BELLINGHAM, Wash.—Anyone who has stopped by the WCC Library during Linda Compton’s working hours is sure to have come away with new information and a smile from ear to ear.
Compton, WCC Library Program Specialist, describes the library as “a friendly face,” which certainly describes her animated approach to serving every student who comes in with a question.
In her own university days, Compton said she was intimidated by library experts: “heaven forbid I sound like an idiot because I actually have to ask a question or ask for guidance or ask for assistance.”
Compton aims to rewrite this outdated impression, hoping that the WCC library can be a hub and a social place for students to find what they need to succeed — even if that is just a Band-Aid from the library’s first-aid kit.
“You don’t have to have it all figured out. If you’re starting college you probably don’t have it all figured out, but we’re glad you’re here,” Compton said. “This is a time to explore and to learn… and you don’t have to do it by yourself. There are people here that can help you navigate it all.”
If there is one thing Compton wants to impress on students as they navigate their college experience, it is to ask for help.
During her time at WCC, Compton has watched the library evolve to serve its students: “Back in our Heiner days — which is now Orca Central — if students needed computer help they had to go downstairs. If they needed tutoring, they had to go across to Cascade Hall. If they needed to go to the Testing Center, it was in Laidlaw, tucked in a corner, hard to find.”
Now, the library is housed in the Learning Commons, a “one-stop-shop” for students to find all the tools they need to excel in their education.
“Besides the convenience for students is that we already collaborated to a certain degree, but holy moly, when you’re under the same roof like we’re, it just expanded everything,” Compton said, describing how the staff collaborate between the library, the computer lab, the Media Center, and more. “We’re working together more closely and not just because of proximity, but because we know each other and we know what each other is doing.”
Compton hopes that the change helps the departments complement each other so that students can make better use of all services.
The WCC Library is a tight-knit crew of staff who are dedicated to life-long learning, something that Compton is looking forward to from the new hire who will take over her position. Ultimately, Compton is hoping the college brings in someone who loves libraries as much as her and can love this library as much as her.
The library is the heart of educational resources on campus. The library’s collection is built with the programs that are taught at WCC in mind, Compton explained. They acquire everything from legal citation manuals for their paralegal studies program to a shocking stock of disarticulated bone model kits for Anatomy and Physiology students.
The library is probably the only place on campus where it isn’t weird to ask to check out a pelvis, but they offer more mundane loans also.
“At the beginning of the quarter I was waiting for a textbook I ordered online,” said Thomas Korman, a nursing program hopeful, “and I learned that I could check out the textbook at the library and photocopy the chapter I needed for that week.” The library helped him access all the resources and information he needed, including even loaning out a graphing calculator.
Compton rounded out her professional resume with this year’s Fran Hudson Award for Excellence, which honors the memory of the college’s former IT Helpdesk Supervisor Fran Hudson and “recognizes proven excellence in job-related duties, initiative in maintaining a positive atmosphere and providing support for colleagues, service to the College, creativity, and outstanding service to students,” according to the WCC Foundation.
Compton’s last day in the library will be during Spring Quarter in April. In her retirement, Compton is looking forward to spending more time with her horse, Pip, enjoying gardening and her other hobbies at home.
