for Use of the Library
Building and Facilities Information
Computer Use and Ethernet / Wireless Connections
The William Smith
Morton Library is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated in 1997. The new
building consists of two structures: the structure facing Chamberlayne
Avenue is the former Schauffler Hall, now completely renovated. The structure
facing the seminary quadrangle is new construction. The two structures
are joined with a three-story atrium, which unifies the facility. The
new building contains four reading rooms on the main floor (Reference
Room, Reserve Reading Room, Rare Book and Archives Reading Room, and Microforms
Reading Room). Current periodicals are located in the Reference Room and
bound periodicals in the lower level (Chamberlayne side). The Instructional
Resource Center is located on the second floor (Chamberlayne side). The
Library has two elevators and stairs that access all floors. The Library
currently houses over 340,000 volumes and more than 100,000 non-print items, and maintains over 950 periodical
subscriptions. Work and storage space includes 54 carrels, 22 graduate
research tower rooms, 8 group study rooms, and 80 lockers.
The mission of the Library is to serve the students and faculty of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education. These schools comprise the Richmond Theological Consortium. In addition, the Library maintains limited borrowing privileges for students from the other Richmond-area colleges and universities and the public.
BUILDING INFORMATION
LIBRARY
HOURS
Regular term hours as follows :
| Monday - Thursday | 8 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. |
| Friday | 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Saturday | 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
| Holidays | See posted Library schedule |
Summer hours : See posted Library schedule.
BOOK DROP. The book drop is located at the entrance of the Library. The book drop should be used ONLY when the Library is CLOSED.
BUILDING RULES
Food and Drink : Beginning 1 Feb 2007, drinks in covered containers with spill-proof tops will be permitted in the Library on a trial basis. This includes travel mugs or bottles with caps; it does not include soda cans or open bottles. Drinks will NOT be allowed in the Rare Book Room, the Multimedia Classroom or the Computer Lab. If there is an increase in spills or rubbish in the Library, the policy will be discontinued. Please help us by policing your own behavior. Also, please recognize that food of any kind is still prohibited anywhere in the building, with the exception of Library-sponsored and supervised events.
Smoking : No smoking is permitted anywhere in
the Library. No candles, incense or any other burning material may be
used.
Conversation and Conduct : Each Library user
is expected to supervise his or her own behavior, especially in the Reference
Room and Reserve Reading Room. By and large this involves only a regard
for the rights of one’s fellow students : the avoidance of conversation
or noise which will disturb other readers (including cell phones), consideration
in not monopolizing more books than can be reasonably used at one time,
and respect for the Library's property and equipment. Persons exhibiting disorderly conduct will be asked to leave the Library.
Cell Phones :
Before you enter the library, cell phones should be switched to the “silent” setting. To conduct a phone call, please go to the main level Atrium, the atrium bridges on the second or third floors, or outside. Please remember to keep phone conversations at a quiet level and away from public study areas, and take care not to disturb people in neighboring carrels. The library reserves the right to ask individuals whose conversations are deemed by the library staff as loud or disruptive to take their cellphone conversations outside the library.Children : Young people are welcome to use our materials, especially the Children's Collection on Second Level East. Please be aware that children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent. Children wishing to use the Library must remember that our study areas are to remain quiet; no disruptive conversation or behavior is acceptable. Computers in the Library are for research only and must not be used for music downloading, social networking, games, entertainment or other personal use. For full details of the policy on children in the Library, please click HERE.
RESTROOMS. Both men’s and women’s restrooms are located on the southeast side of each level (Westwood/Chamberlayne side).
PHOTOCOPY MACHINES. There are three public photocopiers in the Library : two on the first level by the elevator and below the main staircase, and one in the Microforms Room. All machines are self-service and accept plastic debit cards, which may be purchased from the vending machine by the first level copiers. Copies are 10¢ each.
MICROFORMS READER/PRINTER. There is a microfiche/film reader/printer located in the microforms room near the Circulation Desk on the first level. The machine will read both microfilm and microfiche. Several readers are available. Please request microforms at the Circulation Desk. Prints made are 10¢ each, paid at the Circulation Desk.
STUDY CARRELS. Carrels are intended for use by authorized individuals engaged in defined long-term research projects that require the intensive use of the William Smith Morton Library’s specific holdings and resources. These carrels, as available, will be assigned to advanced degree students (Ph.D., Ed.D. and Th.M. as space permits) for up to one academic year, terminating 30 June; at that point, the student may reapply. Students graduating in the spring should return their carrel keys to the Circulation Desk. Other students and the public are welcome to use unoccupied and unlocked carrels on the second floor, on a first-come first-served basis, for quiet study during the day. These carrels will be emptied out at the end of each day. NO personal items or Library materials should be left in unassigned carrels; Morton Library is not responsible for any lost property left in these carrels. See the Circulation Supervisor for further information.
LOCKERS. Lockers may be assigned on request to commuting students for each semester. Students may deposit their personal belongings in these lockers. Any Library materials left in lockers must be properly checked out first. The Library is not responsible for the contents of student lockers, nor for any student property left in these lockers at the end of the assignment period. No food items may be stored in these lockers. There will be unannounced checks by the Circulation staff throughout the semester to ensure compliance with Library policies. See the Circulation Supervisor for further information.
