Senate hosts LITS, updates on Gloria Anzaldúa LLC and election results

BY PAIGE COMEAU ’26 STAFF WRITER

Senate opened on April 18 with a reading of the land acknowledgment, followed by welcoming administrative staff of the Library, Information and Technology Services to the floor. The presentation, comprised of both general information and answers to the senators’ questions, was given by eight members of the LITS staff — Alex Wirth-Cauchon, the chief information officer and executive director of LITS; Debbie Richards, the head of archives and special collections; Margaret (Peggie) Stevens, associate director of budgets, contracts and procurement; Krista Denno Bader, strategic operations manager and summit change management lead; Marie DiRuzza, director of campus technology and media services; Rachel Smith, director of discovery and access; Chrissa Lindahl, director of research and instructional support; and David Powicki, director of technology infrastructure and systems support.

To begin the presentation, LITS provided background information on their department. There are currently 65 people staffed at LITS, which is a little under their normal number of over 70. Although there are several units within the department, LITS has a OneLITS policy, meaning that should a student go to any member of the staff for help, that member should be able to connect the student to the right services. The presenters then went on to describe the spaces that are a part of LITS. There is the LITS complex, which includes Williston Library and the Miles-Smith extension, the archives and special collections and MEWS in Dwight Hall, the Eleanor Pierce Stevens Music Library in Pratt Hall and the Language and Culture Commons in Ciruti.

LITS asks that students keep a few common guidelines for use in mind. The stacks are open; students should feel free to browse and check out a book. There are both group study spaces and solo-study spaces, which can be reserved for up to three hours. Keep the noise zones in mind — if students are in a talk zone, they should feel free to speak, just make sure to keep quiet in the quiet zones. Finally, in response to a commonly asked question, LITS stated students are free to eat in the library, although they ask that students try and keep the spaces clean.

LITS then moved on to answer pre-submitted questions, sent anonymously by senate members. The first asked if LITS could host M&Cs in the library. LITS stated that they were open to the idea and would work with Dining Services to hopefully bring the tradition to their department a few times a semester.

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