IUSA seals book drop

In an effort to thwart IU's parking cops, the IU Student Association kept last year's campaign promise and has won administrative support to install a drive-up, drop-off box outside the Main Library.\nAfter several proposal meetings, Student Body President Casey Cox convinced the IU-Bloomington Libraries to include the drop-box system in other library renovation plans, said Suzanne Thorin, Ruth Lilly University dean of University libraries.\n"I appreciate the library being willing to listen to us," Cox said. "The library listening to us over the issues is indicative of the power that IUSA has."\nThe drop-off box will be installed with an automated, underground conveyor system that will improve upon the old drop-box system, which was removed 15 years ago, Thorin said. While the old box was easily overwhelmed and tended to damage books, the new system will handle the more than 10,000 books the libraries process during peak periods.\nIUSA initiated the effort so students could avoid parking fines while making short trips to return books, Cox said. The plan dates back to Cox's Crimson Party's "common sense" initiative from the 2003 election campaign, when the plan "garnered significant student interest," Cox said.\nIUSA Vice President Grant McFann voiced his concern over parking fees at the library in a February 2003 Indiana Daily Student article.\n"There's just not enough short-term parking," he said. "So if you need to drop off a book, you have to find a spot with a meter, which is rarely open."\nCox said the dropbox represents more than just convenience for students -- it underscores the ability of IUSA to accomplish realistic goals.\n"IUSA accomplishes certain goals because they're attainable, they're realistic, and the students who make these goals approach the administration with a certain sense of credibility and reason," he said.\nThorin and University Architect Bob Meadows agreed to add the book drop to the library's master renovation plan.\n"Funding for this renovation is in the hands of the state legislature and the president," Thorrin said. "We believe it to be one of the highest priorities of the University."\nCox said he is unsure when IU will create the drop box.\n"Although we realized this was a long-term goal, we said we were going to institute it," he said. "Because we've locked down the agreement, it is going to happen."\nThe next step for Cox is to see the initiative comes through in his absence, as his term will end this semester. He said he will develop another set of reasonable goals to pass on to next year's IUSA administration. Until then, Cox said he will continue to meet with library officials to ensure the survival of the dropbox.\n"We look forward to accomplishing even more things in the back half of our administration," McFann said.\n-- Contact staff writer Mike McElroy at mmcelroy@indiana.edu.