Halle Library on the Eastern Michigan University campus is a busy place. Students, faculty and staff use it for a variety of purposes and reasons. And, Ypsilanti residents can get a library card with a valid driver’s license or state ID. In this Special EMU Student Project report, Nora Gibson explores all that Halle Library has to offer.
Halle Library is known for having one of the largest collections of children's literature in the United States, as well as an education resource center with lesson planning materials.
"This is a collection whose purpose is to provide students with some of the materials that they might be using in the classroom if they go out to be K-12 teachers. "
That was Kate Pittsley-Sousa, a public service librarian who has been with Halle Library for over 20 years.
"All of the librarians on the faculty here at EMU have master's degrees in information and library studies. Nice. We also specialize. So, we have some librarians who take care of our systems and our technical services. And our job is to teach students and faculty about how to find information, to get to know the students and faculty's needs and to choose the books and journals and databases that we make available for the students--trying the best we can to meet those needs."
Kate also explained that a public service librarian is also known as a "subject librarian," who has expertise in a particular area.
"So, we have a STEM librarian who has a science degree and understands more how to use some of those science databases than the rest of us. I look out for the College of Education, and I used to a high school teacher."
I asked Kate and other librarians what they think are the most interesting collections or services on Halle Library.
KATE PITTSLEY-SOUSA: "A particularly children's literature collection."
NORA GIBSON: "Nice!"
KATE PITTSLEY-SOUSA: "Which includes everything from picture books for preschoolers through young adult novels. Our collection is so good, it's better than what they have at U of M, so it's something to brag about."
NORA GIBSON: "Oh!"
Kate says it is part of the job for librarians to meet with students and offer help on their projects.
"Students can make an appointment to work with the librarian when they have a research assignment. And nowadays, you don't even have to come to the library to do that. We'll work with you over Zoom, which works wonderfully."
Halle Library's collections offer traditional, hard copy books and journals that can be checked out. They are also offered electronically through a digital archive housed on the library's website. Those options make it accessible and valuable for teachers in the Ypsilanti Community Schools.
KATE PITTSLEY-SOUSA: "So, the local teachers are certainly welcome to come in and use this physical collection in the library. And they end up with the same access that our students have since those books stay in the library."
NORA GIBSON: "Oh good!"
KATE PITTSLEY-SOUSA: "They also can access the electronic component, and they can get into most of the things that are posted on there because most of the things that are posted on there are free that they can get to."
The library's digital archive includes an extensive collection of local historical photographs, yearbooks, student newspapers, and more.
Michael Barnes is the cataloging and metadata librarian at Halle.
MICHAEL BARNES: "So, we have the archives, the university archives."
NORA GIBSON: "Yes."
MICHAEL BARNES: "And in that subset, we have digital collections, which I believe is what you're after. It's really pretty cool. We've really branched out in the last maybe 10 years or so. But there's several sites, maybe commons.emich.edu, and that has a lot of more paper stuff. We'll call it theses and dissertations presented by EMU students."
NORA: "Yes."
MICHAEL: "And that sort of thing. Also like the school newspaper, it goes back to 18-something, 1890-something. That's my guess. But it has the paper-based stuff."
Barnes adds that the library now features a fix-it hub and a place for digital media production.
MICHAEL BARNES: "We have a creative studio now. I don't know if you've been up there, but there's a couple of rooms that are like set up for podcasting with the egg wall stuff. I don't know what you call that. Sound muting stuff on the wall. It looks like an egg cart, but you can get a kit from the Cirque Desk. We have some tech loans, and you can get a podcasting kit, go in there, set it up and run your own podcast from that room, that type of thing."
NORA GIBSON: "Nice!"
MICHAEL BARNES: "So, we have some creative spaces like that, that's available to any EMU student. Me and Bill Marino, a colleague, we created the Halle Fix-It Hub. It's once a month, but it's sort of a drop-in thing. Come in with some stuff that you have that's broken. Do you have a fan that you wanna fix? Let's try to fix it."
NORA: "Yeah!"
MICHAEL BARNES: "And it's not about us fixing it. It's about empowering you to fix it yourself and then gain the skills. So, the next time the fan breaks, you know how to fix it."
There are more services available to those visiting Halle Library's website.
Sara Memmott is an information librarian who has been with Halle Library for over 17 years.
"Definition is we have an "Ask a Librarian" chat service, which is available 24-7. So, students or other library users can connect with it on our website and ask a question to a librarian. And these are real people. This isn't run by bots or AI, and the way we're able to provide this 24- 7 is that we're part of a cooperative of libraries."
Although Halle Library has a popular reading room with new books for those that like to read for fun, Memmott says most people use the library for academic, research, or work purposes.
"You definitely walk around, you see a lot of students studying or working on projects or even just hanging out. And so, I think the building gets used a little more for that. I think, overall, we have a huge amount of use of the library website and our services online, and that is mostly, I think, research use rather than fun use. So, we probably have a few fun books that are available like online, but I think, for the most part, that's research-based use."
Halle Library underwent extensive renovations in 2024 and now serves the community as more than just a library. In fact, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, you can even hang out with a therapy dog named Tinker on the second floor.
For more information, visit the Halle Library website at emich.edu/library
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