Well, despite the chilly temperature outside, the semester that started today was, in fact, technically the summer semester.  The warm weather hasn't arrived yet, but the days are getting longer, and the school days are shorter, but Bracken Library's hours are still the same as they usually are, so if you need to work on a project or a paper and need access to the library's resources late into the night, we're still here until 3am on Sunday through Thursday.

National Bike Month

May is National Bike Month and a "Bike to Work Day" has been planned to encourage university employees to ride in instead of drive in on May 16th.  Of course, employees aren't the only people who need to travel to campus.  So, if you have a bike, and you live relatively close to campus but usually drive in, why not join the Ball State University employees and try biking to class this Friday?  With the price of gas it could help save you a little cash, and who knows?  You might decided that you want to bike to class every day.  Ball State Employees' "Working Well" website has links to information about bicycle safety, biking info and tips, a campus map showing the locations of the bike racks, and even a link to a page with info about local bike routes and trails ideal for recreational riding.

Bookmark Cafe closes for the Summer Semester

The Bookmark Cafe will be closed for the summer semester, but will re-open again in the fall.  Please make a note of this when coming to the library if you were planning on visiting the cafe during your visit.

New Vending Machines in the Lower Level of Bracken

Even though the cafe isn't open this summer, there are still vending machines in the lower level of Bracken just outside of the double doors by the Music Listening Collection which offer a variety of beverage choices and snack items.  In fact, two new vending machines have been added.  One of the machines has refrigerated sandwiches, hotdogs, muffins, chocolate milk, etc. and the other machine contains a variety of juices.  All of the items are reasonably priced at around $1.00 to $1.25 for many of the items.

The summer has just started, and before long many of you who are taking classes are going to start having to research papers and projects.  As always, library staff are available at Bracken, the Architecture Library, and the Science-Health Science library during normal open hours to assist you with locating the resources that you need.  Feel free to stop by any of our service desks for assistance, or to contact us online or by phone, visit our Ask a Librarian page.  We look forward to seeing you and assisting you this summer.