Women's Center library offers info on sensitive topics
The center's 2,300 volumes are available to all MU students, faculty and staff.
Published June 2, 2010
Thousands of books, with topics ranging from the theories of feminism to the psychology of pornography, to the history of beauty culture, are available at the Women's Center. The multitude of volumes is available to all students and staff.
Women's Center advisor Suzy Day said the Women's Center has probably had the library ever since its founding in 1975.
"It provides another resource to students, faculty, staff and community," she said.
The library's 2,300 volumes cover a wide variety of subjects, though its 35 movies are more focused on social justice issues.
"Our video collection includes topics such as sexual harassment, body image, advertising and women in the media (and) masculinity," Day said.
Junior Lauren Olson, who visits the Women's Center often, said she uses the materials for class.
"I use them mostly as resources or references for essays for different classes that I have, even ones that, you know, aren't necessarily women's and gender studies classes," said Olson.
The Women's Center also has subscriptions to magazines such as Bust and Make/shift, Day said. The Center also has every issue of Ms. ever published, from the 1970s to the present. Day said the magazines cannot be checked out but are available for perusal in the Center's lounge.
The Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center also has a library of around 300 books and 35 videos, which are located together with the Women's Center library, Day said. The LGBTQ Resource Center's library is located there as well.
"If someone called the Women's Center and wanted to borrow a movie that was RSVP's, we'd help with that request," Day said.
RSVP Center Coordinator Danica Pape said people use their materials for projects, presentations or simply for their own knowledge.
"More often than not, students will come up and be looking for resources for a paper or something," Pape said.
The RSVP's library is meant to provide resources to students on issues that are relevant to students. Pape said these issues include rape, sexual assault and partner violence prevention. The centers are working on upgrading to a digital system, but have card catalogue systems for now, Pape said.
To check out a book, students put the book's card in a file behind a card with the student's name on it, Olson said. Students who want to check out materials need to get a user card from the Women's Center.
Day said students can check out up to three materials at a time for two weeks. They can renew them by simply taking the books and their user card to a member of the Women's Center staff. To check out a video, students need to talk to staff at the Center for Social Justice, she said.
To check out a video from the RSVP Center's library, Pape said students should contact their support staff. Day said students could also choose to watch a video in the Center rather than checking it out.
"For instance, if you missed a movie in class, and you know we have it, you can come in and check it out in the Center and watch it on our TV," Day said.
Additionally, all checkouts from the Women's Center library are confidential, Olson said.
"So if you don't want people to know what you're coming in and looking up, then no one's going to come in and try and, you know, Patriot Act their way through your library book," she said.