Allen Community College’s library has made big changes this year under the direction of Sandy Moore, who took the helm in January. The library has been buying new series of books for students to borrow, including a whole section of books for young adults.

“We have gotten rid of about 10,000 books from the library this summer: old books and resources. We try to buy new books that are more relevant now,” said Moore.

Next to the young adults collection, there is a movie section that has DVDs from all kinds of genres. Some of the movies were bought by the library, but most of them were donated by the faculty and staff of Allen.

“We really don’t want the students who are here on campus to get bored. I’ve seen people getting movies in the Redbox at Walmart. Now, they can just come to the library and check out the movies,” said Sandy Moore.

Moore is excited about all the changes and improvements that the library is going through now. Students check out new books and movies all the time. In fact, more students are reading than watching movies. According to the librarian, the collection of young adult fiction is circulating more books than the movie collection.

“Last year at this time, the entire library had checked out eight books. This year I checked out about 500. That’s without anybody saying anything. Students are just coming here and checking out books,” said Moore with excitement.

Another big change that, for sure, made students happy this year is free printing. For years the library charged for printing and students had to go to the Writing Center to print what they needed. Those days are in the past. Now Allen’s library allows students to print for free.

“There is no point in charging. I want students to come here instead of going somewhere else to print. We want to do anything we can do to get students to use the library and take advantage of the resources we have,” said Moore.

Moreover, the library is open at 7:45 a.m. now so the students can print whatever they need for their 8 o`clock classes. Last year, having to wait until 8 a.m. to print assignments was an inconvenience for many students.

And when students need a pick-me-up before they go to class, they can get a shot of caffeine in the library. Moore added a single-cup coffee maker for students and employees to buy coffee or tea.

Recently, the library hosted a cultural event with Kansas author Sandra Moran, an associate professor at Johnson County Community College. Thirty people showed up to participate in the activity including students, faculty, staff and administration.

Starting this year, the library is going to have two cultural events per semester. The next event is going to be in November when Allen music director Ted Clous and his students will perform. Moore wants the community to be involved in the events as well. The library soon will start advertising about upcoming activities outside of campus.

“We also want staff to be able to take a break during the day. Come over and learn something and have fun and go back to work,” the library director said.

In the spring the Writing Center will move from the Student Success Center to the library to join the math tutors that already serve students there. The rest of the semester, staff of the library will be moving a lot of books to accommodate the planned tutoring area. The process is part of the paring and updating of books being conducted by

Moore.“It`s going to be a nice study area. Students will have everything they need here,” she said.

Moore is thinking about different activities that the library can do for students. “I`m thinking about holding a chess tournament or a game night in the future. I`m working on some ideas now,” she said.