August 1, 2011
For the past three years, Tom Bremer has been dean of Darrell W. Krueger Library, the “home” for academic life at Winona State. Bremer was formerly associate director of the North Dakota State University Libraries.
Today’s library has changed, but it many ways it hasn’t. It serves the information needs of campus and the community, but the delivery method is different.
Our collection has shifted to electronic from print. With electronic journals and increasingly e-books, users can access our collection without entering the building.
There’s still a need for the physical structure of the library. Students and scholars need instruction on navigating the vast and complex digital information environment.
Libraries provide places to interact. They’re places where we can gather, ask questions, work together on problems facing our community.
The Krueger Library was built with a lot of foresight. It anticipated the library of the future.
Not many libraries encourage interaction like ours does. There are more than 2,200 network access points; two dozen rooms for group work; bean bags and tables that encourage working together; 20 lectures, readings, and discussions every year.
I used to think the library of the future might resemble a phone booth. That hasn’t happened. Krueger Library has gained more importance a place for human interaction in our disconnected, digital world.
The Krueger Collection
469,462 Total volumes
120,000 Microform units [26%]
54,819 Electronic books [12%]
34,791 Electronic journals [7%]
A Place to Connect
512,005 People visiting 2010-11
1,500 Approximate visits per day
38,201 Items checked out 2010-11
50,124 Articles uploaded per year
3,478 Average reference questions answered per year
13,175 Average interlibrary loans per year
105.5 Hours open per week
