Trading Places: Personalized Library Services in Non-Library Spaces

1. Trading Places: Personalized Library Services in Non-Library Spaces Gordon Aamot and Steve Hiller University of Washington Libraries Seattle, Washington Beyond the Building:Taking the Library to Our Users Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries October Conference October 28, 2004

2. Libraries: The Times They Are A Changin’ How have things changed as far as getting your information in the past 5 years? “We never have to go to the library” (sounds of laughter and lots of paper ripping noise on audio tape) Faculty Focus Group 2000 (University of Washington College of Education)

3. Decline in Print UseUW Libraries Print Items Used 1995-96 to 2003-04

4. Physical Visits Down, Remote Use Up UW Libraries Use Patterns 1998, 2001, 2004(from triennial surveys, % of each group who use library at least weekly)

5. Use Libraries at Least Twice Per Week1998, 2001, 2004 by Mode of Use

6. Where Are Our Customers? • Faculty in academic department space, research labs, clinics/hospital settings, classrooms, off-campus, and the library • Students in computer labs, residence halls, academic departments, writing centers, study centers, learning commons, career centers, classrooms, student union, coffee shops, off-campus, and the library

7. Rumors . . . . • Librarians with office hours in academic departments • Librarians in the clinic or research lab • Library staff in computer labs • Library staff in residence halls • Library staff in learning commons, writing centers Information in the Literature and Web sparse

8. Library Services in Non-Library Spaces • Systematic survey of research libraries about such services • As part of an Association of Research Libraries SPEC Kit survey • Ask what types of services were being offered, where, by whom, how they’re being marketed and funded • Assemble accompanying documentation (policies, reports, Web sites) and bibliography

9. Some Caveats… • Only large research libraries surveyed • Research libraries are different: • Large staff size • Specialized responsibilities • Decentralized organization with branch libraries • Support a broad range of academic programs • Physical challenges of a large campus • Organizational challenges of acting cooperatively in a large, bureaucratic institution • Survey respondents may not have been aware of such activities taking place in the library

10. Survey Design and Methodology • ARL approved proposal January 2004 • Design development February to April 2004 • Scope focused on regularly scheduled library services in non-library spaces • excluded course instruction in classrooms, visits to faculty offices on request, and virtual services • Survey formatted for Web April 2004 • Email invitation sent to 123 ARL libraries May 2004 • Reminder notices sent in June • Survey closed end of June 2004 with 75 responses

11. ARL SPEC Survey

12. Initial Results • 75 Libraries (61%) responded; 41 of the 75 (55%) said they offered library services in non-library space • Departmental office or work space 30 • Hospital or other clinical 13 • Computer lab 13 • Residence hall 11 • Study hall or commons 7 • Career center 7 • Student union 6 • Writing center 4 • Research lab 3 • Other location 10

13. How Long Have Services Been Offered? • 49% said services had been offered more than 5 years. These were mostly in academic departments and clinical settings where faculty were • 27% said that they’d begun offering services in the past 2 years. These new services are mostly in student places: residence halls, study halls and student unions, and computer labs

14. Risky Business • 42% of respondents said that services started had, at some point, been discontinued. Reasons included: • Space constraint or reassignment of space by department. • “Office was needed for teaching faculty member” • Low use of service or prevalence of non-library questions. • “We had reference hours in a humanities class building one year ago, but there was not enough traffic to warrant keeping that service” • Changes in staff assignments or departure of library staff member who’d initiated the service. • “…ended when the education librarian took on new responsibilities and was no longer liaison to the program”

15. Reasons for Initiating Service

16. Academic Departments Where Services Are Provided • Business 10 • Education 9 • Architecture 5 • Nursing, English 4 • Anthro, History, Pol Sci, Medicine 3 • Econ, Psych, Socio, Dentistry, 2 Pharmacy, Civil Engin, Geology, Nat Resources, Music

