but he could recall moments when it would have been useful, such as when he struggled to find books he needed for class. 

‘I’ve noticed the signs, but didn’t really know it would literally get me quick assistance while walking through the stacks,’ Choi said. ‘I’m definitely going to call if I’m ever in need.’ 

ddherrin@syr.edu