From picking up mail to renting a movie, services provided by residence hall desks can take the hassles out of dorm living.

Many students use the hall desks to get mail, but students also can use the hall desks to check out movies, intramural equipment, tools, board games or to have simple questions answered.

“Everything that can be checked out is free, so that is really nice for the students out here,” said Angie Genkinger, Storms hall desk employee and junior in hotel, restaurant and institution management.

Free movies can be checked out until 3 p.m. the following day. Ping-pong and pool equipment can be checked out for two hours, and intramural equipment can be checked out for four hours at a time.

“We did a lot of checking out of equipment on Saturday night when the weather was bad and students did not want to go out,” Genkinger said.

The halls desks also provide a place where students can ask questions about residence life.

“We get a lot of questions — even the very basic questions like where the library is,” said Park Woongjin, Buchanan hall desk employee and junior in journalism and mass communication.

This year, the format for the hall desks has changed, making it a more centralized place for students to go.

“Last year, it was just a post office, but it has been changed so more work is being done through the hall desk,” Genkinger said.

New duties include checking out keys for students who have lost their keys or locked themselves out, taking care of room changes during the year and checking residents in at the beginning of the year.

“The check-ins at the beginning of the year were aggravating and got to be tense, but the changes made have been for the better,” Genkinger said.

The new system takes the paperwork away from the resident assistants but also requires them to work four hours a week at the hall desk.

Genkinger said fliers were handed out at the beginning of the year to inform students what the hall desks would be offering.

Still, Sara Schuler, Wallace hall desk employee and junior in animal science, said more could be done to let students know everything the halls desks offer.

“A lot of students do take advantage of the services, but it needs to be publicized more so the students know what exactly we have to offer,” Schuler said.