NMSU Library has Sept. 19 open house

NMSU Library will host an open house 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, at both Zuhl and Branson libraries at the main campus in Las Cruces. Students, faculty and community members are invited to join and enjoy refreshments throughout the day.

The centerpiece of the open house will be the introduction of the library’s new Emerging Technologies Learning Lab (ETL), which is an exciting new space in Branson Library where members of the NMSU community can experience a variety of technology in a collaborative space.

“The mission of ETL is to help students understand the relationship between technology, information and knowledge,” said NMSU Library Dean Kevin Comerford. “ETL is an open lab space that any NMSU student may use to develop or enhance their digital fluency skills and apply them to their own particular field of study.”

Digital fluency is a step beyond information literacy, Comerford said, and helps remove social, cultural, employment and advancement barriers. “It provides students with the ability to be more competitive in both academia and the employment marketplace.

The lab currently has 12 state-of-the-art Alienware computers with 38-inch curved ultrawide monitors, a Meta Quest 2 VR headset, a 3D printer, Arduino kits and more.”
NMSU Archives and Special Collections will exhibit historic papers and photographs from the Amador family project during the open house.

Zuhl library has a new family workstation that provides desk space for studying attached to a playpen where student parents can attend to small children, Comerford said. Another new feature is the student meditation and prayer space, and library staff will show examples of other remodeling projects that will go on later this semester.

Visit nmsu.libcal.com/.