The O’Malley Library Archives
ZENDRAH BONNICK / THE QUADRANGLE
Zendrah Bonnick, Asst. News Editor
Over the summer, Manhattan University’s (MU) O’Malley Library has undergone some changes in spacing, staffing, furniture and more.
These updates are based on an end-of-the-year poll that students voted on last semester, posted by the library on Instagram. The Quadrangle interviewed library staff to better understand recent changes. Sarah Sheehan, interim director of public service, told The Quadrangle that the library’s layout and varying noise levels across floors allow students to use it as both a quiet study space and a place to socialize.
“[If] you’re an engineer, or a business [major] … you’re going to be working in groups,” Sheehan said. “There needs to be a space where the students can get together and be loud-ish.”
Susanne Markgren, interim director of the O’Malley Library, shared how the library recently implemented changes to create more room for quiet spaces and group work.
“We had some shelving removed, and we created two new study areas,” Markgren said. “We added several charging stations because that was always in demand … We have added several more whiteboards. You’ll see them on every floor.”
Sheehan also elaborated on how varying sound levels throughout the library help accommodate students’ diverse needs.
“There also needs to be spaces where [students] are able to concentrate and are provided different sound levels … depending on the students, we’re seeing lots more neurodivergent students that need a very particular type of environment to be successful in … sound levels [can help],” Sheehan said.
Bernadette Lopez-Fitzsimmons, a member of the university’s tenure library faculty, commented on how the sound levels help; however, they are not a perfect solution.
“Group work is very much part of a lot of courses now, I knew a big issue was with students [wanting] quiet spaces to study,” Lopez-Fitzsimmons said. “We try to keep the noise down, but it’s hard, because sometimes the noise travels.”
Beyond studying and group projects, the O’Malley Library continues to serve as a space for both research and reading.
Laurin Paradise, digital outreach and student engagement librarian, highlighted resources she believes students could benefit from using more often.
“Zotero, which is a citation management software that we have access to,” Paradise said. “[Another] fun one is Canopy, our streaming movie database. Selections have really improved over the last couple of years… and now they have a bunch of A24 [movies as well].”
Sheehan then went onto elaborate on the library’s role in supporting student research.
“Librarians are here to help with research, and you don’t have to go it alone,” Sheehan said. “The subject-specific databases that will allow you to drill down directly to resources that are specific to the area you’re researching.”
In addition to the librarians being a resource to help students with research, the O’Malley Library is also home to the university’s archive and Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Center.
Amy Surak, director of archives and special collections at MU, discussed working to implement changes to the archive office.
“The archive [office] contains extensive information on the Catholic Church and the brothers’ mission, much of it in French,” Surak said. “AI has helped translate the material, with the goal of eventually making more archival documents accessible online, though balancing digitization with ensuring the collection is properly accounted for remains a challenge.”
While physical book reading has declined nationally, MU’s library still houses approximately 320,000 books, offers e-books and has expanded its manga collection. Through interlibrary loan, students can also access books and other materials not currently available in the library’s collection.
“You’ll get an email… you go upstairs to the circulation desk and tell them you ordered a book through the interlibrary loan,” Lopez-Fitzsimmons said. “You have to return it in time, and they’ll tell you the due date. But if you need articles, they’ll come within two or three days and you click on the link and get a PDF. So, the articles come really quickly.”
To gain more information about the technological changes the library is planning to implement, The Quadrangle spoke to Erin Walden, the newly hired emerging technologies librarian.
“My position is going to be focused on helping students and faculty navigate using AI,” Walden said. “I’m working on creating an online kind of module to just have something where students can go and find lots of resources about AI use in their classes and through our online library databases. We’re going to be working closely with other departments to ramp up and create a pretty robust AI support network.”
Markgren also added that repairs and improvements have been made to the library’s tech hardware.
“We have all the new printers in the library,” Markgren said. “We have all new computers on the fifth floor, and IT will be slowly replacing all the computers in the library. We also have web prints, so people can print from their laptops, phones and other devices.”
With updates to its spaces, technology and resources, the O’Malley Library continues to adapt to the changing needs of MU students.