Bridging the Digital Divide and Campus Silos: Student Laptops in the Library

Session Time: 10:00- 11:00 AM

In the spring of 2023, Texas A&M University – Texarkana’s Moss Library partnered with the Information Technology Department to expand short-term laptop access for students. By combining resources and expertise, the two departments facilitated improved access to laptops for students. Both departments offered laptops for student use, but neither was successfully meeting the needs of TAMUT students. The library’s collection was housed in a kiosk and was designated for in-library use only. The IT laptop collection was set for a limited one-week loan period, and with their competing duties, the department was struggling to efficiently keep up with demand. A combined service distributing laptops housed in the library leveraged the strengths of both teams and created an improved, centralized, and expanded service.  This presentation addresses several common themes for academic libraries: circulating nontraditional materials, collaboration with Information Technology, and student success. We hope that sharing our experiences will provide other institutions in the A&M system with ideas and encouragement and can start a discussion about how to approach these topics.