ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ D ecem ber 1999 / 899 Student advocates The key to successful funding for a new building by Karen L. H orny and Paul Seale O btaining funding for a new library build­ ing through the state legislative process can be a major challenge for publicly su ported universities. At Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU), student advocates w ere key to our success w hen our project seemed at an impasse. T h e e n th u s ia s m an d c o m m itm e n t o f th e SMSU students provides a powerful example of how effective the voice of the constituency can be to generate legisla­ tive backing for campus library construction. Project backg rou n d O ur project had begun w ith local recognition that Meyer Library, the p r e s e n t m ain lib ra ry building, had reached its Paul Seale and Karen H orny w ith p e titio n papers. capacity for the collec­ tions and was woefully undersupplied with electrical connections for com puter equip­ ment. In 1995, the campus began a transforma­ tion to fully wired capabilities and the state was providing new funding specifically for academic library technology, as well as cam­ pus networking. At this time, SMSU appointed p­a planning committee for library expansion and renovation. This committee was com­ posed of the dean and associate dean of Li­ brary Services, the heads of Circulation and Acquisitions and Collection Development, the libraries’ supervisor o f Educational Media, the vice president for Administrative Services, the associate vice president for Inform ation T echnol­ ogy, the faculty m em ber w ho chaired the University Library Committee, the su­ p e rv iso r o f D esig n an d Construction, and student representatives for under­ graduates and graduate stu­ dents. The undergraduate student, Paul Seale, the Stu­ dent Government Associa­ tion’s Library commissioner, took his communication re­ sponsibilities seriously and turned out to be the key person to rally student support w hen it proved essential to keeping the project mov­ ing forward. The state legislature was initially positive about the project and, in 1995, appropriated A bout th e authors Karen L. H o rn y is dean o f L ib ra ry Services a t S o uthw est M issouri State University, e-m ail: klh533f@ mail.smsu.edu a n d Paul Seale, S tu d e nt Governm ent Association Library com m issioner (1995-97) a t S outhw est Missouri State University, is n o w senior Web developer a t A tlas Communications, e-m ail: alienproducts@ hotm ail.com C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e news mailto:klh533f@mail.smsu.edu 900 / C&RL News ■ D ecem ber 1999 planning money to solicit proposals from ar­ chitectural firms, hire the chosen team, and develop the program and concept design for an addition to and renovation of the existing main library building. T he Library P lan n in g C om m ittee re ­ ceived m ore than a d ozen excellent p ro ­ posals, m ost o f w hich team ed a firm n a­ tionally recognized for its library design w ork with a major in-state p artn er firm. After presentations by the five finalist teams, the committee selected the proposal subm itted by C annon’s St. Louis office in conjunction with Perry Dean Rogers & Part­ ners o f Boston. O ver a three-m onth period, the archi­ tects visited cam pus at tw o-w eek intervals, holding approxim ately tw o days o f w ork­ ing sessions w ith the planning com m ittee and library personnel, as well as more gen­ eral inform ation-gathering m eetings with the various constituencies each time. Discussions w ere docum ented on large charts that com piled issues an d options in colum n form, co rrelatin g th e perceiv ed needs, goals, and possible solutions with m ulticolored linking lines. T hese charts hung on the walls o f the library’s em ployee lounge th ro u g h o u t the intervals betw een visits for further comments to be added us­ ing large adhesive notes. Diagrams and drawings suggested the va­ riety of traditional, modern, and radical ar­ chitectural possibilities. Three contrasting preliminary schemes—familiarly term ed the “tilted c u b e ,” the “Italian village” (with tower), and the “corner cut”—evolved dra­ matically into a concept plan with elements of each, and a com puter-generated design was produced from a site photograph o f the current structure. The “program” elements required for the building project were de­ tailed in a spiral binder of nearly 100 pages. SMSU w as now requesting funding for the detailed blueprint design w ork and the actu al c o n s tru c tio n . U n fo rtu n ately , w e w ere co m p etin g w ith th e strongly s u p ­ p o rted n ee d for new prison facilities for the state! The follow ing notes, recorded by Paul Seale, the undergraduate representative on th e Library Planning Committee, describe how w e m et the challenge to k eep our project moving forw ard.— Karen L. H orny Notes o f student petition drive and “lobbying” activity History These actions and results accumulated as a result of a number of things that started back in my initial year (fall 1995-spring 1996 se­ mesters) as library commissioner for the Stu­ dent Government Association (SGA) at SMSU. As SGA senate representative my fresh­ man year and student representative for both the University Library Committee and the Dean of Library Services Search Committee, I had heard complaints from faculty, staff, and students alike about overcrowded library facilities, and concerns about which direc­ tion the university was taking to solve these problems. Most of these complaints ranged from not finding the available document in the over­ packed shelves to not having enough room for studying. All these concerns w ere first solidified w hen both the ćampus new spaper and area media began reporting that the student sports center was possibly going to be renovated and expanded before Meyer Library. This re­ sulted in a public and university outcry with a student-initiative resolution to put Meyer Library as the university’s priority over the basketball facility. This resolution (which I had the pleasure to author) was passed by the SGA senate over­ whelmingly. In the end, the university cleared u p the matter by stating the funding for the student sports center expansion w ould come from a different, private source. This would not interfere with the plans (at this point, potential plans) to renovate Meyer. Interestingly enough, it was only a couple of weeks after this incident when the univer­ sity used a committee (which I also was a part of) to select the architects for the library ex­ pansion project. During the initial concept phase, the architects were very careful and lis­ tened to everyone on campus whether it be librarian, student, or faculty. C&RL News ■ D ecem ber 1 9 9 9 / 901 O fficials break g ro u n d f o r th e n e w lib ra During these meetings, the media followed the program, specifically w hen the building concept plan went before the university’s Board of Governors for approval. After this approval, the university began the initial lobbying phase with the