H. T. Sampson Library provides creative space for students

Tiffanie Herron
MC 301 Contributor 

Jackson State University held a grand opening of its new creative space at the H.T. Sampson Library on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 10:00 a.m. The new digital center, called Create, will be accessible to students and will include new Apple Mac computers and other devices in order for them to complete digital projects, assignments, and access resources online.

“Create will definitely catapult students to the next level,” said Doug Stringfellow, tech director for JSU’s Division of Information Technology. “It is the first of its kind and one of the first for a historically black university,”

Last semester, JSU opened Innovate, a digital education center accessible for faculty and staff. Innovate includes a press conference room for meetings, Macs, podcast recording equipment, digital multimedia equipment and a green screen. Like its predecessor, Create will also include a green screen for students to record and display their Powerpoint presentations.

“Students learn differently nowadays. We are trying to move away from the standard teaching in front of chalkboards and move towards more interactive and group-oriented methods. We need to put students ahead for learning with technology,”

Create will be housed next door to Innovate, which was the original computer lab used for students to surf the web, type and print documents and projects. The computer lab will be moved across the hall from Innovate and will include better computers with newer software.

Some students have found it challenging to find other computer labs to use during the new labs completion.

“It’s a hindrance to us,” said Devonte Collins, a senior English major from Jackson, Miss. “We have to find other computer labs across campus to use instead. I bet once the new lab is open, it will be more confusing to use too,”

Create is the second phase of the University’s plans of transforming the H.T. Sampson Library into a digital intellectual commons, the first of its kind.

“Once Create is launched, there will be no more excuses for the students not to have access to state of the art equipment,” said Mr. Stringfellow. “If I had access to this when I was 17, I would be working for NASA right about now.”