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All Suggestions for Mills Library
(Jan 27/24) The chairs/couches in Mills are absolutely filthy and smell. In one of the fourth floor chairs in Mills I found a used tampon wedged between the cushions. There are empty drink bottles, take out containers, used
tissues, and chip bags littered in the book stacks that have been there for months. It looks like they are never vacuumed or cleaned in any way. Im concerned about bringing home bedbugs because of the lack of
concern for cleanliness demonstrated at McMaster.
Library response: Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We can place a request to have our stacks area cleaned and vacuumed. (Jan 29/24)
Answered by: Lynne Serviss (Associate University Librarian, User Services and Community Engagement)
(Dec 7/23) The 2nd floor commons and 3rd floor study rooms are always freezing. Especially 2nd floor commons, even with so many people around. I need my fingers to be able to type without getting frost bite, please consider
increasing the temperature for winter!
Library response: Thank you for letting us know about the temperatures of our building. Brrr! That sounds cold. Unfortunately, we do not control the temperatures in our buildings - this can make things very uncomfortable when the
weather turns unseasonably warm or when temperatures drop. I will pass on your feedback to our facilities team. (Jan 26/24)
Answered by: Lynne Serviss (Associate University Librarian, User Services and Community Engagement)
(Aug 14/23) 4th floor Mills - study space in the stacks near the window overlooking the centre plaza between MUSC and Mills - the outlets near the study desks are not working. Considering how limited study space is on
campus, this becomes a problem for students who cannot reliably use these spaces to work when they need to charge their devices. Please address.
Library response: Thank you very much for letting us know. We will put in a call to the electrician to take a look at our outlets on the fourth floor. (Sep 12/23)
Answered by: Lynne Serviss (Associate University Librarian, User Services and Community Engagement)
(Apr 15/19) Hi! The Grad study room in Mills has some great high desks at the windows, but not enough high
chairs to fill them - might it be possible to get a couple more?
Library response: Thanks for your email.
We will definitely look into providing some more stools in this space.
(Apr 24/19)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Mar 24/19) This year I have noticed an increase in 2 issues that have made Thode more and more
unfriendly to study in.
Number 1 There has been a huge increase in the lack of respect for the quiet study areas and
staff are less and less responsive to complaints.
Number 2 There has been an explosion in the number of people vaping inside the library. It
was bad enough when people were doing it outside despite McMasters status as a non-smoking
campus but for it to now have spread to inside a university building makes it look like the
new rule only made things worst
Library response: Thank you for submitting these comments.
The Library just ran its Respect Campaign to try to encourage students to be more respectful of those around them in many ways, including respecting what type of space they are choosing to study in. We will try to be more digiligent in responding to noise complaints, but can only do this during the regular hours of opening. If this is happening in the late night study period, please let the security guards know there is a problem and they will talk with the offending groups.
With respect to your comment about vaping, this is not condoned by anyone. Please report these issues to the staff at the main floor service desk as soon as this happens and they will deal with it. We have been told to notify Security immediately when these incidents happen and they will come talk to the offenders. If you are unable to come to the desk you could report this kind of a situation using the
noise@mcmaster.ca email address as well. Please make sure you clearly identify where the vaping is taking place and we will send someone to deal with it.
Thanks again for bringing these issues to our attention.
Anne Pottier, Associate University Librarian (Mar 26/19)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Mar 19/19) It would be helpful if the upcoming events were more visible on the library website.
Library response: Thank you for submitting this suggestion. It as been forwarded on to the group responsible for the rework of the library's website. They are looking at all the feedback which has been received to make tweaks to the website moving forward. (Mar 21/19)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Mar 19/19) There is an awful buzzing noise in Mills Commons which makes it quite distracting/annoying when
Im trying to get work done there. The buzzings been going on for a couple of weeks and gives
me a headache Im there for long - could you kindly look into remedying the situation?
Library response: Thanks for submitting this suggestion. You are correct, there is a terrible buzzing coming from the lights in this area. We suspect the ballast for each light will need to be replaced, but this is not work we can do until after the end of term.