17. PROGRAMS Outreach (10) No particular name (9) Office Hours (8) Librarian On-Site (2) Librarian On Location Librarian in the Atrium The Librarian is In Mobile Librarian Service Field Librarian Program MyLibrarian Project Gateway Library Services House Calls LIBRARIANS Outreach Librarians Liaison Librarians Clinical Medical Librarians College Librarians Subject Librarians Mobile Librarians Field Librarians Information & Education Services Librarians Services and Staff Names

18. Staffing and Hours • The space category with highest number of participating librarians was office or workspace in an academic department. • 16 of the 28 libraries providing the service have just one or two staff involved • 3 libraries have more than 10 staff involved • Hours per week vary widely • 46% less than 4 hours per week • 29% staffed 10 or more hours per week • Hospitals, computer labs, and residence halls had next highest numbers of staff participating

19. Funding (show me the money) • Generally paid for by library budget (92% of respondents) • “Treated as a reference desk shift” • Respondents considered departments’ contributions of space and equipment as shared funding. • “Departmental space is provided free to the library” • Non-library funding also used for equipment, librarian time, and advertising. • “Dorm pays for pizza”

20. Promotion and Advertising Methods

21. Service Evaluation • Majority have not formally evaluated their service. • 20% haven’t done any evaluation • 71% indicated they have used some kind of informal feedback to evaluate • Among those that have done some kind of structured evaluation, surveys were the most frequent method employed (34%)

22. Perceived Benefits of Service • Relationship Building • “Collegial relationship with faculty” • “Connecting with faculty and students who don’t get to libraries” • “Fosters ‘goodwill’ between library and academic department” • Increased visibility for library staff and the libraries • “Makes librarians more visible, extends library services to folks who might not be aware of them” • “More face-to-face contact with students”

23. Perceived Benefits (cont’d) • User convenience • “Puts librarians where the students are, rather than waiting for the students to come to us” • “Serves audience in their work setting” • “Convenience for users, saves patron’s time” • Other benefits • “Better integration of library services into academic departments” • “Serendipity”

24. Perceived Challenges • Staffing/Scalabililty/Sustainability • “Another added responsibility” • “Finding the ‘right’ individual who can handle the split position” • “Pulls those librarians out of the rotation for staffing in-house reference desks” • “Balance with scheduling of staff at traditional service points” • “Scalability – how can we do this for every department?” • “Keeping the services in non-library spaces a priority at busy times” • “Funding – serves a relatively small population and is very labor intensive. Need to the quantify the value of the service and do cost/benefit analysis to see if service is sustainable”

25. Perceived Challenges (cont’d) • Space • “Getting space on a regular schedule” • “Finding appropriate space in departments has been a challenge” • Marketing • “Need to advertise in many locations and through a variety of venues. May not be readily associated with the library” • “Promoting the service, especially getting onto the department’s web site” • Integrating print resources into the service • “Harder to show and use important print resources” • “Difficult to show more than basic services in public spaces” • Other • “Learning the cultures of the departments” • “IT support if needed unexpectedly”

26. Adding Services in Future? • 6 libraries that don’t currently offer services outside the library indicated they were considering starting such a service. • Departmental offices (4) • Study hall or commons (3) • Residence hall (3) • Student union (3) • Computer lab (2) • Writing center (1)

27. Evolving Services • Many library services in non-library spaces have not moved beyond the “startup” phase. Still characterized by: • Relatively high failure rate • Initiative of key staff biggest factor in starting service; departure of key staff one of the main factors in decision to discontinue service • Wide variety of names for services and the staff who provide them • Few libraries have formally assessed the service

28. Keys to Success • Build on individual initiative and opportunities • Dedicated and entrepreneurial staff • Funding reallocated or drawn from other sources • Ability to take advantage of local opportunities • Access to appropriate space • Interested users • Integrated into library public service programs • Ongoing assessment and evaluation to ensure that services address the changing needs of customers

29. Conclusion Despite the challenges, responding libraries said that they were outweighed by the benefits and opportunities of: • Reaching out to students, faculty, staff, and other library users in their own spaces • Building relationships between libraries/librarians and their users • Adding value to our academic communities wherever they’re located through both virtual and personal connections