BC ELN Welcomes New Associate member Coquitlam College

Entering the front doors of Coquitlam College, I’m struck by a swirl of activity. Students sit in clusters in the lobby, chatting and laughing while groups of people walk through the area on their way to a class or other destination. A friendly person from the reception office points me towards the library and I must weave my way along a busy hallway to get there. Once I arrive, Billy Augustine, Coquitlam College librarian, pops out of his office and greets me with a smile.

There is a different kind of activity in the library – it is quiet, but still busy with many students working at individual study carrels. Billy tells me about the school: Established in 1982, Coquitlam College offers a 2-year Associate of Arts Degree program for new or transferring students. The college also offers an English Certificate program and a High School program. Students are mostly international with many coming from South Asia.

After a year of provisional status, Coquitlam College officially became a BC ELN Associate Member in December 2022. Billy explains why the College wished to join BC ELN, saying the goal was “to expand our access to academic e-resources in a cost-effective way for our students and instructors.” Billy tells me that in consulting instructors, the library heard there was a keen desire to provide Coquitlam College students with academic writing support: “[in addition to e-resources] we also valued the possible benefits of BC ELN’s services WriteAway and AskAway during the decision-making process.” In fact, the college joined WriteAway and opened the service to their students in January 2023.

Joining BC ELN has been beneficial for the college. “Our students and faculty are enjoying the resource base expansion,” says Billy. Students are adjusting to the busy traffic that hits WriteAway at peak times in the semester, but early reports on the service from students have been positive.

By L. Hopton