Friday August 14 2020
Hello CoB faculty,
Below is a message from your University Library concerning ILL, operating hours, and course reserves. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know how to help.
On ILL services:
Interlibrary Loan services will be able to resume borrowing physical materials starting August 20th. However, please keep in mind that we are completely dependent on other libraries to fulfil requests. With most libraries operating on reduced schedules and with restrictions on access to their print collections, we anticipate that there will be delays in filling your print book, media, and microform requests.
On physical library services/ opening hours:
The library will providing a mix of in-person and remote services for fall semester. Due to the rapidly changing public health situation in San Antonio, we are encouraging everyone to check our website for the most current hours and services before making plans to come in. If you are considering creating an assignment that involves using the physical library, please let me know, so I can help you assess whether it will be possible to do with our safety measures in place.
About course reserves:
This fall, in order to keep students safe while still trying to provide an important service, the University Library has decided to focus our physical course reserve books collection on face to face and hybrid courses. We will not automatically pull any physical books for online courses, although faculty are still welcome to provide personal copies for reserves. However, we also want to make you aware that, for the safety of library staff, reserves will now follow a self-service model. Reserve materials will be located on open shelving that is accessible to students rather than behind the library’s information desk. Students will be encouraged to use the reserves materials at their leisure but in the library only. Since they will no longer check them out at the library’s information desk, there is a greater possibility that your personal copy may be lost or misplaced. Please keep this risk in mind if you do decide to leave a copy with us this semester. Personal copies left by faculty members in previous semesters will be kept on reserve for courses unless we hear otherwise from you.
Due to changes in the bookstore’s policies and booklist availability, moving forward faculty are highly encouraged to request the physical books they want the library to pull for reserve for their face to face and hybrid classes. They should also check with their subject librarian to see if electronic books are available for their online courses and the library can link to those in their online course reserves system.
Our goal for our course reserves services for fall 2020 is to create the safest possible environment for our students while continuing to provide support for their learning in these uncertain and rapidly changing times. If you have a need for course reserves that is not covered by our policies, please let us know and we will work with you to get students what they need to be successful.
Thank you,
Marina Narvaez
Business Librarian
Texas A&M University- San Antonio
Professor Elam 
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