The Library is the heart of a University. It is the place where students explore new realms, expand their knowledge, and connect with information that lifts their understanding.
Kwantlen’s vision for our libraries is one of dynamic, welcoming, intellectual and social gathering spaces dedicated to successful learning and teaching. This means keeping pace with the changing needs of a diverse community of learners, offering the very latest in learning technology, accommodating different learning styles, and maintaining relevant collections that resonate with Kwantlen’s 200 academic programs.
Your support for Kwantlen’s libraries has an immediate impact, helping Kwantlen students maximize their true learning potential.
Learn more about our current priorities:
- Collections
Developing a rich, diverse and innovative collection of resources appropriate to a contemporary Polytechnic University. - Services & Technological Innovations
Providing services that address the changing needs of the university community. - Environment
Creating the ultimate surroundings to facilitate modern learning.
1. Collections
A library’s worth is defined by its collections. Kwantlen Polytechnic University is proud of its current collections, but additional resources are always needed as new degree programs are launched and information continues to grow exponentially.
Our immediate needs include resources such as reference materials, books, databases, journals and DVDs essential to supporting students in Kwantlen’s new degree programs:
- Bachelor of Arts, Major in Anthropology
- Bachelor of Arts, Major in Asian Studies
- Bachelor of Arts, Major in Creative Writing
- Bachelor of Arts, Major in Philosophy
- Bachelor of Arts, Major in Policy Studies
- Bachelor of Arts, Major in Sociology
- Bachelor of Arts, Minor in Counseling
- Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing Management
- Bachelor of Design, Product Design (soft goods)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts, Visual Arts
- Bachelor of Horticulture Science in Urban Ecosystems Major or Plant Health Major
- Bachelor of Science in Health Science
If you have a specific interest in supporting collections in one of these areas, please contact the University Librarian.
Future Needs
In order for our Libraries to continue to serve the research needs of students and Faculty in the future, Kwantlen has established an Endowment Fund specifically for investing in collections. Interest from this endowment would help us maintain current, accessible information necessary for research, teaching and scholarship in the long term.
If you would like information about supporting the Collections Endowment, please contact the University Librarian.
2. Services and Technological Innovations
Facilitating rapid access to the right information at the right time – this is the goal of all the services and technology offered by Kwantlen’s libraries. We are constantly evaluating our approach to serving our community and developing innovative solutions to enable smooth and easy access to our collections.
Innovative support enables the Library to transform from good to excellent. This financial support would allow the Library to seize new opportunities, leverage grant funding, respond quickly to information requests, and keep pace with changing technologies to reflect the complex world of scholarship and information in the 21st Century.
Our specific goals include:
- Creation of an Institutional Repository - $30,000
Research activity has grown considerably at Kwantlen over the past five years, and forms a key part of the university’s mission and commitments. However, the university has no mechanism for disseminating or showcasing the research produced by its faculty, students, and staff. An institutional repository would provide a much needed boost to the visibility and continued development of faculty members’ research development. This will allow the digitalization and safe storage of all Faculty research, theses, resources and documents, and will be accessible via the internet. - Other specific initiatives?
- We have identified a need for more modern presentation equipment for classrooms, labs and portable lecture needs to enhance the learning environment and replace out-moded equipment.
- It would be of great benefit for both the Library and IET to have an additional network server for testing only. This would make it possible to experiment and explore new software functionality without impacting current operational functionality.
- Many libraries are introducing students and faculty to new technology through innovative loan programs which make new devices available to early adopters. Such programs allow libraries to explore new ways to deliver content by loaning items such as netbooks, tablets, and ereaders to users. Along with new methods of access we need to keep up with the technology needed to preserve materials into the future. The library would benefit from the addition of a special purpose photocopier which facilitates the copying of bound volumes and extends the life of materials which must be copied for interlibrary loan purposes. Long-term needs might also include the acquisition of an optical scanner for the preservation of print materials for delivery as digitized web accessible materials.
If you would like to make a gift to Kwantlen Polytechnic University Library Services and Technology, please contact the University Librarian.
3. Environment
Kwantlen is committed to providing welcoming and adaptable learning environments that support collaborative and individual research and study. We envision our libraries as intellectual and social gathering places on each campus, creating a place of comfort for our students, faculty, staff and the broader community to learn and connect.
The Langley Campus Library currently stands out as being unable to offer its students the same quality experience that Cloverdale, Surrey and Richmond’s students receive. Chief among the inadequacies: Langley’s lab seats only 25 students and needs to accommodate the traditional class of 35; the lab is overcrowded, hot and uncomfortable; there are far too few computers both in the lab and in the rest of the library and these are overcrowded; only 5 group study rooms and little group study space; lack of up to date social seating arrangements. Lastly, and in some ways, most importantly, there is an urgent need to improve disabled access in and out of the library. The current entrance gates disadvantage our disabled students. All our students, regardless of campus location, should be able to successfully study and carry out research in a university-caliber library. The Langley Library is inadequate now; if left unaddressed these problems will become critical with the arrival of 600 Community & Health Studies students in the fall of 2012.
If you would like to make a gift to the Langley Campus Library Environment, please contact the University Librarian.