The Elizabeth Huth Coates Library has four floors. While the main entrance is on the third floor, a staircase leads down to the second floor where students can find a quieter environment for silent study. In the four floors, numerous teams offer students a variety of resources, from research help to historical records of Trinity.
This floor also houses the Trinity University Special Collections and Archives, where Trinity keeps historic materials relating to the university, according to Abra Schnur, university archivist.
“It’s part of a larger Trinity story of people who worked or attended here,” Schnur said. “I think it’s a really cool way for students and faculty to look back into the past to see what their department was doing at a particular time.”
Beyond records and books directly relating to Trinity history, Schnur said they also feature historic materials relating to Trinity alumni, including alumni collections and donations. Students can also use the archives for extensive undergraduate research. Schnur said they offer twenty instruction classes a semester and collaborate with students, such as with the “Conmemorando a la Comunidad” project.
“It is an interdisciplinary digital humanities project, where we’re trying to uncover and share out Latinx histories and stories of Trinity,” Schnur said. “So we work with students who come from all different educational backgrounds, art history, international business and communications.”
The archives offer resources for any student on campus. According to Schnur, there is something for everyone in the archives.
Another resource within the library that aims to facilitate student research is the instructional librarians. The instructional librarians are found on the third floor of the library and are there to help in different areas of research.
Bradley Dusing, teaching, learning and research instruction librarian, offers one-on-one research appointments with students. They said these meetings can help students with any aspect of their research, from how to develop topics to finding and integrating sources.
Dusing said the library also provides students with access to many databases. The library’s main website, which Dusing said is very comprehensive, lists these databases alphabetically and filters them by subject.
“We subscribe to almost 300 different databases. Some of them are general subject databases that cover a lot of different things, JSTOR is a good example,” Dusing said. “But then there are some that are really specific. For my sport management class, we use a database called Sport Discuss.”
Lacey Brooks-Canales is another teaching, learning and research instruction librarian. She said that in addition to providing digital resources, the library also provides support to students in all areas of research.
“Everything we do is focused on research, and part of providing resources for research is also the people, providing people as a resource to help you navigate those things,” Brooks-Canales said. “Libraries can be complicated and large, and it’s not necessarily students’ jobs to know everything that we have and how to access it. It’s to know that you have a librarian who can help you do those things.”
Brooks-Canales and Anne Graf, head of instruction services, both said they love being able to help students. Graf said she likes being a resource for students when they are feeling overwhelmed.
“I really like when someone’s feeling kind of stuck on something or maybe challenged by just the scope of the research process,” Graf said. “Helping them figure out what’s that next step that you could take to kind of get back on track and feel like you’re making progress again. I find that really satisfying.”
Graf also said there’s a lot that the library does for students that they might not be aware of. She said the resource management department works to not only manage the access students have to databases, but to help them notice what’s getting used and what should be made available.
In addition to support and online resources, the library also provides an opportunity for on-campus employment for students. One of the library’s student-workers, Risa Flores, junior human resource management major, said employment at the library also acts as a work-study opportunity. According to Flores, the library serves as a social space for students that offers resources and help for them.
“I’m glad that our team is who they are because it makes it a nice, comfortable environment,” Flores said.
