14 Days to have your say

I got laughed at when I went in to ask if the library had novels and books to read for enjoyment (not school.) Then I was directed to a pitiful "paperbacks section" that had just two shelves full of books from the 60's and 70's that were yellowed and mildew-smelling.

I want to be able to check out a novel to read for FUN, because just read schoolbooks is no way to live.

PLEASE update/acquire a fiction section, I'm begging you!

Western should hand out library cards to local people. Their tax dollars pay for our school, and an action as such would help de-isolate the university from the greater Bellingham community, as well as offer educational resources to those that are not enrolled.

Other libraries do it, so can we. There is no reason we should pay so much money for returning a book late that no one was waiting for. The library doesn't, or at least shouldn't, need our money, so why take it? 10 dollar an hour late fee charges for laptops is a scam.

Registering for classes is serious. If you don't get into the class you need, you may need to wait a year to take it again, meanwhile missing out on other classes that require the initial class as a prerequisite. This can postpone graduation, resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars.

In the real world, when people return books late to a public library, they do not get fired. They simply get a late fee.

A notice should be sent the day you receive the first fine for a late material. What is up with waiting three days before the library notifies us that we are being charged late fees? Seems strange. A lot of times we are caught up in different things and we don't notice our materials are late until we get this fine notice several days after a bill has been racked up. The library alert should be in all caps so that it stands out in the Inbox: **YOUR LIBRARY MATERIAL IS LATE AND YOU HAVE BEEN FINED**

Students should be allowed to check-out CDs from the Music Library in the PAC instead of having to sit in uncomfortable chairs. It would be nice to be able to enjoy music in the comfort of your home or wherever you feel like. If the Music Library is so concerned with students damaging the CDs they should burn copies for students and keep the originals on file.

Western alumni should be able to access library resources and check out materials. Alumni should not need to be members of the WWU Alumni Association to use the library. The library provides valuable resources and services. Alumni need to keep up with changes in their field and related fields. The Library provides resources that are simply not available in community libraries.

I think you should be able to use your western number to check out a book without having your western ID card. City libraries are able to do this with either the card number or your personal information, and I think that western students should be able to do it as well whenever needed, not just once in their entire time at western. I just don't understand why this is not possible all the time.

I would like to see Western on par with other libraries in the fees they charge for late books. Public libraries charge only .10 and many universities do not charge at all. If you have to leave for a couple days and your books are due you could owe much more than you should, especially grad students who tend to check out a significant number of books at a time.

Students in the music department should be able to check out study books, scores, and solos from the music libary for more extended periods of time (for a quarter, perhaps). Maybe there could be an instructor-provided waiver or something. I have books that I checked out at the beginning of the year that I have to keep worrying about renewing all the time. Knowing that I have it for the whole quarter would reduce my stress load by a noticeable amount.