Library Fall and Spring Semester Hours
Sunday: 1 - 7 p.m.
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Saturday: CLOSED
Full Schedule of Library Hours & Closings
The Barton Library offers patrons access to more than 12,000 print books, 69 periodical titles, 272,000 eBooks, 92 databases, and nine electronic media collections. More services and resources are available in the links to the left and below.
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Director's Welcome
Director's Welcome
Welcome to the Barton Library website. We serve Barton Community College’s students, faculty, and staff, as well as members of the Barton, Ellsworth, Pawnee, Rice, Rush, Russell, and Stafford County communities. It is our privilege to help facilitate your learning endeavors, whether you are on-campus or online. The Library provides academic support to the College’s four campus locations, and to remote learners. We encourage you to take full advantage of the collections, resources, and services available to meet student and faculty academic needs.
In addition to maintaining an extensive collection of print books and periodicals, the Barton Library provides curriculum-appropriate online journals, eBooks, and streaming media that can be accessed through the Library Resources page or the MyBarton Portal. We also furnish researchers and community learners with in-person access to the special collections of the Cohen Center for Kansas History.
The Roman poet Horace once encouraged a friend to "dare to know," and by similarly promoting the pursuit of knowledge and the free exchange of ideas, we seek to be a center for teaching and learning. All our librarians and staff members adhere to the Library’s Mission Statement:
The Barton Library’s primary mission is to provide a well-balanced collection of resources essential to supporting the learning opportunities offered by Barton Community College. In addition, the Library strives to develop, arrange, and maintain information services that spark curiosity, cultivate critical thinking, and encourage a lifelong love of learning.
To further those aims, we provide expert support to help you best utilize the full range of our collection. Our librarians are available in-person, by telephone, or through e-mail to aid in accessing library materials, conducting research, or answering technology questions. We encourage you to make use of our technology resources, such as computers, laptops, Chromebooks, printers, and scanners, and to collaborate with your colleagues in the Quiet Rooms. Let us assist you in discovering how the Barton Library can be an essential component to a successful academic career.
I am honored to serve you as the library director. Justin Winsor, the first president of the American Library Association, advocated in 1880 for making “the library the grand rendezvous of the college for teacher and pupil alike.” That outlook has stood the test of time. I and the entire Barton Library team hope you will consider us a partner in your education and a resource for quality information during your time at Barton Community College.
Regards,
Darren L. Ivey
Director of Library and College Archives
About the Library
About the Library
The Role of the Community College Library in the Academy discusses the functions of libraries in the community college setting and the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) position statements on information literacy, library support of distance learning, and learning resource centers.
Barton Library's Frequently Asked Questions may provide you with answers about Library hours, checking out and returning materials, accessing databases, the printers, and the document scanner.
The Services & Resources List describes the various means of academic support the Library offers.
Similar to the majority of academic libraries, the Barton Library utilizes an organizational arrangement developed by the Library of Congress for its print collection. See Understanding the Library of Congress Classification System for assistance in learning this widely used system of library classification.
For more on the Library's practices for acquisitions and weeding, see the Collection Development Plan.
See the Library's Rules and Guidelines for information on patron conduct, the borrowing of materials, and food and drink in the Library.
Library Accounts
Library Accounts
Each student is encouraged to bring their Barton Community College photo ID card to the Library and create a patron account. Your photo ID then becomes your library card for borrowing materials, renewing these items, and requesting books and periodicals from academic and public libraries throughout the state and the nation.
We also provide patron accounts to community members residing within the College's service area. A valid driver's license and a Kansas public library card are required when first creating the account.
Library Catalogs
Library Catalogs
The Barton Library is your first stop to find books, periodicals, or audiovisual media.
If the object of your search is not among our holdings, try the Kansas State Library's Catalog.
If you need to take the search wider, WorldCat is an online database with more than 1.2 billion records for books and other materials in OCLC member libraries, worldwide.
Once you have your item, go down to Inter-Library Loan.
ArchiveGrid provides access to online archival finding aids, detailed collection guides, and inventories of primary source materials held by over 1,000 archives, libraries, museums, and historical societies.
Inter-Library Loan
Inter-Library Loan
Inter-Library Loan User Guide
What are Inter-Library Loans?
- Inter-Library Loan service allows Barton Library patrons to request materials not part of our collection that are held by other Kansas libraries.
Who may use Inter-Library Loan?
- This service is open to Barton Community College faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students, and to the general public when using a current Kansas library card. Barton Library accounts must be in good standing.
