AUK Library Offers Demo Session on New Reservation System

One of the most visually appealing areas on the campus of the American University of Kurdistan (AUK) is also its most information-packed: the AUK Library. Its range of services is now even easier to access, thanks to the recently launched Library Reservation System (LRS). On March 29, in the Library Learning Center, there was a demo session formally introducing the LRS.

The system’s creation is the fruit of months of collaboration between the AUK Library and the Department of Computer Science & Information Technology (CSIT). Particularly helpful in its design was Dilovan Matini, one of the most successful CSIT students and founder of Lelav, a tech startup. Fittingly, the presenting duties were divided roughly evenly between him and AUK Library Director Gulan Ahmed.

The LRS allows users to reserve library spaces and book tutoring sessions. The two presenters showed off the LRS’s functionality; it has an interactive map showing open spaces, allows direct messages to tutors, and displays information on the availability of PCs in the e-Learning Hub. Members of the AUK community can use their existing login credentials. The session closed with questions and feedback from the audience, in line with the ethos of cooperation and continuous improvement from which the LRS was born.

The presentation included a particularly helpful slide juxtaposing the benefits of the LRS for AUK students with those for AUK Library staff. A common point on the two lists – and a common theme in the presentation – was the mobile-friendly nature of the new system; the LRS is available wherever and whenever an AUK student or employee is holding a smartphone. When asked to name the top benefit of the LRS, Gulan Ahmed said: “It enhances the library users’ experience by giving them a direct remote communication channel with the librarians.” When asked how the LRS has made her life easier, librarian Hala Abdulhameed replied: “The communication for tutoring is now more efficient because formerly, when we were using paper, there was confusion about availability and rescheduling; now, [students] can just take out their phones, instantly check availability, and choose a time.”

The AUK Library Reservation System, accessible at auklibrary.com, has simplified procedures to an unprecedented degree. On a column near the entrance to the AUK Library, there is an inscription: “Everything you need for a better future and success has already been written. All you have to do is go to the library.” Through the convenience of the LRS, the “better future and success” the AUK Library promises are closer-at-hand than ever before.