New reference books at the Schauerman Library were made available to students during the current winter session.

The 17 new reference books were purchased last September during fall semester but were just recently put on the library’s shelves due to the long process of cataloging the books.

“We always get many different types of books,” librarian Claudia Striepe said. “We are constantly working on new arrivals.”

The new books cover a wide range of subjects such as psychology, nursing, business and finances. There is even a book to reference comic book icons and Hollywood heroes.

“We always try to have information that compliments and augments the curriculum offered on campus,” reference librarian Vincent Robles said. “Assignments given are based on the nature of the class so we try to give students resources in those areas.”

Despite having the position of acquisition librarian vacant, a group of three librarians, through cooperation with the faculty and student input, were able to come to a decision as to what books to obtain.

“We send our faculty a list of potential books and ask them to mark what they believe is important,” Striepe said. “We also base our decisions on what students frequently ask us and faculty feed back.”

Through a subscription to Choice magazine, a monthly publication that specializes in making recommendations to academic libraries as to what reference books to obtain, the library receives a list of books with a summary and recommendation.

“Faculty can also give us feedback by filling out slips we have here at the library,” Robles said. “If their recommendation is on the list given to us by Choice, it will be given more consideration.”

Reference books weren’t the only new reading materials obtained by the library. New circulation books, special collection books and an updated electronic source were also obtained.

“Our electronic source is very reliable and valid,” Robles said. “We use an electronic source that is viewed by other librarians that we use to guide students to sources, If there was a mistake we would catch it.”

The new reference books and electronic source available to students will facilitate the task of researching information.

“This is an opportunity for students to take advantage of all the aspects of learning in a college setting,” Robles said.