As students return for the final weeks of the semester after winter break, they can rely on a few unexpected resources in Halle Library to aid them in their studies.
The Halle Library collection includes more than 913,000 paper volumes and 115,000 ebooks. Named after Bruce T. Halle, an Eastern Michigan University alum who founded the Discount Tire company, the building also houses the main offices of the University Writing Center, the Holman Success Center and a creative studio where the Halle Fix-It Hub operates.
Halle is also the home of Eagle Radio, which is a music, news and talk livestreaming station for students. Listeners can tune into Eagle Radio on any device through the Eagle Radio website.
Tucked into a few corners and at the end of long hallways of the library are a variety of student resources hidden in plain sight.
Board games
A rack of board games sits in the middle of the Annabelle Sumera Children's Literature Alcove on the second floor of Halle Library on an October 2025 afternoon.
In the Annabelle Sumera Children's Literature Alcove on the library's second floor, students can get together with friends for a free board game night. Among the games available are chess, Settlers of Catan and Star Wars Monopoly. The alcove also features several tables so students can set up multiple concurrent games.
The alcove in its current state was created using funding from its namesake, Annabelle Sumera, a Michigan State Normal School graduate and children's literature author. Sumera passed away in 2005, but her contributions to the school provide a spot where students can take a break from the stress of studying. During her life, Sumer wrote "What Lily Goose Found," a Little Golden Book title.
Supplies vending machine
Halle Library managers set up a vending machine for school supplies on the facility's ground floor following the closure of the campus bookstore in the fall of 2025. The machine is stocked on an October 2025 afternoon with almost everything a student needs, from blue books to thumb drives.
On the ground floor, right outside the new Twenty 4 Seven market, students can get quick, on-campus access to basic supplies, including staplers and colored pencils, as well as tech items such as SD cards, USB thumb drives and blank DVDs. An SD card is $8, a Sharpie is $1.50, and a box of Crayola colored pencils is $2.50, which is half the going price of the same item at Walmart.
Margaret Loebe, the circulation services coordinator at the library, said in a written statement that the vending machine was added in response to changes on campus and student needs.
"After the bookstore closed, we realized that one very important thing they provided to our students is Blue Books," Loebe said. "We now sell Blue Books for $1 each in the vending machine so that students' access to them is not interrupted."
Blue Books are simple bound notebooks typically used for essay-based testing in classrooms.
Poster printing center
The Poster Printing Center, operated by the university's Division of Information Technology, is on the ground floor of Halle Library, across from the Eagle Radio studio.
Just down the hall from the vending machine, across from the Eagle Radio Station studio, students can make an appointment with the Poster Printing Center, which is a part of the university's Division of Information Technology. As explained on the Division of IT's web pages, "a typical poster will take 15-30 minutes to print and dry. However, unforeseen circumstances may create delays in printing."
There is a slight upcharge for a glossy finish, and the paper the posters are printed on is 42 inches wide.
Battery recycling
Just inside the doors to the stairwell on the first floor of the Halle Library, students and staff will find a small white box where they can drop used batteries for recycling or proper disposal.
This one is easy to miss. On the first floor of the library, just inside the doors to the stairway, there is a small white box for recycling batteries.
Most commonly used battery types, including AA, AAA and 9-volt batteries contain manganese, a chemical element that can be harmful under circumstances of large exposure. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that batteries might also contain mercury, lead, cadmium, nickel and silver, metals that can pose a threat to human health or the environment. Some spent batteries might even have enough energy to spark a fire, the EPA reported.
That's why some communities or states prohibit batteries in household trash collections. Because of the possible risks, the EPA recommends that all batteries be recycled.
According to the Environmental Science and Society page on EMU's College of Arts and Sciences website, the battery recycling receptacles on EMU's campus can be found in the Student Center and the Honors College and can be used to dispose of lithium-ion batteries such as the ones commonly found in laptops.
Podcast studios
Microphones await users in one of three podcast studios available for student use at Halle Library on an October 2025 afternoon.
Another hidden feature on the library's first floor, down a side hallway, is the Creative Studio, where students can reserve a podcast space with enough microphones for three voices, as well as a mixing board. The podcast rooms are 115A, 115B and 115D.
A sign outside the room explains that studio sessions can be booked up to one hour before the appointment time. The room key and any additional equipment must be checked out at the Library Services Desk. A valid EMU email address is required to reserve the room and check out the equipment. Rooms can be reserved through the library's webpages on the university website.
The podcast rooms are walled off in an isolated area of the quiet library. The studio walls are also covered in sound-absorbing panels to ensure optimal audio quality.
Media player room
Halle Library has a collection of older audio and video equipment, including these two tape machines in one of the study rooms, for student use. The library's inventory of older audio-visual equipment allows students to play cassette tapes, CDs and even VHS tapes.
On the second floor of the library, students who need to play older forms of media, such as VHS tapes, DVDs, CDs and cassette tapes, can use one of the machines in the dedicated room.
For instance, if a student needs to test a gaming system but only has a modern television with HDMI ports, they can use one of the CRT televisions with the proper line-in outlets.
A small CRT television is hooked up to a DVD player in the media player room on the second floor of the Halle Library on an October 2025 afternoon.
Headphones are required to use any of the machines. Some headphones are provided but will require an adapter that can be checked out at the circulation desk.
The Halle Library has several other hidden gems, including a fax machine, emergency landline phones, a free phone charging station on the ground floor with multiple different cables, and tech loans that are available at the Library Services Desk.
Many of the services are free for EMU students.
