More than 30 programs work to provide free books to people incarcerated around the country, improving literacy in prisons and bolstering poorly funded prison libraries. An exhibit opening this week in the Washington State University Terrell Library atrium explores the history and role of these programs.

WSU students will have access to state-of-the-art computing equipment, virtual-reality technology and on-the-fly video training with the soft launch of the Dimensions Lab in Holland Library on Sept. 8.

The lab, located on the first floor next to the microforms area, offers eight Windows and four Macintosh computers, large monitors and Adobe Creative Suite 6. Two Oculus Rift virtual-reality head-mounted display headsets and a Lynda.com kiosk for online video tutorials will be added soon.

Students and scholars of the U.S. Congress can access historical House and Senate reports and documents through a WSU Libraries’ database.

The libraries recently purchased the final segment (1980-94) of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, the printed record of the U.S. House and Senate begun in 1817. The set and another database, American State Papers, a repository of documents from before 1817, can be accessed by WSU-affiliated users in the list of article databases at http://libraries.wsu.edu/find-articles.

In spite of increased access to digital resources, gate counts continue to rise as more people use library spaces to study, research, and collaborate. More than 1.2 million visitors came to the libraries last year, and we anticipate even greater numbers this year as students realize the value of the library experience.

A new program at WSU’s Holland and Terrell Libraries brings the traditional reference desk to students instead of the other way around.

The roving reference service runs 11 a.m.-2 p.m. every Tuesday and Wednesday. Library reference staff carrying tablet PCs circulate between book stacks, study areas and cubicles to help students answer questions wherever they are.

“Roving will especially target early-career students who are unfamiliar with the libraries’ resources and layout,” said Erin Hvizdak, WSU Libraries reference and instruction librarian.

Holly Matteson, a 36-year-old English education major at WSU, is not your typical student. She and her husband married when she was 19. For the next 13 years, Holly was a stay-at-home mother for their two children while her husband supported them in a lucrative, but unsatisfying job.

As their children grew older, they both realized that it was time to make a change and set an example for their children by getting the degrees they would need for the careers they wanted.

Clock in, clock out, five days a week, eight hours a day (frequently more) is the common work routine. But a WSU Libraries’ exhibit looks at the creative lives of library employees after the workday is done.

Owen Science and Engineering Library will be closed Saturday, July 18, for maintenance work to replace water valves. The library will reopen at noon Sunday, July 19.

Bob Pringle, nursing and pharmacy librarian and director of WSU’s Spokane Academic Library, retires July 1 after 35 years at WSU. A reception will be 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, June 16, in the Spokane Academic Center 501.

The library serves the WSU colleges of nursing, pharmacy and medicine, as well as Eastern Washington University health and business programs.

An exhibit opening this week in Washington State University’s Terrell Library continues the yearlong exploration of America’s garbage problems through the entity in charge of monitoring and fixing them: the government.

“Government and Waste” runs in the Terrell atrium exhibit case until June 12. It is organized by the WSU Libraries’ working group on government information to coordinate with the common reading book for 2014-15, “Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash,” by Edward Humes.