ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries Discovering college libraries By Caroline M. Coughlin Associate Director D rew University Library Idea-sharing as a survival strategy. W illiam M offitt’s them e address a t the 1984 Se- attle ACRL m eeting pinpoints some of the con­ cerns of college librarians w ho often endure a nag­ ging sense of being in th e minors given the historic A m erican tendency to equate bigness w ith achieve­ m ent. According to Moffett: “Being small in Am erican academ ia means liv­ ing w ith th a t term in al question [long-term sur­ vival] . “Being small in A m erican academ ia means be­ ing in e lig ib le for m a n y research g ra n ts, b ein g nosed aside from th e trough of m any federal and state subsidies. “Being small means lim ited resources for capital im provem ents; it means being hard-pressed to buy the instrum ents essential for first-class instruction in analytic chemistry. “Being small in academ ia means having diffi­ culty attractin g and sustaining th e ablest teachers and librarians and providing adequate op p o rtu n i­ ties for personal developm ent for Doth faculty and staff th roughout their careers. … . “Being small in academ ia often means a lack of social and cultural diversity.… . “In our country size confers authority, prestige, legitimacy: the big time! the m ajor leagues! the su­ per bow l!”1 M offitt analyzes some of th e im pact of a national 1 W illiam A. M offett, “Reflections of a College L ibrarian: Looking for Life and R edem ption This Side of A R L ,” in Suzanne C. Dodson and G ary L. Menges, eds., A cadem ic Libraries: M yths and R e­ alities, Proceedings of the T h ird N ational C onfer­ ence of th e Association of College and Research L i­ braries, April 4 -7 , 1984, Seattle (Chicago: ACRL, 1984), p p .37-46. preoccupation w ith largeness on th e ongoing work of academ ic librarians. This brief essay will add another dim ension to th a t address and to th e ongo­ ing dialogue about “small is b eau tifu l” issues th a t Schum acher presented in Small Is Beautiful: Eco­ nomics as if People M attered. In addition to effects of smallness listed by Mof­ fitt such as poverty and insecurity there is still a n ­ other. T he smallness of most college library opera­ tions makes th e ir successes d ifficult to see and share. O u r knowledge of college libraries is th e re­ fore incom plete. It is this lim ited view w hich m ay foster a lack of self-respect and in ap p ro p riate or unnecessary envy of research librarians am ong col­ lege librarians. Perceptions about college libraries are flaw ed because th e college library story is in ­ com plete. Small m ay indeed be beautiful, b u t we just do not know th e necessary facts. Schum acher has argued th a t there is wisdom in smallness if only on account of the smallness and patchiness of hu- m a n know ledge w hich relies on experim ent far m ore th a n u n d erstan d in g .2 Using simple techniques th a t are based on th a t fine old custom of library visiting, college lib ra ri­ ans could dispel this ignorance. A system of o b ­ server report exchanges could foster grow th in ac­ tu al knowledge and perhaps a sense of real w orth and com m unity am ong the n atio n ’s college lib ra ri­ ans. As p a rt of th e ongoing w ork of u p d atin g the 1973 edition of G uy R. Lyle’s The A dm inistration o f the 2E .F . S ch u m a c h e r, Sm a ll Is B ea u tifu l: E co ­ nomics As I f People M attered (New York: H arper Colophon Books, 1973), p.33. 100 College Library I regularly visit college libraries and discuss library concerns and issues w ith library directors, staff and other cam pus personnel. Most of my interview notes are on the substantive issues of governance, faculty status, collection develop­ m ent, the introduction of new technologies and the like. However there is also another category of in ­ form ation in my file w hich, for w an t of a better term , m ay be called service refinem ents. Most of these additional services and activities are v a ria ­ tions on program s of public relations, employee m otivation, inform ation and referral services and other basics. Some m ay be labor intensive to perform bu t are not p a rtic u la rly expensive to in stitu te . O th ers w ould be options to consider if renovation funds w ere available. A lthough none of these refine­ ments is of the m agnitude to change the direction of a college library, all add luster to an already sound program . The sad fact is th a t the great m ajority of these small good ideas rem ain in the shadows or are unknow n. In my visits to over fifty colleges I have observed m any small, useful embellishments th a t have not been shared. Replication of clearly evi­ dent good practices is surprisingly lim ited. For example, I observed students at an O C LC LIBS 2000 test site express real pleasure at being asked to w rite comments about search strategies on the experim ental term inal in a notebook near the term inal and suggest how the system m ight be im ­ proved. The eagerness to com m unicate about the s y ste m ’s p e c u lia r itie s re v e a ls m o re t h a n a H aw thorne effect am ong the experim ental group. It is the ability to share m astery of the system th a t seems most appealing to the people who w rite com ­ ments. A sim ilar notebook could be placed near a card catalog and m ight result in m any im prove­ ments. It is quite possible th a t a notebook has been so used somewhere. It is also possible th a t a visitor to the innovating library saw the idea and initiated it elsewhere. And there the m atter is usually ended. W hile the em erging technology of online systems offers m ore interactive options th a t a notebook, a catalog notebook could have m ade life easier for m any generations of college students who w anted to interact w ith their college library card catalog and catalogers. There are too m any of these small, good ideas th a t get away. College librarianship is not so over­ w helm ed w ith innovations th a t it can afford to