We appreciate your patience while we work to get this problem resolved. (Mar 21/19)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Sep 5/18) The sixth floor in Mills is suppose to be a silent study area, yet every time i come here there
is always 1 group that is not mindful of others. It may be a good idea to have a worker
regularly monitor the floor throughout the day to make sure that people are respectful of
others and follow the rules.
Library response: Thanks for your suggestion. We do have staff walk through all of our spaces on a fairly regular basis, but can't be everywhere at all times.
In the future, may I suggest you first ask the loud parties to quiet down, and if this doesn't work please send an email to quiet@mcmaster.ca or complete the form which can be found at
https://library.mcmaster.ca/forms/report-noise-quiet-area
These get sent directly to staff who will come speak to the chatty groups. Please make sure to give us some indication of where the problem is so we don't waste time trying to figure out where they are.
Hope this helps!
Anne
(Sep 10/18)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Jul 6/18) My name is Dustin Burlet and I am a PhD student at McMaster Divinity College (Old Testament).
I have received your email via your business card that was given to me by Kim at the McMaster
Mills Library here at McMaster University.
I expressed to Kim my concern about the BS section of the library on the fifth floor, in
particular, the moveable stacks and the high degree of usage that that section receives. I
voiced a desire to see if it might be possible to put these items in a non-moveable stack
section of the library and Kim informed me that you, Anne, were the person to speak to with
respect to this matter, hence this email.
I wonder Anne, what might possibly be able to be done to help to facilitate a change in this
area. I do not wish to petition the library, nor do I wish to start a campaign or a flood of
emails and such. I only wish to know what possibly might be able to be done to begin (and
expedite) the process of transferring the BS items on the fifth floor to a non-moveable stack
section.
Thank you very much for reading this email Anne and for any consideration that you might give
to this request. Have a great day,
Sincerely and with respect,
Dustin Burlet
Library response: Good morning Dustin - I believe I have addressed this issue via email with you directly, but am happy to post the response here as well. Anne
We understand that the books in the religion call number ranges are well used compared to many othother areas of the library, and we're glad that this collection is active. Currently, we're not able to relocate the religion call number ranges without disrupting the flow of the stacks floors, which would make them even more difficult for users to navigate. We are working internally to develop ways to make our print collections more welcoming and engaging for users. We may also have some opportunity to re-arrange the stacks in the future, but the collections spaces are just too tight to permit this at the present time
I do want to make sure you are aware of our new virtual shelf browse feature which is available via the catalogue:
Search/browse by call number. Here you can browse the books in a call number range, then if you wish to use one of them click the Request button and our staff will retrieve the items and bring them to the main floor service desk area for you. If you need only a single chapter, you can also request this via the catalogue, and Library Services staff will scan and send it to you electronically.
We appreciate your patience as we work through various collections related issues in the library. (Jul 6/18)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(May 2/18) Is it just me or has the 5th floor been super stuffy? I think MacPherson is an oven at this
time of the year
Library response: Unfortunately the campus ha not yet switched over from steam to chilled water. That will happen shortly. (May 2/18)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Feb 4/18) We had booked a study room in Mills library until 6pm on Saturday. We were told to vacate it by
staff at 5:45pm due to closing procedure but were not aware of this since our booking said till
6pm nor had we heard the announcement. Could a change be made to the online booking schedule to
be until 5:45 instead of 6?
Library response: Thanks for submitting your comment. I am sure this was frustrating for you.
We will adjust the times for the last booking of these rooms to reflect the 15 min earlier closing.
Have a good day (Feb 5/18)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Feb 2/18) Since the new wifi was implemented this past September, I have been unable to access any wifi on the 4th and 5th floors of Mills. Is there any way to get this fixed? It makes using the study spaces available incredibly difficult.
Library response: Hello - thank you for your message, and we understand that unreliable wi-fi can really cause a lot of grief in a study space. Although we don't directly manage the Wi-Fi for the building (that's UTS), we are advocating strongly to committees who decide on wireless upgrade priorities to ensure our libraries are better covered.
We'll be sure to communicate any wireless upgrade news we receive from campus wireless committees.
(Feb 2/18)
Answered by: mcallic
(Dec 6/17) Hi! The 6th floor Silent Study area is very warm and none of the windows open.
Library response: Thanks for letting us know. We will work with Facilities Services to try to cool things down.
