Printing, Pronto!

Posted October 10, 2014 by kbryan

We’ve all been that person. You know, the one who completes an assignment minutes before it’s due, not giving a second thought to printing until the very last minute.

I was that person Wednesday night.

I spent the last hour-and-a-half before class riding the T and furiously typing the first draft of my lesson plan due for LIS 426 that night. When I arrived at Simmons at 5:30, I’d more or less finished the assignment, but only had a half hour to get that Google Drive document into paper form. Naturally, I went to Beatley Library to accomplish this task.

I see plenty of 11th hour printing woes in my job. Helping someone print their document is equal parts instruction in how to navigate the nuances of printing protocol, and therapy (“Don’t worry! You can do this! You will get this printed in time for your class that begins in three minutes!”). In an ideal world, we would allow ourselves ample time to complete an assignment and print. But the way our lives are structured leaves us little time to do either. And while no one goes to library school with visions of fixing paper jams dancing in their heads, helping people print is actually something I enjoy. Life is difficult enough without having to deal with a large, mercurial, multi-functional device that doesn’t always scan, copy, or print on demand. I like to think getting the printer to cooperate, and showing people how easy it (usually) is to print, goes a long way in making their day a little less hectic.

Anyway, back to Beatley Library, Wednesday, 5:36 p.m. Before arriving at Simmons, I read about the Campus Print system (campusprint.simmons.edu). It’s pretty straightforward. With your Simmons username and password, you log into Campus Print, upload your document, and take your Simmons ID card to the nearest printer to release your job.

Problem was, my lesson plan wasn’t uploading when I clicked “upload.” Where I’m normally in the position of assisting others with their printing quandaries, I was now in need of help in figuring out how one prints at Simmons. So I did what so many before me have done. I went to the circulation desk.

Fortunately, there was a kind student worker, who showed me that it’s often easiest to just click and drag the document you want to print, in order to put it in the Campus Print queue. Presto, change-o, I walked out of the library with a paper, and 12 minutes to spare before class! (That’s a first.)