LETTERS: CONCERNS ABOUT UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

To the editor:

It would seem that Southeast Missouri State University would have more of its students' concerns in mind than it does, concerns like the quality of educational materials. I was recently assigned a research paper which should have been relatively simple to research and for which I was forced to go to a public library for information. I was able, within minutes of entering the Cape Girardeau Public Library, to find every source I would need for the paper, while the only information I was able to find on the subject in Kent Library was dated 1923.

While returning a book for a friend a few weeks ago, I was witness to a massive book-cleaning behind Kent Library. The books these student workers were cleaning weren't what I thought at first. At first I thought that maybe these books had gotten wet, possibly from a leak somewhere in the library. No. The workers were dusting mold from these books which the university had recently purchased from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Why is it that the university can afford to waste money on building that eyesore of a fountain in front of Kent Library, but it can't see fit to place good, usable books on the shelves?

JOHN PATTERSON

Cape Girardeau