LIS removes Sunderland computers

A combination of both financial and environmental concerns led Library and Information Services (LIS) to recently remove 50 computers from the two language labs in the basement of the Sunderland Language Center.

The computers, which were about five years old, have either been recycled for parts or donated to area high schools.

Director of User Services for LIS Mary Backus noted that the computers were already well past the age at which campus computers are typically replaced, which is three years.

“We would have had to spend a lot of money to put all-new computers in there, and when you looked at the usage, it just didn’t make sense,” she said.

Bachus emphasized that concerns about the College’s carbon footprint were also a factor in the decision.

“We have set a goal at LIS to contribute to the reduction of the carbon output for the College,” she said, “so we had a goal to see if there are computers that are perhaps sitting, using electricity and creating heat that aren’t getting used well.”

LIS had access to usage statistics for computer labs across campus that informed its decision. The statistics revealed that the labs in Sunderland were only in use for a tiny fraction of the time they were on.

LIS consulted both the Faculty LIS Advisory Committee and the Student LIS Advisory Committee before arriving at their decision.

Senior Technology Specialist Petar Mitrevski pointed to the Sunderland labs’ atmosphere as a large component of their low use.

“They weren’t very popular,” he said.

“They are dark, and they don’t have windows … Space-wise, it wasn’t comfortable to use all of [the computers] at the same time. They were never all used at the same time.”

LIS will now focus on upgrading the computers in the library, in the Donald E. Axinn ’51 Center at Starr Library, and in Sunderland 202, a brighter and more open space to where faculty members who traditionally held classes in the language labs have already begun to move their classes.