Regional Campus Libraries Discussion Group
ALA Midwinter Meeting 2009
1. Attending:
- Alica White, Co-chair (Penn State, Mont Alto)
- Anna Salyer, Co-chair (University of Washington, Tacoma)
- Jennifer Sundheim (University of Washington, Tacoma)
- Mark Shores (Miami University, Ohio)
- Joe Zumwalt (West Campus Library, Texas A&M University)
- Serin Anderson(University of Washington, Tacoma)
2. Group Leadership:
Group co-leadership schedule was discussed. Alica White’s term as co-chair with Anna Salyer ends in 2009. The group is looking
for someone to serve as co-chair with Anna 2009-10 and to continue his/her term with another person during 2010-11. Anyone who is interested
in serving as co-chair should contact Anna Salyer at anna3@u.washington.edu.
3. Discussion Topic:
Creative Solutions to Unexpected Bumps in the Road
Budget deficits were cited as a major factor behind most of the libraries’ “bumps in the road.” These included:
- pooling resources with other campus departments to enhance library services,
- carefully managing the filling of open positions to cover services impacted by declining overall budgets,
- using technology for online conferences and meetings,
- implementing and promoting recycling efforts, i.e. double-sided printing, choosing not to print, re-using paper for drafts, etc
- maintaining a positive attitude,
- staff coming together as a group to be more creative with less,
- crafting new policies and procedures to cover for shifts in work flow and fewer services, hours, and staff
- creating strategic plans to guide future decisions and less funding
- establish accountability lines to generate more vitality and interest in jobs.
4. Roundtable – New attendees asked questions pertaining to campus climates at regional libraries. We discussed:
- the varied models of funding at regional campus libraries,
- tenure vs. non-tenure status for regional campus librarians,
- equality in requirements for tenure for regional campus librarians and main campus librarians,
- the relationships between teaching faculty and librarians at regional campuses,
- small and personal campuses verses large and eclectic campuses,
- expectations of and by regional campus librarians.
|