D.H. Hill Jr. Library harbors the Ask Us desk, which provides resources for student needs and aims to help students succeed academically. 

Adebola Fabiku, department head of Ask Us services, said students can find resources for success at the Ask Us desk. 

“We want to provide good customer service and student success,” Fabiku said. “We are merging those two things together, making sure we help students get what they need so that we don’t impede them graduating. We want to help students graduate with the resources that we have.”

Fabiku explained the role of the Ask Us desk and its availability to students.

“Our main responsibility is helping keep the library open 24 hours a day, five days a week,” Fabiku said. “We also connect our students to the resources that we have in the library. We kind of look at ourselves as a one-stop shop. We circulate books, but we also circulate technology that students might need for their class or even a hobby they want to learn more about.” 

Ben Pratt, a first-year studying business, said he uses the Ask Us desk for emergencies regarding school work. 

“I use the desk to get things like chargers, pens and pencils,” Pratt said. “These resources help me study for my tests and quizzes. It’s important to me because it helps me be more prepared for my classes.” 

Ben Rinehart, a fourth-year studying marine science and Ask Us desk student lead, said his role is to help manage his fellow students, along with providing feedback. 

“My biggest role is taking on the position of a student worker, working the desk, managing a lot of the students that are coming up, but also on top of that, managing the other students that are working at the desks,” Rinehart said. “Making sure that they are on top of their work, making sure that their schedules are appropriate and making sure the overall well-being of the desk is maintained.” 

Rinehart said the resources at the Ask Us desk aren’t limited to student use.

“We actually have special request items that are specifically for our staff,” Rinehart said. “Textbooks of course can help with teaching classes and providing examples that might be significant towards their teaching style. Many of our rooms that we have provided for our staff are perfect for having conferences or even meeting with students who may need more assistance in a smaller setting.”

While the Ask Us desk’s goal is to provide students with ample resources, there are cases where requests might be rejected due to Library policies. 

“The hardest part is having to tell a student ‘No’,” Fabiku said. “We pride ourselves on being able to provide great customer service and provide students with what they need. If we have something, but they need it slightly longer, but our policies don’t allow for that because we have to have all these resources for everyone else. We can’t make an exception for students, which is really hard because I understand what they’re going through. We will always connect them to another resource available.” 

Rinehart said many students seem to be unaware of the Ask Us desk or unclear on what it does, but the students who do know about the services the desk offers benefit from its resources in the long run.

“For the ones that do know about us, we see them very often,” Rinehart said. “Once people figure out what we do at the desk we see them definitely once or twice every single day, depending on if it’s a tech item or a book they are looking for.” 

Visit the Library’s website for more information on the Ask Us desk and University Libraries jobs.