(Dec 7/17)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Oct 12/17) Hello,
I am very confused with the new catalogue on library computer. It only seems to show e-books and
the regular library catalogue is blocked for some reason. Normally Id just go on my phone to the
library catalogue, but the wifi coverage in the upper floors of Mills that even this is
frustrating.
Thank you
Library response: I'm sorry to hear that you're finding the new catalogue confusing.
There are three different kinds of searches that you can do:
The Quick Search tab simultaneously searches the library catalogue and the contents of several subscription and open access databases. The search results on this tab do include the Library's catalogue of both print and online resources, but the additional databases being searched mean that you will often see many more online resources.
The Catalogue tab provides the same interface, but searches only McMaster’s library catalogue. This tab will show you both print and online resources, but only those that we have added to the McMaster libraries' catalogue.
The Classic Catalogue link on the Library homepage takes you to a different interface. This site supports browsing of the library catalogue by author, title, subject, and others, as well as a keyword search. The search results here will include both print and online resources from the Library's catalogue, presented in a more traditional interface.
You can move from Quick Search to Catalogue by clicking the appropriate tab on the Library's homepage or in the search results screen. The Classic Catalogue is separate from the other two. Follow the link on the Library's homepage to search there.
I hope that helps to make the catalogue a little less confusing! There is much more information about the new catalogue and some of its extra features in the FAQ document linked from the Library homepage, or at https://library.mcmaster.ca/content/quick-search-faq. (Oct 12/17)
Answered by: Wade Wyckoff (Associate University Librarian, Collections)
(Jul 20/17) Hello fellow Marauders,
I was wondering whether the university would invest in something like this:
https://twitter.com/westsydulibrary/status/823425172711555073 . If McMaster wants to see
itself as a top-tier university, it should try to invest in these material things which are
both beneficial to the end-user, i.e. students, and positively influence the place. Thanks
for reading.
Best Regards,
Mohamed Mirza
Library response: Thanks for your suggestion around the napping pods. We have seen these and do have something like this on a list of new things to consider providing for our students. I will investigate this model some more, so thanks for providing us with a model to look at. Can't promise if/when we might be able to do something like this, since our course cost would be a factor, but we will consider it.
(Jul 20/17)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Apr 25/17) Mills 6th is too warm again, and its very difficult to find comfortable quiet study space.
Would very much appreciate if the temperature was dropped a bit!
Library response: I am sorry, but we are not able to control the temperature at this time of the year. It is all about fluctuating temperatures outside.
The "heat" has been turned off, but the "cooling" isn't fully on since it has still been quite cool outside at times.
Our apologies. (Apr 25/17)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Apr 17/17) Its too cold on the third floor of mills...it never used to be this cold the entire year but
during exam season the temperatures are too low.
Library response: Unfortunately Campus Facilities started converting buildings from heating to cooling last week, and Mills was one of the first buildings to be converted. While we don't actually have a/c running, we are not able to turn heat back on. (Apr 17/17)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Feb 13/17) The microfilm/microfiche stations are extremely dusty, which makes it really difficult to capture a clean image on the readers. Would it be possible to have the stations dusted more frequently? Also, the plates on the digital readers could use a good cleaning too.
Library response: Thank you very much for your feedback. We will attend to this promptly. (Feb 13/17)
Answered by: mcallic
(Dec 8/16) can we please get standing desks installed somewhere as it improves health and studying
Library response: Thanks for your suggestion. We will make sure to include some standing tables/desks as we continue to renovate and change up our spaces, but in the meantime you can borrow a laptop stand from the service desk in any of the libraries which will permit you to stand while using your laptop.
Good luck on your exams! (Dec 9/16)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Oct 3/16) 6th floor Mills is boiling right now. Its really hard to focus when I feel like Im melting.
Please turn on a/c!
Library response: Thanks for your message.
We have reported this problem to campus facilities services.
It is very warm in many areas of Mills.
We appreciate your patience while we get this worked out. (Oct 5/16)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(May 20/16) The grad study room is unreasonably cold. I spent 8 hours in there yesterday and went home with
an actual chill - it took me hours to feel warm again. Today, my smartphone read the room at
15°. Please please PLEASE turn up the temperature in that room!
