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The Two Solitudes…

The Two Solitudes… Academic and Public Libraries Who We Are: Chancellor Paterson Library, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON 7,600 full and part-time enrolment New Medical School; new campus at Orillia Thunder Bay Public Library 2 “Main Branches”, 2 neighbourhood branches

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The Two Solitudes…

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  1. The Two Solitudes… Academic and Public Libraries

  2. Who We Are: • Chancellor Paterson Library, • Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON • 7,600 full and part-time enrolment • New Medical School; new campus at Orillia • Thunder Bay Public Library • 2 “Main Branches”, 2 neighbourhood branches • City of 117,000, formerly two smaller cities: Port Arthur and Fort William; merged in 1970

  3. High Schools • Declining enrolment • Public system declining; Catholic system remaining steady or increasing • Public High schools closing or merging; one mega-school planned but not yet a reality

  4. The Challenge: • High School teachers sending their students to the university library exclusively, unaware of the many useful e-resources of the Public Library • University Library dealing with an influx of students requiring much more help and shortchanging their own students

  5. The “Fix”…or Pick up the Phone and Call the Public Library… • Collaborate to plan outreach to the teachers at local high schools to: • Explain the services/policies/access of both library systems via presentation, brochure, website, etc. • Teach the teacher and the students about access from home (important for rural students).

  6. The Original Plan: • Design and develop presentation/package/website. • Present at staff meetings to reach as many teachers as possible…how? • A colleague knew a teacher in the school; this led to a meeting with the Program Head at the school board…

  7. But…the best laid plans…can sometimes go awry! • We presented to the Program Head and she was ready to book us into a school dept. head meeting. Unfortunately, before we had our chance, a presenter came into such a meeting and instead of his allotted 15 minutes took 45 minutes. So, outside guests were not booked after this incident!

  8. Plan B: • Go into specific classes (Gr. 12 English) that would most benefit from learning about the access and resources of both libraries. • Give the teachers a package detailing the e-resources/access from home/contact information for both libraries.

  9. Is It Working? • Too soon to tell but… • Positive comments from teachers. • March 2006: 2 high schools visited with a total of 140 students • October 2006: invited back to same 2 high schools…maybe they really, really like us?

  10. What’s Next? • Add Catholic high schools to the program since they each have around 1200 students, and are still sending students to the university library…

  11. Benefits: • Promotion for both Lakehead and TBPL. • Familiarize high school students/teachers with info. lit concepts: research skills, database searching, etc. • Meeting Strategic Plan goal (TBPL). • Better use of staff time at LU Library; h/s students are at least familiar with the basics of searching.

  12. Benefits, cont’d • Increase for TBPL in visits to high schools. • Increase in high school students obtaining public library cards. • High School students learn about academic atmosphere/environment and Lakehead promotes its programs too.

  13. Where do I begin? (Public Librarians) • Contact the university library and ask for a tour for your (public library) staff to find out about their services/resources/programs. • Contact the Instruction or Information Literacy Librarian and set up a meeting to discuss possible collaboration.

  14. Where do I begin? (Academic Librarians) • Check out the Public Library’s website and see what e-resources are available. • If you are inundated with inquiries from high schools about instruction sessions, ask the teachers if they are aware of the e-resources of the Public Library and have a contact name/number/email ready to give them.

  15. Where do we both (academic and public librarians) begin?? • Make the first call! • Set up a meeting to devise a strategy/plan/outreach program that will benefit both libraries. • Follow through! Go to where your audience is: high school staff meetings, dept. head meetings, or in the classroom, if necessary.

  16. Contact Us: • Sylvia Renaud, Thunder Bay Public Library, srenaud@tbpl.ca • Janice Mutz, Chancellor Paterson Library, Lakehead University, jmutz@lakeheadu.ca

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