Free printing is an attractive benefit for Ames Library patrons but please consider some environmentally friendly steps you can take to help reduce paper usage: http://www.iwu.edu/library/support/print_smart.shtml
Conscious printing is one way we can all help lessen our impact on the environment. Library staff have also taken the following steps to decrease The Ames Library’s enviromental footprint:
- All printers in The Ames Library default to double-sided mode with the toner at the lowest possible setting. Campus Printing & Mailing Services Office supplies us with recycled paper made of 30% post-consumer fiber and our building custodians from Physical Plant recycle all paper that makes it into the appropriate containers.
- Public computer monitors dim after 15 minutes of the screen saver.
- All public Laser printers in the building also utilize power management features, and a power saving mode is enabled after 30 minutes of inactivity.
- Excess black is cropped out when scanning electronic reserves. Extra black requires unnecessary amounts of toner/ink if electronic reserves resources are printed out.
- The Instruction Lab, Project Rooms, and half of the computers at Scholarly Workstations and in the Information Commons are shut down for the summer and during Winter break in order to reduce energy consumption; when the building is closed for extended breaks and 3-day weekends, all public computers and printers are shut down and staff are reminded to turn their office systems off.
- Printing & Mailing Services Office replaced our old Xerox machines with 7 Canon/Xerox multifuctional devices which offer a scan-to-email function in addition to printing traditional photocopies. The power saving mode is also activated on these machines and they have been set to print and copy at their lowest settings. All staff have received instructions on these features and are willing to train anyone interested in them!