Date post: | 20-Jul-2015 |
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Education |
Upload: | amanda-peach |
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Walking the Walk:
Creating a More Student-Centered Library
Sona Apbasova, Amanda Peach, Ed Poston, and Angel Rivera
• Last year we undertook a number of changes in order to better serve our students
• Why?
• We already have 100% buy-in for freshman composition students, but we wanted to move from students being obligated to being here twice a year to library being THE destination on campus
• Carpet meant to look like an EKG readout, symbolizing that the library is the academic heart of campus
• Our presentation today will look at specific changes we implemented, what we learned from those changes, and how our patrons responded to them.
Library Redesign
4 years ago, Campus Administration planning dramatic renovation of the library:
• Library would house the Office of Internships, Peer Tutoring, the Writing Center, and the IS&S Helpdesk
• Greening of Library: new HVAC, new windows, etc.
• Serious consideration given to moving to shared service points
Preparing for Chaos
• Library would lose almost entire main floor
• Dramatic weeding project began – eventual goal 40% of collection
• Never weeded before, never needed to
• Removed: - 3,469 reference volumes
- 2,461 VHS titles
• Moved remaining reference collection down stairs - 7,798 volumes
• Condensed bound journals (selected 1,046 feet for removal)
Plans Change…• Initial Call for Proposals Plans came back 12 million over budget
• Back to drawing board
• CTL found new home and then IS&S backed out
• Science Building was deemed more needy
• Renovation cancelled
The “Refresh”
• Director and Dean agreed – student experience still a priority
• Library was dated and in need of a “refresh”
• We would receive new furniture, carpet, etc.
Lessons learned
• Should have paid someone to jack the shelves when laying carpet
• Spent all of our $$ on beautifying the place = couldn’t afford to pay for movers
• Met faculty resistance when weeding
• Surprisingly, more pushback over VHS tapes than Reference books
“Refresh” Highlights…
• Moved to flexible space that could easily be reconfigured
• Divided the Main Floor into 3 Sections:
- Left: Large group study area/ presentation/ class space
- Middle: Educational Technology
- Right: Reference area/ small group & individual study
• Added stand-alone Graphic Novel collection & Zine Collection per student requests
• Added vending machines and café seating – allowing SOME food & drink
Zine Collection
• Zines donated by former student
• Not catalogued because zines are meant to be taken
• Collaboration between instruction and a Graphic design course in which students made new zines to be added to the collection
Atrium Before…
• First thing you see when you enter building
• Prime real estate wasted on printers and dummy OPAC terminals
Atrium After…
• Added a high-tech Educational Technology Open Lab, replacing the previously closed lab that only select were allowed to use
• High-end Macs and touch-screen PCs
• Expensive productivity and editing software.
• Staffed by students trained w/ the equipment DURING busy hours !!!
Reference Before
• Heavy wooden tables that were too small for the student’s stuff
• Chairs were breaking & being repaired constantly
Reference After…
Even more options…
• Small booths for 1, with privacy screens• Large group tables with puck system for screen sharing
Periodicals After
Periodicals After…aka “The Cafeteria”
• Tables can be reconfigured into any shape or direction, or folded up and stored
• Space used for Fall Faculty Conference, Convocation overflow, for presentations by visiting scholars and students, and for group study space
They like it!
10:30 am 2:30 pm 5:30 pm 8:30 pm 11:30 pm
Fall 2013 17 27 18 78 29
Fall 2014 20 35 35 112 34
Increase 17.6 % 29.6 % 92.3 % 44.0 % 16.4 %
Headcount StatsFirst 5 weeks
2013 vs. 2014
Lessons Learned
• Students appreciate flexible spaces & group spaces
• Increased use of space = increased noise & complaints about noise
• Abuse of the “some foods” allowance. Chips are ok, but pizza is not (and this distinction seem arbitrary to students)
• We, as library staff, need to have conversations about policies
Webpage Redesign
• In need of a new look to complement new main floor
• Built entirely in LibGuides so we would have control, not have to rely on IS&S for updates/changes
• Added a search box after holding out forever
• Added Reference Consultation Scheduler
• http://libraryguides.berea.edu/
An improved website to match our improved physical space
Focus on high-yield reference consults to supplement the mandatory one-shot
• Student in control & chooses time best for them
• Reduces the number of emails negotiating meeting times
LibCalendar Stats
• 175 scheduled via LibCalendar
• 55 scheduled in-person or via email
• 230 total as of Thursday 4/23/2015
• That is a 105% increase over last year’s numbers!!
• And still more scheduled for this semester
Lessons Learned…
• Easy to become overwhelmed/ overscheduled; can’t say no
• Time spent preparing ahead is wasted if student is a no-show
• No-shows are much rarer for those appointments scheduled via LibCalendar than those scheduled in-person or via email
• Faculty made it a requirement of students without checking with us first – suddenly we were flooded!
• One more place to update when you’re out of the office
Student Reference Consultant
• Pilot project began in Spring 2015
• Director had wanted to implement this for 5 years or more, but met resistance from former library faculty
• Logistically impossible until LibCalendar
• Chose Sona because she’s a proven researcher
• Experience writing Bereapedia articles, winner of KATH award for World History Research paper
Benefit of Students Providing Reference Consultations
• Less removed from the assignment, having completed it herself recently
• Meet students on their own turf –dorms, student union
• Less intimidating than meeting with a librarian
• Availability outside of normal library hours
Logistics
• Students scheduled appointments:
- through LibCalendar
- through email
- in-person in the dorm, in food service
• Using flexible schedule; some portion of weekly work hours are scheduled off-the-desk, as needed, to accommodate appointments
Success !!
• Initial fears that no one would meet with a peer were unfounded
• 17 appointments scheduled via LibCalendar
• 9 appointments scheduled in-person
• 12% of all Reference Consultations conducted by Sona!
What Sona took away…
• Improve listening and problem solving skills with each consultation
• Pleasant memories of personal and professional interaction
• Enjoyed helping students not to panic/ share their research project in a calm/not rushed fashion
Lessons learned…
• Promote service on social media (personal & library acct)
• 30 minutes is not really enough
• Some students want their work done for them
• Became so invested in helping others with their own research, neglected her own