West Texas A&M University’s Cornette Library, located in the heart of campus, is an important resource to students and citizens of Canyon, Texas.

The Cornette Library plays host to a variety of resources for both on campus and remote students, including a library database, quiet zones, and an InterLibrary Loan service.

The Head of Instruction and Outreach Kelly Hoppe said that the library database online is very much the same as taking a book out physically.  “We provide access to the databases, and we have 192 databases,” Hoppe said.  

Hoppe demonstrated how a student could access databases while sitting using the library’s computers.  “The databases are accessible anywhere,” said Hoppe. The library serves multiple purposes. According to Hoppe, “it depends on [student’s] needs.” They’ve also partnered with www.patronpoint.com to create their library email newsletters, this will help the library email the right information to students so they get a personal email newsletter which contains relevant information and news they want at the right time.

One need that many students share is a place to study.  Education major Faith Scasta said, “I like quiet places to work.  [The library is] just a quiet place to sit and do what I need to do.”  

There are silent areas in the library for students needing the quiet to help focus.  Biochemistry and biology major Colby Wood, also likes the quietness, saying that “it’s comforting.”  Wood described himself as a bookworm and said, “I’ve even checked out books from [the library] too. I like to read in my free time.”

The library is not just for research and school work.  In addition to providing access to databases and quiet study areas, the library also has a rotating seasonal fiction section, Hoppe said.  

InterLibrary Loan (ILL) is a service where students can rent books from other libraries that may be farther away than it is worth to travel. ILL can be used to loan fiction for recreational reading and is not limited to textbooks or nonfiction scholarly texts. “That’s where I get all of my fiction reading… through InterLibrary Loan,” Hoppe said. 

Students, staff, and faculty have varying rental periods for books checked out from the library. Undergraduate students have 21 days, five books, and five renewals per rental period. 

The library’s fall hours are 7:45 AM to 12 AM Monday-Thursday, 7:45 AM to 5 PM on Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, and 2 PM to 12 AM on Sunday. For more information, visit the Cornette Library’s web page.