Alumni no longer allowed to use VU libraries on weekends

[historybill]

Over the years I've used Vanderbilt libraries a lot.

I just took my youngest son down there to research something and was turned away at the Heard library. A security guard posted near the door told me that alumni are no longer allowed to use the VU libraries on weekends (when parking is easily found, of course).

Does anyone know WHEN this policy went into effect, and why?

[Go Vandy!]

Now THAT reminds me of SOV.

[historybill]

I used to have season football tickets and went to bowl games in Memphis, Birmingham, Shreveport and Houston, but I've gotten worn down over the years by many things such as this.

I was still thinking about taking my son to the Hawaii game, but this HAS decided me.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Is this only while school is not in session, or year-round?

[historybill]

Don't know. The door is locked, and I was able to talk them into buzzing me in. But once I got in with my son they made it pretty clear that I couldn't use the facility.

They told me to come back Monday -- when I obviously won't be able to show my son all the nooks and crannies of the library that I've come to know over the years.

It reminded me how, at my 30th reunion, a bunch of us walked around the campus but couldn't get into hardly any of the buildings anymore.

[Go Vandy!]

I wonder if it be worth contacting CDD. Maybe someone on his staff could help.

[Dores137]

According to VU's webiste, alumni can still access the library (link below). Hopefully it was just a mistake by the guard and you will be able to get in next time. At the bottom of the linked page, you can contact a librarian and perhaps they can clarify things for you.

The site states:
Alumni may visit the libraries at any time during open hours with their VU card. View library hours for each of our library locations.

Library benefits for Vanderbilt alumni include:

Access to a select group of specially licensed digital resources and databases
Borrowing privileges at all campus libraries
Expert assistance by professional librarians


https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/

[historybill]

You're welcome to drive down to the campus if you don't believe me.

It may be that I always had delusions about my alma mater, but over the years I've learned to see things more clearly.

I was trying to research an article which I'm writing for a local paper about a Vanderbilt alumnus who was shot down over Korea in September 1950 and who was later declared "MIA -- Assumed Dead" by the Defense Department -- even though the Soviet news agency later published photos of him in Pravda, hinting that this Vanderbilt alum might have died in a Soviet gulag. Obviously, this isn't the sort of thing that Vanderbilt University or its many scholars have interest in, but they are dedicating a bridge in Williamson County to this Vanderbilt alumnus. There were a couple of articles I couldn't find on newspapers dot com because that website doesn't have every paper, so I thought I'd try Proquest. However, Vanderbilt now has a guard at the door of the Heard Library and a new policy that prevents alumni from using the facility on the weekend -- despite what it says on the university's website.

Isn't it wonderful that Vanderbilt has come to this?

[Versus75]

Didn’t know until just now that alumni at one time could use the library. Now I want to check it out.

[geeznotagain]

Heck, I didn't know STUDENTS could use the VU library. May help to explain the low GPA.

[vandy05]

I didn't know there was ever an opportunity for alums to use the VU library. But I'm not surprised by it if they don't allow it. Security concerns and the like have made things like this a necessity. You really do need to know who is going into a place and not allow anyone to just walk into a building on campus. To me this isn't a VU problem but a larger societal problem. Access with a VU ID makes sense to me (however you get one of those as an alum) but safety and security is a sad reality of the world we're in today. There definitely wasn't a security guard at the library door when I was in school at VU.

[historybill]

The thing is..

The murder rate in Nashville is far less now that It was in the early 1970s, and it is also far less now that it was when I was an RA in Barnard Hall in 1986 -- when my dorm had no security, and it was not unusual for me to have to run the homeless out of the lounge.

Those of us who went to Vanderbilt in the 1970s and 1980s were just neglected. I suppose we're lucky to be alive!

Don't believe me? Look it up. Between 1973 and 1988, the murder rate in Nashville hovered in the 20 per 100,000 range. Since 2007 or so it has hovered between 6 and 16.

A friend who teaches at Vanderbilt tells me that the high-security thing was imposed during the pandemic and hasn't been scaled back since. If true, then Vanderbilt is just using the pandemic as an excuse. Also, if true, Vanderbilt needs to explain this new "stay away" policy in one of the many ridiculous pieces of propaganda they keep mailing me.

I spend my life visiting public schools, and my neighbors both teach at Covenant. I fully understand why I have to be buzzed when I visit HG Hill Middle or Rosebank Elementary. But to tell card carrying alumni that they can't walk into the Heard Library ... my God.

By the way, I (barely) knew Branscomb, and I (barely) knew Heard, and I knew Wyatt and Gee. I think I can safely say that none of the 4 wouldn't want this.

[freckles]

Since this is clearly such a major issue for you, I think it would be worthwhile to use the link Dores137 provided to get an official response. It'd certainly take less time to submit a question there than to ask everyone on this forum. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a summer restriction

[freckles]

Since I found the outrage curious, I submitted a question via the link Dores137 provided and asked if there were weekend restrictions to alumni library access. I received a response in less than 5 minutes:

"Alumni are welcome all hours that library is open. You will need a new proximity ID card. If you do not have one you can visit card services: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/cardservices/ .

You can read more about alumni services here: https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/ .

Hope you have a great day!"

[historybill]

Since I found the outrage curious, I submitted a question via the link Dores137 provided and asked if there were weekend restrictions to alumni library access. I received a response in less than 5 minutes:

"Alumni are welcome all hours that library is open. You will need a new proximity ID card. If you do not have one you can visit card services: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/cardservices/ .

You can read more about alumni services here: https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/ .

Hope you have a great day!"