GROUP STUDIES. Eight group study rooms are available on a first-come first-served basis except when the Library posts a reservation. Individuals should defer to groups.
WIRELESS / ETHERNET ACCESS. Our Library is now equipped with wireless internet access, covering the whole building. You can access it now in the Reference Room, the Reserve Room, the Graduate Seminar Room and Group Study Room 257, and the study carrels and Tower Rooms. You can also receive it if you are sitting in the comfortable armchairs in the Atrium or on the 2nd floor overlooking the Reference Room. If you have a laptop with a wireless adapter card, you should be able to pick up the signal. The network name is WSML. If you use certain restricted resources (such as online databases), you will be asked to supply your user ID and password :
This is not the same user ID and password you use to login to your Morton Library account.
For Union-PSCE students, staff and faculty : your network login (the same one you use for our campus email system or Blackboard) should give you remote access to these resources. Do not use the UTSNT\ prefix; just use the personal name part of your network user ID (such as jane.doe or jdoe).
For students, staff and faculty of BTSR or STVU : you may need to check with our Librarian for Academic Computing Support, Leland Deeds, to make sure your current user ID and password are entered into our proxy server. Please contact Leland at 804-278-4217 or ldeeds@union-psce.edu for further information.
There are also active ethernet ports available in the Reference Room, the Reserve Room and the Instructional Resource Center. In each of these rooms, only a few of the ports are active. Look for a diagram or schematic showing the tables in these rooms -- the links that are active are indicated on it. (If you have trouble finding this, please ask for help.) You must have a laptop with an ethernet card and cable to make this connection.
COMPUTERS . The computer lab, located on the lower level, is open to all authorized patrons of the Library. Each computer is set up with Microsoft Word and an Internet browser and networked to a laser printer. Please do not attempt to modify these computers in any way. If you have any questions please contact the computer services Help Desk for assistance (x266). See posted policies and procedures. The computer lab closes 30 minutes before the Library closes each night. Computer disks are available at the Circulation Desk. Compact disks and floppy disks are 50¢ each.
The computer terminals in the rest of the building (especially in the Reference Room) are to be used for access to our online catalog or the Reference databases. For email, word processing, social networking or other personal use, please go to the computer lab on the lower level.
Use of sexually explicit material on library computers is prohibited. Persons doing so are subject to penalties. We retain the right to determine what is sexually explicit material.
COLLECTIONS AND SERVICES
REFERENCE SERVICES. Professional reference staff is available to assist patrons with study and research. In addition to personal assistance, the Reference Department provides several specialized services including database searching and subject bibliographies. See further information under Public Services.
SERIALS AND INTERLIBRARY LOANS. Staff is available to assist patrons with serials and interlibrary loans Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm. See further information under Public Services.
ARCHIVES AND RARE BOOKS. The Library maintains a significant rare book collection relating to John Calvin, as well as extensive Archives housing historical records and manuscripts related to Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education and the Presbyterian Church, particularly in Virginia. Contact the Reference Librarian for further information.
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCE CENTER (IRC). The Library maintains an extremely rich audio-visual collection which includes over 15,000 sermon and lecture tapes, church-school curriculum, videotapes, digital video discs (DVDs), slides, compact discs (CDs), posters and banners. In addition, the IRC distributes the recorded lectures of Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, which are available for purchase. For detailed information, please see Instructional Resources.
THE LOLLEY CENTER. The Lou and Randall Lolley Baptist Studies Center was opened on 30 May 2003. It is located on the third floor of the Library, in Room 302. The Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond dedicated the Center in honor of the Lolleys, to provide resources for the study of Baptist history and heritage.
PUBLIC CATALOGS. The Library provides an online catalog for the searching of books, periodical holdings, microforms and media resources in our collections. (Most of the Library's materials are included; however, some items have not yet been entered into the online catalog, mainly certain older and inactive periodical holdings, and some church records pertaining to presbyteries and synods. These materials may be searched in the Serial Record card file opposite the Circulation Desk in the Atrium.) Online catalog terminals are located in the Atrium, the Reference Room and in stacks areas on the lower, second and third levels. The Library catalog can also be accessed from any internet-capable computer through our Library's public website at http://library.union-psce.edu. A tutorial designed to teach you to use the online catalog effectively may be found at http://gargoyle.union-psce.edu/tutorial/welcome.
Please note : the new Library catalog is now accessible, but not all of its features have been implemented at this time. For help with your login, please contact the Circulation Desk, or consult our public website. For research assistance, please contact Reference, or consult our online Tutorials.
BORROWING BOOKS. Anyone wishing to check out any item from the Library needs to have a library card. Students from STVU, BTSR or Union-PSCE should bring their student identification to the Circulation Desk and fill out a registration form. A barcode will be placed on the back of the student ID, which will then function as the student's library card.
All other patrons wishing to check out items must show a photo ID with current address and fill out a registration form. Only the Circulation Supervisor or the Assistant Circulation Supervisor has the authority to approve this request and issue a borrower's card. If these staff members are not available, the patron's request will be held until the request can be approved and a card issued (usually by the following day). No one may borrow any item until this procedure has been completed.
The Circulation Supervisor or Assistant Circulation Supervisor will normally be available during these hours :
Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
For complete information on Circulation policies and procedures, please continue to the next page.
