Lister Hill Letter
Newsletter of the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences at UAB

September/October 1997

Welcome back!

What a difference a year makes! Those of you who are returning have seen major changes in the library over the last year, as we've gone through the final stages of the renovation and begun to work out the kinks of the new building. Those of you who are just becoming acquainted with UAB and the Lister Hill Library well, just be glad you weren't here last year.

The new building enables us to offer a lot more more space for books and journals; much more study seating (if you're looking for the really secluded, quiet spots, try the ground floor along 7th avenue; if you want something bright and sunny, go for the 2nd floor on the University Blvd side); a greatly expanded Microcomputer Lab with productivity software, all the library databases and access to the Internet; several group study rooms; and an electronic classroom.

All of this would be relatively useless, of course, if it were not for the most important resource the people who work here. We take great pride in our service orientation, but we know that we can always get better. So we've put an increased emphasis on training and staff development so that we can be sure that we have the kind of well-trained and highly-motivated staff that can provide the level of service that you ought to expect.

Libraries are becoming more and more complicated as we struggle to make better use of the new information technologies while continuing to support the traditional collection and services. This is particularly difficult at a time when we are getting no increases in state funding, but the costs of our materials (which account for a third of our budget) are increasing 10% to 15% per year. We have to get better and better at setting priorities and making sure we emphasize the most crucial things.

To do that, we need all the help we can get from the people who use the library. It is your library, after all, and we want to know what you think about what we're doing, and what we need to do better. Please take the time to fill out a comment card at the front entrance or send me an email directly . We wish you all the greatest success in the year to come and we want to do everything we can to help you accomplish that.