KGS gift helps library

By Julie Rausch

Students at Ablah Library have been telling Dean of Libraries Ruth Jackson that they would like technology stations in which they can conduct research in group learning situations.

Their wish has been granted. Kansas Gas Service, a division of ONEOK Inc., has pledged $100,000 over five years for technology at WSU’s Ablah Library. The money will be used to purchase furnishings, computers and other equipment arranged in a flexible manner conducive to working in teams.

Two rooms on the library’s second floor will be named Kansas Gas Service Networked Seminar Complex and will be used to support team-based learning among students.

"WSU plays an important role in Wichita’s community and economy," says Tim Richards, manager of community relations for Kansas Gas Service in the Wichita area. "We want to help strengthen information through technology in the community that we serve."

Supporting education is one of the funding priorities by the ONEOK Foundation Inc. "WSU identified specific needs and a desire to expand emerging technology," Richards says.

The KGS gift also will help expand Internet instruction and other resources the reference faculty provide to hundreds of students each year, as well as expanding the library’s e-book collection. The library holds about 4,000 e-books in education, health professions, science and technology, business and economics, history, humanities and law. This collection is held collaboratively with other Kansas regents’ universities. Jackson says the library hopes to double the size of the e-book collection with KGS’s gift.