Thanks for sharing your concern. I would like to see student be able to check out books by computer, and to be able to charge students' accounts if they don't return books on time. We are always striving to improve and update the quality of the research tools that we offer. If you have specific suggestions, please share them with us. Patron self-checkout will probably come in the future, but first we will have to find the funds to buy the equipment.
Students can already put library charges on their accounts.
In order to enhance security, we had to remove direct access from the data switch to electronic resources other than the online catalog itself. The other resources are still available, but you must first log into your own personal account first, and then telnet to the library and login as before. I am a graduate student who did my undergraduate program in Africa, and there are some classes I feel that if the books were in the library they would help us with our graduate programs. Some of the books are as backdated as the 1970s. Academic libraries, including this one, generally do not purchase or accept textbooks as gifts.