Library response: Thanks for your message. This is a problem created by moving to air conditioning while the outside temperatures are still quite cool. Unfortunatley we cannot turn the heat back on. We will try to make some adjustments to call for less chilled air. (May 20/16)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Apr 18/16) Please turn the A/C on in Mills! 6th floor is a sauna!
Library response: I am sorry, we cannot turn the heat down since it does not officially switch to a/c until early May. We will see if we can get some more fresh air flowing into this area.
We will do our best to improve the situation! (Apr 18/16)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Mar 30/16) Connecting to WiFi in the library can be extremely difficult, especially on the higher floors. Specifically the back row of desks on 5th floor Wifi just doesnt work. Is it possible to improve WiFi in Mills? Perhaps adding more routers higher up in the library or stronger ones wherever they currently are could help?
Library response: Thank you for your note! We appreciate the feedback.
Tracking down the variables that make wireless access slow can be difficult. That's why this summer we'll be running some tests and determining if we need to approach campus IT about deploying additional wireless hardware. Thank you for your message. (Apr 4/16)
Answered by: mcallic
(Mar 21/16) Spaces that are labelled silent study such as the sixth floor are not being used by students in
this way. There should be a better way to monitor this such as putting cameras or something to
ensure that students are using this space appropriately.
Library response: Thanks for your email. We agree, it would be great if everyone would use designated spaces as they are intended.
Unfortunately there aren't enough staff on duty at any one time to patrol all of our spaces, or to monitor cameras. We have provided an email address which can be used to report problems in Mills, Innis or Thode libraries. This email address is monitored at all times and a staff member will be dispatched to address the problem. We have posted this email address on posters in both the Quiet and Silent areas of the libraries.
Next time, feel free to tell us about the problem when it is happening - drop us a note at
quiet@mcmaster.ca
Good luck on your exams! (Mar 22/16)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Apr 10/15) The 6th floor at mills has varying temperatures; It is getting unreasonably hot for some
reason. I asked around, and people feel the same. Its been like this for the past couple of
days that Ive come here. If something can be done to maintain a normal room temperature, that
would be nice. Thank you.
Library response: We apologize for the situation - campus facilities staff are trying to figure out what is going on so they can resolve it. We hope they will identify the problem shortly, with a solution to go with it. There is nothing else we can do but keeping reporting it and asking for updates. Sorry - we know this is a very difficult environment to study effectively in. (Apr 14/15)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Mar 17/15) Most of the couches on the upper floors of Mills are worn through - the leather is cracked
and/or broken completely and the filling is often showing. This is unpleasant to look at but
also uncomfortable to sit on. Please do something!
Library response: Were are you sitting? We have removed most of these couches, just recently. (Mar 17/15)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Mar 17/15) I was sitting at the second floor computers yesterday and was heavily disappointed by the state
of the computers. Not only are they running outdated operating systems, the scroll wheel on the
mouse wasnt working and the keyboard was sticky and looked like it hadnt been cleaned in
years - there was brown-ish dust and gunk all over it.
Library response: Thank you for sharing the feedback on the computers. We are actively investigating where we have public computers and refreshing them around a strategy of making computing a bit more invisible. When things get older (and filthier) they are the opposite of being invisible. We'd like to fix this.
Are you referring to the computers in the Learning Commons - or near the bookstacks? (Mar 18/15)
Answered by: pottier,mcallic
(Jan 14/15) 6th floor mills is freezing again. It was warm yesterday but right now it is very cold. Please
turn up the heat.
Library response: We agree, this seems to be an on again, off again problem. We report these problems to campus facilities services daily. They are trying to figure out what happens to make these changes.
Thanks for your patience while they figure it out. (Jan 21/15)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)
(Jan 8/15) Its freezing on 6th Floor Mills would it be possible to turn the heat on because I can feel a
vent with cold air coming out of it and I cant work when my hands are literally frozen!
Library response: We are on our way up to the 6th floor to take some temperature readings, then will place a service call again. Thanks for letting us know, and for your ongoing patience. (Jan 8/15)
Answered by: Anne Pottier (Associate University Librarian, Library Services/Facilities/Learning Support/Collections)