Last Monday, Dunn Library began emailing students the LibQUAL+ survey.

“The LibQUAL+ survey is a library satisfaction survey, and it is the first web-based one we have done,” Cyd Dyer, college librarian and archivist, said.

According to Dyer, the survey is an opportunity to both help the library better address student needs and serve them the best way possible.

The survey is free and consists of 27 questions that cover the study space provided by the library, the information available through the databases and the availability and quality of the services provided.

It opened Monday, Oct. 27, and goes through Nov. 14. It can be accessed through a link on the library’s home page. A link to the survey was included in e-mails sent to students.

The library has also created an official Facebook event, sign-ins at Dunn Library and the Hawley Academic Resource Center and advertised the survey on sidewalks across campus.

Dyer said that with the help of the Student Government Association, the library is able to give prizes.

Students who complete the survey will be entered into a random drawing for prizes.

The prizes include a $50 Visa gift card, a $100 Visa gift card and an iPod Touch. The e-mail responses will be compiled in a random ordered list and those individuals whose e-mail addresses correspond to the pre-selected winning numbers will win the prizes.

Dyer hopes as many students as possible answer the survey.

“The survey is a way of benchmarking,” Dyer said. “It will allow us to compare our results with other schools. The survey will also help the library staff to track satisfaction and calculate the service gap.”

For some students, Dunn Library is doing a good job at providing an enjoyable atmosphere for completing homework, but could make some minor changes.

“The library is normally quiet,” freshman Jordan Ray said. “I usually get my work done in there.”

Ray also said he wishes that Hawley Academic Resource Center was open until midnight so he could submit required study hours more easily.

“It should be open until midnight instead of 8 p.m. so I can get more hours in for sports requirement,” Ray said.

Sophomore Alonzo Barkley also said the chairs and tables aren’t the greatest.

“Some of the tables and chairs suck, but otherwise the library is a great place to study if you need somewhere quiet,” Barkley said.

Barkley said one of the compaints he has heard about the library is that the student-athletes get too loud.

“I heard some complaints about the athletes being really loud, but I usually don’t get in the library until after 8 p.m., when they have all left because they can’t get anymore hours.”

Survey results should be available in the upcoming weeks.

“Preliminary results will be released in bits and pieces over the next couple of weeks,” Dyer said.

According to Dyer, the library is also thinking of setting up focus groups to sift through the results and comments so that there is a better sense of what is going well and what needs to be improved.