Bucky Badger Boosts Morale at College Library - Free Candy, Stress Relievers, Etc.
This semester, the staff of College Library organized a series of events to ease the stress of finals for our student patrons. In conjunction with the Open Book Café, the Wisconsin Union, GUTS, the Office of the Dean of Students, and the Athletic Department, students were able to look forward, every day from December 12 through December 19, to an event designed to reduce tension and make final exams just a bit more bearable.
The program started off on Wednesday evening with a series of stress-reduction workshops taught by Emelyne Woessner, a postdoctoral fellow at the university’s Counseling and Consultation Services. On Thursday, December 13, students were treated to free candy at each of the library’s service desks. On Friday evening, the Open Book Café offered free coffee, tea, and hot chocolate from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. and on Saturday, GUTS and the Office of the Dean of Students provided more free coffee (this time with cookies). On Sunday, the library put out a selection of “stress relievers” for students to use while in the library. The snarky "Sarcastic Magic-8 Ball" and variety of koosh balls were particular favorites. Monday, December 17, brought more candy and the unadvertised surprise for students on Tuesday, December 18, was free printing in the CMC Infolab from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
College Library also invited Bucky Badger to visit the library during this week as a morale booster for those studying so diligently in the library. Bucky ended up stopping by College Library three times to cheer students on and his celebrity presence was definitely appreciated. On Bucky’s Facebook profile, students posted a number of enthusiastic comments, including, "Thanks for stopping into College Library today Bucky, it was the pick-me-up I needed to keep studying” and “hey bucky. you're about 20 feet away from me in college lib on facebook. you should probably get to studying.. i should too.” A post from ‘Leah’ is a particular favorite, “Thanks for the study break Bucky! I hope your advice to sleep on my notebook to obtain knowledge works!”
Students responded well to this series of finals events and College Library hopes to continue working with other campus partners to offer similar programming in the future.
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Images of the Various Events
 Stress relievers prove popular with patrons. |
 Bucky Badger helps out at the Information Desk. |
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 GUTS provides free coffee and donuts. |
 Who doesn't like free coffee?! |
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 The surprise treat was free printing for one morning. |
 A student tries to find an open spot in which to study. |
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 Groups cram for finals. |
 The requisite supply of caffeine and sugar. |
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 Stress relievers - not everyone needs the same kind. |
 Testing a study break area with TV. |
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 Hard to find a seat during finals... |
 Bucky Badger lightens the mood for a few students. |