Missouri Coordinating Board for H igher Education (CBHE) and brought to campus state repre­ sentatives and senators from both parties, as well as those running for office. In each of these m eetings, held at Meyer Library, I stressed the student need and desire for the expansion o f the library. The thrust o f the entire argument was simply that this library expansion project would be the lynchpin to any developm ent of the academic structure. Simply put, without it the university could no longer continue to provide the proper edu­ cation or expand its academic programs the way they needed. Of course, m uch of this effort to gain leg­ islative support w ould still need to compete with other political priorities. In 1996, the popular issue of a need for more prisons sud­ denly loomed large, taking priority in both the governor’s proposed budget and the leg­ islative a g e n d a , d u m p in g m any ca p ita l projects for education off the list for avail­ able funds. As a result, Meyer’s expansion was in serious trouble, even with its high priority on the CBHE list. This outraged many people both on and off SMSU’s campus. As a result of this upsurge o f concern for the ex­ pansion project, the petition drive and lob­ bying effort was forged. M o tivatin g students As stated before, the stu­ dents already had much motivation for rallying be­ hind the library. In this particular instance, the key was to motivate the stu­ d en ts to d o so m eth in g co n stru ctiv e an d ap p li­ cable to the program. In essence, I w anted to take the em otion and motivate it into something construc­ tive. I w anted the students and other interested indi­ viduals to be motivated re­ gardless of their political ry a t SMSU. affiliation, meaning bipar­ tis a n s u p p o r t fo r th e project rather than finger-pointing at politi­ cians. After taking the opportunities at hand in both SGA and the Residence Housing As­ sociation (RHA, the second largest organiza­ tion on campus), a petition drive was orga­ nized to motivate students to focus their energy on advancing the library expansion project. Focusing the students and the m essage After establishing the proper foundation by urging students to be constructive in their at­ tempts, I took the next step of organizing the large amounts of momentum, which had been building up for the past few weeks. The goal was to continue to sell the single, focused, upbeat message that the university desperately needed the library expansion to continue with its educational programs. Without the resources provided by the expansion, SMSU would be lagging behind in its educational resources. The challenge in this process w ould be in bringing all the differing opinions from the various organizations to this point, starting with SGA. As a result, I focused all the calls I received from individuals and organizations to their SGA representatives, w hom I could address directly as their library commissioner. The others I tried to reach and focus through a key RHA representative, Mary Hovorka (who w ould eventually become the SGA li­ brary commissioner w hen I graduated). This action precipitated into another pair o f reso­ lutions, one in each organization, initiating 902 / C&RL News ■ D ecember 1999 A preview o f th e a d d itio n and re n o va tio n o f th e M eyer Library at Southw est Missouri State University. the petition drive. Some 4,000 signatures were collected in two weeks. The next set of actions we took included a trip to the state capital, Jefferson City, to meet with many state legislators. This event was properly coordinated betw een the stu­ dents and the university administration. The university relations representative contacted the state lobbyist and several key officials in scheduling and coordinating the events for a two-day trip. During this trip, the President of the Student Government Association, the RHA Representative, and I delivered the sig­ natures to im portant legislators during a breakfast, as well as in one-on-one meetings with vital state officials (which included the governor’s spokesperson). The actual im pact During the spring 1997 session, the state leg­ islature added a budget appropriation of $1.25 million to do the detailed construction de­ signs for the Meyer Library expansion. The governor left that appropriation in the legis­ lation he signed into law, even though he need ed to remove other capital projects, which w ould have overcommitted available funds. While no one but the officials themselves can be certain o f how m uch the student movement actually impacted the process, I do believe, from both observations and state­ ments made by the officials, that our actions did make a difference. I believe that the p e­ tition drive show ed initiative by the students and it added credibility to the process. In­ stead of the outlook by the legislature that the university’s request was “just another building,” the drive established the reality of how the library expansion w ould help the education o f young individuals attend­ ing the university. I also believe the key to success was the organization, focus, and positive message of the initiative. Instead of taking a hard-line political approach, the supportive efforts made by the students in cooperation with the administrative position were indeed vi­ tal. Equally important was the unified mes­ sage sent by the students. While there were initially many student voices, all were focused to a single point, centered on supporting the project, not opposing a policy or direction of the governor or legislature. (If the message had read “Libraries NOT prisons,” the effect would have been disastrous!) A combination of all these factors made the entire project work. If any of the above were skewed in a different direction, the goal may not have been accomplished.—Paul Seale Update During the 1998 state fiscal year, the legis­ lature passed and the governor signed a b u d g et bill that included more than $24 million for the addition an d renovation for the Meyer Library at SMSU. After some anx­ ious moments, w hile all state capital ap ­ p ro p ria tio n s w ere s u s p e n d e d u n til th e settlem ent of a lawsuit over the applica­ tion o f tax cap levels, the funds w ere re­ leased to SMSU in January 1999. O n April 29, 1999, the area chapter o f the American Institute o f Architects an n o u n ced that the project’s architectural design had w on their h o n o r award. Thanks to o ur student advo­ cates, the addition will indeed b e built; the groundbreaking cerem ony took place o n O ctober 12.—K aren L. H orny ■ Every day in over 34,000 libraries around the world, librarians help their users locate the information they’re seeking… w ith the help o f OCLC. Just ask Rima O’Connor. She recently told us, “OCLC expands our library beyond its walls, so w e can provide better service to our faculty and students.” Among those w ho appreciate this service is Professor Marc Olshan, w ho has over three dozen publications and research projects to his credit. 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