First of all, I'm done with my research; I couldn't let the arrogance of Vanderbilt stop me from doing a story about a Vanderbilt alum who died in a Soviet gulag. The story ran in the Williamson Herald on 1A and a larger version of it will run in Tennessee Magazine in a couple of months. I recommend you all read it; it obviously won't be published in any of the many publications produced by it's "news and public affairs" office.

But take a look at the link you just sent me and figure out how an alum can get such a card.

There's a button for new faculty, one for new staff, one for first year students. There is also a button addressing the needs of "PARENTS."

None for alumni.

I hate to tell you this, but the computer you will emailing with at "Dores137" might not know the truth.

Also... I'm not lying to you when I tell you that it wasn't the fact that I didn't have a card. I DO have a card with my photo that proves that I'm an alum. It may no longer meet current requirements, but it is a photo ID they made me get years ago because I used to research at the libraries all the time. The people guarding the door of the Heard library told me and my son that alumni can no longer use the Vanderbilt libraries on weekends. That's why they wouldn't let me in.

[charlestonalum]

Bill,
So sorry about your problems with the library and glad you got your story published without access to the library for your research. As a fellow alum comitted to writing and research myself who lives a long way from our library it is comfirting to know we both can do without the Heard library access and somehow be successful.
Go Dores!

[doredane]

Since I found the outrage curious, I submitted a question via the link Dores137 provided and asked if there were weekend restrictions to alumni library access. I received a response in less than 5 minutes:

"Alumni are welcome all hours that library is open. You will need a new proximity ID card. If you do not have one you can visit card services: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/cardservices/ .

You can read more about alumni services here: https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/ .

Hope you have a great day!"

First of all, I'm done with my research; I couldn't let the arrogance of Vanderbilt stop me from doing a story about a Vanderbilt alum who died in a Soviet gulag. The story ran in the Williamson Herald on 1A and a larger version of it will run in Tennessee Magazine in a couple of months. I recommend you all read it; it obviously won't be published in any of the many publications produced by it's "news and public affairs" office.

But take a look at the link you just sent me and figure out how an alum can get such a card.

There's a button for new faculty, one for new staff, one for first year students. There is also a button addressing the needs of "PARENTS."

None for alumni.

I hate to tell you this, but the computer you will emailing with at "Dores137" might not know the truth.

Also... I'm not lying to you when I tell you that it wasn't the fact that I didn't have a card. I DO have a card with my photo that proves that I'm an alum. It may no longer meet current requirements, but it is a photo ID they made me get years ago because I used to research at the libraries all the time. The people guarding the door of the Heard library told me and my son that alumni can no longer use the Vanderbilt libraries on weekends. That's why they wouldn't let me in.

historybill,

Your comment about Tennessee Magazine likely confirmed my suspicions that you are Bill Carey. I LOVE your monthly articles in the magazine. Seriously, they are the first section to which I turn each month. Keep up the great work educating the co-op community about TN history!

DoreDane
MTEMC

[Go Vandy!]

Bill,
So sorry about your problems with the library and glad you got your story published without access to the library for your research. As a fellow alum comitted to writing and research myself who lives a long way from our library it is comfirting to know we both can do without the Heard library access and somehow be successful.
Go Dores!

But you shouldn't have to

[FayetteDore]

historybill,

I LOVE your monthly articles in the magazine. Seriously, they are the first section to which I turn each month. Keep up the great work educating the co-op community about TN history!

DoreDane
MTEMC

Totally agree! The Tennessee Magazine is great, and HistoryBill's columns are its best feature.

[freckles]

Since I found the outrage curious, I submitted a question via the link Dores137 provided and asked if there were weekend restrictions to alumni library access. I received a response in less than 5 minutes:

"Alumni are welcome all hours that library is open. You will need a new proximity ID card. If you do not have one you can visit card services: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/cardservices/ .

You can read more about alumni services here: https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/ .

Hope you have a great day!"

First of all, I'm done with my research; I couldn't let the arrogance of Vanderbilt stop me from doing a story about a Vanderbilt alum who died in a Soviet gulag. The story ran in the Williamson Herald on 1A and a larger version of it will run in Tennessee Magazine in a couple of months. I recommend you all read it; it obviously won't be published in any of the many publications produced by it's "news and public affairs" office.

But take a look at the link you just sent me and figure out how an alum can get such a card.

There's a button for new faculty, one for new staff, one for first year students. There is also a button addressing the needs of "PARENTS."

None for alumni.

I hate to tell you this, but the computer you will emailing with at "Dores137" might not know the truth.

Also... I'm not lying to you when I tell you that it wasn't the fact that I didn't have a card. I DO have a card with my photo that proves that I'm an alum. It may no longer meet current requirements, but it is a photo ID they made me get years ago because I used to research at the libraries all the time. The people guarding the door of the Heard library told me and my son that alumni can no longer use the Vanderbilt libraries on weekends. That's why they wouldn't let me in.

I’m not suggesting you weren’t denied admission to the library with an alumni card - I’m trying to help you by relaying that every official communication by the university reinforces weekend access for alumni and that you were likely turned away for misinformed reasons. As far as the card services link provided, I took “visit” in this instance to mean physically visiting the card office, of which the link contains the address and hours of operation.

This is likely what happened: Vanderbilt libraries are not open to the public on the weekends (https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/hours/) and the security guard only knows that IDs are required for weekend access. The guard assumed you had a valid alumni ID (when it’s actually out of date and no longer active) and you assumed the guard should know that alumni have weekend library access. Since your alumni card did not work, maybe they blanket assumed alumni aren’t therefore allowed. Who knows, but it doesn’t actually matter since bottom line you need a valid ID to enter during the weekend and the job of a random security guard at a random school library is to prevent unauthorized access (as determined by the card reader). If you want to visit the library on the weekend as you have in the past, then just have your card re-issued (in person) by the card office and that will resolve your access issues going forward