Student Worker Assists in the StackMap Implementation at Martin Luther College

Martin Luther College is a small liberal arts school located in New Ulm, Minnesota. With over 1600 students, the university has worked hard to tailor educational experiences, especially within its library. We sat down with a few members of the Martin Luther College library staff, including Alana, a sophomore at Martin Luther College, Linda Kramer, Director of Library Services, and Mary Hames, Technical Services Librarian. We spoke with Alana about her contributions throughout the StackMap implementation, as well as her experience with the product as a student. Linda and Mary shared how StackMap was able to help reorganize their collections.

MLC Student, Alana, started working in the library as a special project assistant during the Spring of 2023:

I was delegated the task of helping the staff as we set up StackMap in the library. The setup process was straightforward and honestly helped the library transition while also migrating to a new catalog at the time.

Being able to help with the setup process of the product firsthand was exciting, and since I was so closely involved, I was one of the first students to see the buttons in the catalog. By making finding items in the catalog much easier than before, my peers have even conveyed the benefits of being able to explore rooms and other resources with ease because of StackMap.

Linda and Mary also shared their observations following StackMap’s integration into their catalog:

Outside of directly guiding our students to the books they need, StackMap has aided our library staff as well. For example, our curriculum materials room is used by students and staff alike, and following the integration with StackMap, we were able to completely reorganize the space. StackMap helped us classify the resources by item location to ease patron and staff usage.

StackMap has allowed students to learn how to use the library in an easier way, as most of them have very limited knowledge when it comes to understanding the library. It takes the once daunting barriers out of finding things they need.

StackMap has been able to help Martin Luther College transform its library. The setup process was smooth and helped them with their catalog transition; students have found ease in their library experience, and their space has been transformed for the optimal patron and staff experience.