How do I submit an Inter-Library Loan request?
- Search the Barton Library Catalog to confirm the needed book or periodical is not among our physical holdings.
- Search the Library’s databases to confirm the needed book or periodical is not among our electronic holdings.
- Once verified, fill out the Book Request Form or Periodical Request Form.
- If assistance is needed, you may contact Library staff at library@bartonccc.edu or (620) 792-9365
How much does Inter-Library Loan cost?
- Materials are borrowed from lending libraries in Kansas free of charge. For out-of-state materials, lending libraries have the discretion to request patrons pay the shipping costs.
How much time should I allow for the processing of my Inter-Library Loan request?
- We cannot guarantee a specific arrival time. Requests are processed during the weekdays. Typically, materials are received within five (5) to seven (7) business days.
Where do I pick up / return my Inter-Library Loans?
- The pick-up and drop-off location for physical materials is Murphy’s Landing in the Barton Library on the Great Bend campus. Patrons are responsible for using ILL materials carefully and returning them to the Barton Library promptly and in good condition. Most periodical articles and book chapters are delivered electronically.
How do I renew items?
- The lending library specifies the length of the loan (usually two to four weeks), the conditions under which material may be used (in-library only, no copying, handle with care, etc.), and the possibility of renewals. Some libraries do not grant renewals, so prompt pick-up and use of materials is vital.
- To make a renewal request, contact Barton Library staff three (3) business days before the due date in order to allow time for a response from the lending library. If the request is granted, we will adjust your due date to reflect the amount of time the lending library allowed and send you an email message. If the lending library denies the renewal, we will send you a message asking you to return the item by its original due date.
Reading Fiction
Reading Fiction
Fiction
Literature that is comprised of prose narratives created from the author’s imagination, and are not presented as fact, although works may be based on a true story or situation. Formats in the fiction genre include the novel, the novella, the short story, and the graphic novel.
Benefits of Reading Fiction
Reading for knowledge is vital for navigating the ebbs and flows of life, but research suggests that reading fiction may provide far more important benefits:
- Improves brain connectivity and function: Reading develops the ability to imagine and comprehend concepts without having to rely on visual representations.
- Improves memory: Reading increases the ability to organize and retain information, especially long-form information (e.g., the content of a novel). A life-long habit of reading will slow mental decline in later years.
- Improves vocabulary and language skills: Reading enriches the understanding of languages, each with its own vocabulary and nuances of dialect and speech pattern.
- Strengthens problem-solving skills: Reading is an immersive experience, and readers develop more flexible and imaginative minds by thinking critically of the plot’s problems and filling in gaps in knowledge with potential solutions.
- Fortifies decision-making skills: Research suggests that reading is an effective way to enhance one’s ability to maintain an open mind while processing information.
- Improves creativity: By imagining and visualizing a story, readers “stretch” and “exercise” parts of the brain that drive inspiration and productivity.
- Offers perspective: Reading fiction provides an opportunity to go beyond standard binary tropes (e.g., tradition vs. innovation) and examine competing and, sometimes, equally valid viewpoints.
- Reduces stress: Reading fiction allows one to disengage and rest cognitive capabilities. One thirty minute period of silent reading can significantly ease tension, slow the heart rate, and reduce the overall amount of cortisol (the “stress hormone”) in the brain.
- Improves sleep: Reading immediately before bed reduces screen time, betters bedtime routines, and builds a consistent sleep pattern.
- Improves empathy: Reading develops theory of mind, which allows one to recognize other perspectives, create understanding, and become more compassionate and kinder to others.
- Improves interpersonal relationships: Studies have shown that readers, especially readers of fiction, have sharper social cognition and healthier social behaviors, and are more astute in comprehending other people’s motivations.
- Improves emotional health: Studies have shown that reading enriches readers’ lives and helps them to be happier and more satisfied, and reduces bouts of depression, feelings of isolation, and low self-confidence.
Fiction can be divided into literary fiction and popular (or genre) fiction, although the two delineations are not mutually exclusive.
