The college organized a welcome weekend before classes started, filling the three days before the semester with picnics, barbecues, banquets, a pool party and movie night, soccer games, a stand-up comedy performance and a residence hall Olympics competition.

“In the past, our students would move in, there would be an orientation session the next day and they’d start classes the following day. That can be a little overwhelming,” director of the North Country Community College Association Beth Quinn said. “So we decided to give them a whole weekend of events that show them what the college is all about and help them settle in.”

Freshmen learning about NCCC attended orientation sessions, campus tours, shopping shuttles to local stores, a college resource fair and a community connections fair.

“I think we’re looking to get the students excited right off the bat,” said Robbie Woodward, NCCC’s associate director of residence life and housing. “We’re giving them some different things to do so they can get to know campus and get to know each other. We just want to make it a fun process of arriving at college, moving in and getting enthusiastic to be at North Country.”

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Jock in the library

As North Country students start classes, the college’s recently hired senior library clerk, Jerry Jock is just starting his third week on the job.

As the senior clerk, he is in charge of keeping books organized, performing inter-library loans and putting protective plastic jackets on new books.

Jock has not worked in a library before but spent time at the Wead Library in Malone and at the SUNY Potsdam library when he was attending classes there. Jock said he always liked reading and doing homework at the library, adding that having knowledgeable staff who could help him with his research was always a highlight.

“I want to help all the students the best I can,” Jock said.

He has only been working for under a month, but Jock said he has probably shuffled through around a quarter of the library’s books, organizing and rearranging them. He has had to learn fast because the former senior clerk left sooner than he thought and he is often working solo.

“This is all new to me,” Jock said. “I’m kind of flying by the seat of my pants, so to speak.”

One of the main things he has learned is how to navigate the Library of Congress classification system. While libraries are commonly known to employ the Dewey Decimal System, NCCC uses the Library of Congress, a 21-category alphabetical and numerical system that groups books by discipline. Compared to the numerical Dewey Decimal System, which is not as specific and can’t cover as many books, the Library of Congress is easier for the NCCC library but requires a bit of practice.

Keeping all the library’s books organized, in good shape and easy to find is a major task; fortunately, Jock has a knack for library curation.

“I like things in their place,” Jock said.

He formerly worked in pagination and the press room for the Malone Telegram, printing pages and laying out articles for 26 years at the daily newspaper before the company decided to move his position to one of the Telegram’s sister papers. He jumped between a few jobs before he took a several civil service exams in Malone and was accepted to the library position. Jock said he is enjoying the job and looks forward to helping students with their research.