lose them . M any college libraries have a new book display shelf or area near the entrance. O ne college library visited recently also had bulletin boards in stack a r­ eas w ith new book jackets pinned on them . O bvi­ ously both types of libraries w ere prom oting read ­ ing bu t in the second example there was an extra v itality to th e prom otion. Publicity ab o u t new books w ent past the spotlight of the entrance and followed the user throughout the stacks, encourag­ ing reading all the way. This idea deserves the flat­ tery of im itation. In another institution, a staff-only area features a hom em ade snapshot gallery of student assistants. U nder each individual’s photograph is the ap p ro ­ p riate inform ation: nam e, m ajor, year of g rad u a­ tion and hom etow n. P erm anent staff use the gal­ lery regularly to learn new student staff and as aids in m onitoring perform ance. Although all college li­ braries cannot have the O berlin College L ibrary Too many small, good ideas get away. gallery of famous lib rarian alum nae, each can use photographs to build m ore com m unity and m oti­ vation at home. In another institution the com ments on the a n ­ swer board near the suggestion box h ad a unique tone. The director answers all queries and does so in a m anner th a t heavily promotes the role of the library director as an accessible cam pus personality to students. Answers are segued w ith questions and the resulting dialogue is a blend of N ational L a m ­ poon and a serious inform ation exchange. It takes a flair for w riting as well as a belief th a t the library director also serves as a senior professor-advisor to all students to sustain this dialogue. Good building m aintenance and attractive fu r­ nishings are tw o obvious program requirem ents for a college library. One variation on this ongoing ne­ cessity is E van F a rb e r’s innovation at the E arlham College L ibrary. He created a senior a rt contest and prize. T he w inning entries become the p ro p ­ erty of th e lib ra ry for use in decoration. W hen hung they also contribute a positive sense of student ownership of library space. Such a sense of ow ner­ ship enhances respect for property and assists the li­ b rary staff in its m aintenance efforts. Some ideas even though small cost som ething to im plem ent. One library purchased a series of tapes on health topics and placed them near a tape re­ corder and phone in the reserve area. A person may call and request a p articu lar tape, perhaps the one on exam anxiety, or q uitting smoking, and it is played. If the cam pus student life office is offering such a service there is no need for the library to com pete. If no such counseling service exists and the tapes could be purchased in support of other curricular needs it is not too difficult to extend their use. Another library has a w all in its lobby on w hich is projected a daily calendar of cam pus events. It uses a screen and an overhead projector b u t a com ­ p u ter term inal can be equally effective. Technical creativity is currently ra m p a n t as col­ lege librarians ad ap t personal com puters to their adm inistrative and bibliographical needs. W ith 101 these innovations one obvious question emerges. Can a system for sharing such inform ation be de­ veloped? Could such an inform ation exchange sys­ tem keep track of the other service refinements in­ vented by college librarians? At present the field has only im perfect methods and m edia for learning about these modest suc­ cesses. Most learning is personal and is based on the serendipitous visit of one librarian to another li­ brary. A good idea is recognized and transplanted to the second library. It then goes no further. In a country w ith 4,900 academ ic libraries spread over 50 states it is impossible for someone to visit only those w ith sim ilar objectives and stru ctu re, let alone all 4,900. Individual librarians cannot de­ vote their careers to gathering and disseminating the good ideas of the year. A network based on sharing library visits may be a simple first step to the solution of this problem . Inform ation gathered during library visits, th a t is the visit of one librarian to another library, has never been recorded in the annals of librarianship. Often such visits are solitary experiences and only th e visitor knows w h a t was learned. One is re ­ m inded of a cataloger’s life before shared catalog­ ing th ro u g h netw orks. Some of th e sam e p re ­ n e tw o rk c a ta lo g in g d iffic u ltie s of re lia b ility , replicability and cost effectiveness need to be con­ sidered for library visits and a system for library visits designed. “I always learn something w hen I visit another library” is a phrase as fam iliar and as true as “the right book for the right reader at the right tim e.” Folk wisdom is clearly institutionalized w hen li­ b rarian s p la n n in g new buildings visit th e latest crop of similar buildings and take back to their cam pus know ledge a b o u t w h a t to im ita te and w h at to avoid in their building. O ther visits have m uch less focus. Casual visits m ay result in the vis­ iting librarians only learning about the quality of the coffee in various m eeting rooms. Somewhere betw een the tw o extremes lies the field’s beloved b u t random , unreported one-way com m unication event, a library visit. At first glance a library visit report seems to be another “how I do it good” article. F u rth er reflec­ tion on the custom of library visiting and on its po­ tential for becoming a system th a t can be identified as observer report exchanges reveals im portant dif­ ferences. First, systematic library visit reports can be more objective. It is the disinterested observer, not the creator of a given program , who is m aking judg­ ments about the usefulness and w orth of a p articu ­ lar activity. The pitfalls of excess hum ility or b rag ­ ging th a t m ay lim it the report of the idea creator are avoided by the use of observers. Second, ob­ server reports, especially if