Beaman Library builds off old, welcomes new

Students who study in the Beaman Library can stay connected at all times, thanks to the new charging station. And if students are in need of the device itself — iPads in particular — they can be checked out just like a book. These are a few of the services provided by the Beaman Library, which not only has a new director, but has also expanded its services to keep up with students’ needs. Library Director Sandra Parham came to Lipscomb after 15 years as dean of the library at California State University, Dominguez Hills, just outside Los Angeles. Parham is very eager to collaborate more often with faculty to better suit students’ needs through the instruction program. The library instruction program brings together faculty members and librarians to create a session that will guide students to obtain the resources they need. The instruction sessions are designed to fit each student’s needs – whether it be an introduction to the resources or a one-on-one session demonstrating how to search the databases. The instruction sessions will be especially helpful this year as the library has added new databases. The Alexander Street Press Academic Online database, for example, includes 39 collections of about 40,000 videos that cover all disciplines. In addition to the new databases, a brand new selection of audio books — Playpacks — are preloaded on a small device and ready for students to check out. With the Playpacks, students are able to speed up or slow down the reading, and students also have the opportunity to check out hard copies of the books so they can read and listen at the same time....