Works of literary fiction exhibit one or more of these characteristics:
Audience
- Intended for smaller, more highly educated audience
- Reading is more active; readers are asked to search for meaning and produce their own perspectives
Setting
- The setting is familiar, but considered in a different way
Plots
- The author structures the plot in an unconventional way that challenges accepted conventions and reader expectations, such as non-linear narratives and ambiguous endings
Focus
- The protagonist is the center of the story and drives the narrative forward
- The protagonist is complex, with a full inner life and multifaceted motivations
Themes
- Literary novels have a wide range of content; themes are drawn from the whole of human life
- There may be commentary on society, nature, or human behavior
Scope
- Scope is extremely broad
Language
- The author uses literary devices to enrich the story, such as allegories, allusions, imagery, metaphors, similes, and symbolism
- The prose is sophisticated
- Language is chosen with care; each word packs a punch
- Relies more on description; dialogue is more written language than spoken
Style and Tone
- The author meditates profoundly on the human condition and universal life experiences
- The author is philosophical about human nature and the meaning of life, offering a higher emotional impact
- Writers draw on variety of styles and can transcend genre (e.g., Cormac McCarthy)
- Writing is generally of a higher quality
Other Considerations:
- Written for artistic endeavor and creative expression as much as for money
- Work is considered more prestigious
- The work and/or the author has received awards reserved for more literary works (e.g., Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize, Booker Prize, National Book Award, etc.)
- Work has stood the test of time and is read by successive generations; the individual influence is greater and more lasting
- Sets the standard for popular genres (e.g., Joyce, Chandler, or Tolkien)
- Literary fiction might have been elevated from popular fiction by the common agreement of other writers, literary scholars and critics, and readers
Examples:
- Isaac Asimov
- Michael Chabon
- Raymond Chandler
- Philip K. Dick
- C. S. Lewis
- Salman Rushdie
- William Shakespeare
- Zadie Smith
- J. R. R. Tolkien
Works of popular fiction exhibit one or more of these characteristics:
Audience
- Intended for larger, more mainstream audience
- Reading is passive; the plot provides the meaning and the perspective
Setting
- The setting offers the reader the chance to escape
Plots
- The plot follows a standard genre formula that readers expect
- Plots follow a similar trajectory
- Characters possess certain shared traits and motivations
Focus
- Plots are based more in characters’ actions than in the characters themselves
- The plot drives everything, and the character serves the plot
Themes
- Themes are derived from the action
- Themes are basic (e.g., love, death, good vs. evil, coming of age, power, corruption, survival, courage, heroism)
Scope
- The scope is relatively narrow
Language
- Prose is accessible and written in everyday vernacular
- Generous in use of dialogue
- Writing and use of language is generally of a lower quality than literary fiction
Style and Tone
- The author wants to strictly entertain; stories are more adventurous or sensational
- The novel adheres to the theme, and the content is well defined and predictable
- Authors maintain a consistent style and observe standard genre conventions; they are unlikely to mix elements of multiple genres
Other Considerations:
- Needs to please the reading public in order to make money
- Forgotten within several generations unless they become “genre classics” that are read by fans of that specific genre
Examples:
- Tom Clancy
- Stephen King
- George R. R. Martin
- Mickey Spillane
- Scott Turow
- David Weber
Fiction Genres and Sub-Genres
Fiction Genres and Sub-Genres
The Barton Library assigns to its fiction titles genre designations derived from the Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms list. For those not provided, definitions are locally created.
Recommending Library Materials
Recommending Library Materials
The Barton Library welcomes suggestions and recommendations for new library materials. Please check the Online Catalog to verify the Library does not yet own the item. Suggestions from faculty, staff, and students are given the highest priority as the collection is primarily intended to support student coursework and the research needs of the Barton community. Factors that determine purchasing decisions include relevance to the curriculum and budgetary constraints.
Faculty and students in each department or program has an assigned subject specialist librarian to answer questions and provide assistance identifying titles or formats that are available for acquisition.
Please complete the Acquisition Suggestion form for non-fiction materials (books, DVDs) and the Book Recommendation form for fiction books. Provide as much information as possible so the request can be processed more quickly and efficiently.
The addition of new electronic resources and periodical subscriptions is governed by the Collection Development Plan.
The Library reserves the right to make all final decisions on acquisitions. However, every recommendation will be given the proper consideration.
Library Advisory Board
Library Advisory Board
The Library Advisory Board is an institutional team that seeks to maintain direct lines of communication and enable the exchange of ideas between the Library and students, faculty, and staff across the College's five campuses.
Meet the Barton Library Staff
Meet the Barton Library Staff
Darren L. Ivey
Director of Library and College Archives
iveyd@bartonccc.edu
Shelby Cunningham
Library Assistant, Circulation Services
cunninghams@bartonccc.edu
Kate Fiala
Library Assistant, Outreach Services
fialak@bartonccc.edu
Alan Riedel
Library Volunteer