structured reports are collected by a team of visitors or as seen through a variety of reports over tim e, offer a m uch w ider sample for study. Thus, observer reports based on an im proved and more systematic sharing of the w idespread custom of library visiting could be a useful contribution to knowledge ab b u t libraries. T he techniques could be simple. O ne person w ith concerns, knowledge and questions in a given specialty visits five libraries and summarizes the findings for others. Tw enty people w ith the same or distinct concerns can organize themselves to visit 100 libraries. There could be an agreed interview form to aid in m aking comparisons. The reporting m edium m ay be oral. The group organizing the above system m ay share their findings at an annual inform al meeting. Two principles, inform ed ob­ servation and regular sharing of results, should dom inate any design. There can be m any different systems for sharing the inform ation. If a published report results, the literature repre­ sented by ALA’s Office for L ibrary Personnel Re­ sources TIP Notes, ACRL’s C LIP Notes, and the Association of Research Libraries SPEC Kits are models for consideration. O r, a column in C &R.L N e w s m a y be m o re a p p r o p r ia t e . T h e n ew ALANET electronic m ail system is another possi­ bility. One could poll members to discover prefer­ ences prior to any publication. The College Libraries Section of ACRL is a pos­ sible home for a project of this n atu re if the Section wishes to give the idea shelter and support. If it does not, there is no barrier to any other group adopting the idea and modifying it to support the particular interests of the group. Task Force needs feedback The Strategic Planning Task Force is in ter­ ested in your comments on the ACRL planning process as described in C b R L N ew s, Septem­ ber 1984, p p .396-401. W h at areas w ould you like to see improved? How w ould you change things to improve th a t situation? W h at should ACRL’s priorities be? The Task Force needs your suggestions. One way to being them to the attention of the Asso­ ciation is to come to the ACRL President’s Pro­ gram in Chicago on Monday, July 8, 2:00-5:30 p.m . This will be the culm ination of President S haron Rogers’s efforts to d e te rm in e w h a t ACRL members w an t in their Association. It will be a working session, w here members in small groups will debate Association priorities under the guidance of over 100 trained discus­ sion leaders. The results will form an im portant p a rt of the Task Force’s d ata as they carry out activities and resource planning and carry out ACRL’s strategic plan. O r you may address your suggestions to the C h a ir of th e Task F orce, Susan K lingberg, H ead, E d ucation and Psychology Reference D epartm ent, C alifornia State University L i­ brary, 2000 Jed Smith Drive, Sacram ento, CA 95819; (916) 454-6776. 102 As Schumacher says,3 we need the freedom of 3Schumacher, ibid., p.61. lots and lots of small autonomous units, and at the same tim e the orderliness of large-scale—possibly global—unity and coordination. ■ ■ ACRL issues for the 80s A C R L ’s two presidential candidates offer their views or the Association’s future. Thomas Kirk Hannelore Rader I h i s presentation of statements from ACRL’s candidates for vice-president/president-elect is an inform ation service for ACRL members. Many of the issues and concerns facing ACRL are discussed informally at meetings, but this does not provide a national forum available to all members. These statements provide the basis for an informed choice w h en you receive your b a llo t next m o n th .— Sharon J. Rogers, A C R L president. Thomas Kirk: I have just returned from W ashington, D .C ., where I participated in the activities and meetings of the M idwinter meeting of the American Library Association. As I w rite this statem ent of candidacy my thoughts of those meetings are very much on my mind. ACRL is a vital and active organization. The m any committees, task forces, and sections of the Association are hard at work addressing im por­ ta n t professional and organizational issues. The planning process which our recent ACRL presi­ dents began is well underw ay and we can expect to see the fruits of th a t effort in the coming years. In addition to ACRL organizational planning I ob­ served m any committees focusing on professional concerns such as College Library Standards, a new model statem ent on bibliographic instruction, li­ brary legislation, and the planning of programs for this and next year’s annual conferences, to nam e just a few. In the context of ACRL’s strength I believe th a t my task, should I be elected, is to see th a t the plan ­ ning effort already underw ay is completed. In the past I have w atched the noble planning efforts of one president get lost when they left office. I be­ lieve we have a good effort underw ay and I am com m itted to seeing th a t p lanning process con­ tinue during my tenure. There is one aspect of the Association which has not received much attention and I believe will need serious consideration over the next few years. T hat issue is how to best represent the concerns and in­ terests which are prim arily those of a particular type of library. The reorganization of the ACRL Roard of Directors, if approved by the m em ber­ ship, and other proposed changes in ACRL will w eaken the role of the type-of-library sections w ithin ACRL. Rut I am not interested in just pre­ serving those sections. Instead I w ant the Associa­ tio n to explore an d e x p erim en t w ith w ays of strengthening members’ participation in activities and programs which focus on type-of-library con­ cerns. ACRL must not lose the capacity to speak ef­ fectively for the interests of a particular type of aca­ demic or research library. The Association, however, should not spend all its energies on organizational concerns. ACRL has as its mission “the enhancem ent of library service, in the broadest sense, to the academic and research 103