Welcome to Mantor

Bagpipes were skirling on High Street this morning, leading the way to the Convocation of the class of 2016.  That's a very happy sound for library staff, banishing the weeks of summer quiet and announcing the beginning of a busy new year with Gaelic panache. Hooray! Welcome, class of 2016! And for old friends, welcome home. We hope you had a fantastic summer.

You'll find some changes around here if you're a returning member of the UMF community. Some are complete, and some are still in the works. Here are some highlights:

• We have a new web page! A cleaner, simpler design that we hope will make navigation easier.
• A new chat reference interface. It's still right there on the homepage. When a librarian is logged in to live chat, it will say "Chat with a librarian", and the little light bulb icon will be yellow.
• More large group study rooms! There has been such a demand for larger group spaces, we have reconfigured the conference room to become a study area that can accommodate a dozen or more people. We will also have another group space in what was Project Zone 2 on the first floor. This new study space will have a Smartboard: how cool is that?? 
• The Archive has moved from the basement of Mallett to our new digs in Scott South. It was a huge job, but the UMF facilities crew were absolute troopers in helping us get it done.

For our new friends, we're hosting one of our ever-popular "Master the Mantor Maze" events as part of Orientation.  This treasure hunt activity is a fun way to learn to navigate our confusing stairs and layout ("It's like Hogwarts in here" is a comment we frequently get from Summer Experience maze runners!)  as well as learn about the resources we offer. The event is this Friday from 11:45 to 1 - come play if you can:  you'll enjoy yourself, learn a lot, and even win a prize for mastering the maze! (New faculty as well as new students are welcome. For that matter, even if you're a returning student, and you had so much fun the first time you want to play again, we'd love to see you!)

See you at Mantor!