Welcome back to school, or how many students can you fit in a classroom?—the wanderings continue

The continued wanderings of a newly minted librarian…. The back to school edition

Yes, school is back in session. The fall semester started on August 24^th and it has been almost non-stop since. Enrollment is up, WAY up. I suppose most community colleges are in this position with the economy being what it is. It is nice, but it also means that classes are full, that students need to be turned away because there aren’t enough classrooms to put classes in, etc.

In addition to a record number of new students, we have also switched to a new ID system which means that ALL students need a new ID card/ library card. Of course this is done in the library and has made for a very, very, busy time. In 4 days we have probably made over 1000 cards!

Interlibrary loan requests are up also. In 4 days I have sent out 17 books as ILLs!! We used to average at least 1 a day and the most I ever had to send out was 6 in one day. Part of this is the beginning of the school year and the requests will probably dwindle back down to the usual amount.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about higher education. For me, college was a fantastic time of exploration and learning. I was learning about who I was and broadening my horizons in general. My classes were not “marketable skills” classes per se. They were classes that taught me skills for the rest of my life. I learned to think critically and to be inquisitive. I learned what it means to work hard both mentally and physically (I was on the crew team for 4 years). I recently read an article from the Washington Post, “An Education Debate for the Books”. It discusses the fact that enrollment is down at St. John’s College and other Great Books schools. St. John’s is a small private liberal arts college which follows a curriculum based on great works of literature, science, math, etc. Students study Homer, Einstein, Chaucer etc. and have no major per se. The students graduate with a well rounded liberal arts degree. Lately it seems that the focus on higher education has become a focus on getting that degree that will get you money. Instead of society valuing the broader education of its citizenry, the value seems to be on money and what degree will get you the most. Thus enrollment is high for medical doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc., but some people question the worth of a bachelor’s in philosophy or Ancient Greek and Latin (my B.A. major). It isn’t all about money, or it shouldn’t be. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t benefit from more education. Having a solid background in classical works of all disciplines is a valuable tool for life that once earned cannot be taken away from you. Schools of higher education do more than teach skills for just one job, they encourage the student to step beyond what they are used to and explore the unknown. They foster tolerance for others who are different or have differing opinions. They encourage one to support one’s opinions with solid facts and to critically examine what is read or even seen on TV or the internet.

It saddens me when I overhear students saying that they are trying to get into a fast track nursing program that will let them go from RN certificate to a M.S. in Nursing without having to do a Bachelor’s program. This way they can skip all the “useless stuff” such as foreign languages etc. I wish no such option existed. I want my nurses to have as much education as possible and I expect that anyone with a Master’s degree has gone through a Bachelor’s program and thus have a certain general level of education and experience. Does everyone NEED to go to college?  I suppose not, although I wish everyone did. What truly matters is education. I know people who are so well read that they probably have the equivalent of a college degree. I wish society would start to value education more, not for the job you can get but for the person you will become after having the time and chance to explore the world and yourself in a safe academic environment that nurtures and encourages this self growth.

For all those in academia, welcome back to class and have a wonderful and enlightening semester.

 

Inventory: Or how to count books—the wandering continues

Inventory Time

The continued wanderings of a newly minted librarian

 

Well, it is that time again. Time to verify that the books that are supposed to be on the shelves are actually there and that there aren’t any books on the shelves that are not supposed to reside there. You may think this is a simple, easy process but you would be sadly mistaken.

First of all, this is the first time we have been required to do inventory for 3 years. We used to do it every year but then someone much higher up on the ladder told us we only needed to take inventory every 3 years. So… it has been 3 years. There are only a couple of us who were here the last time this was done.

Second, we do inventory the old fashioned way—paper and pencil (no hand held scanners for us)! Also we have a new library director so we are doing a bit more than inventory—we are checking for duplicates and call number irregularities as well.

All this means that it is very slow going. Picture if you will two wonderful library staff members in the stacks. One is climbing up and down on the library stool and reading off call numbers while the other is dutifully checking them off on a shelf list and marking any duplicates, missing items, oversize items, and other peculiarities. We only have 5 full time folks, one part time staff, and one student worker doing all this.

But does the wandering librarian despair? NO! In spite of the seemingly tediousness of the task it is not THAT bad. One gets to know the collection better in this process. And, even though it is slowing us down, by making notes and fixing call number issues etc. we will definitely improve the usability of the collection. Also, this is probably the last time inventory will be done by paper and pencil….hopefully next time there will be hand held scanners etc.

Yes this is a big project which can be tiresome, but it also gives us a chance to bond with each other and work more closely together which is fun. Part of the stress is that we are also redoing our whole student ID system now. These are also the library cards and we will need to be redoing everyone’s!  All faculty, all staff, all students (new and returning) will all need a new ID. The ID system arrives tomorrow, right in the middle of inventory. Fun, fun, fun. Change is always slightly stressful, but also makes things interesting.

So don’t pity those of us slaving away in the stacks making little chit marks by items on our shelf list, we enjoy our jobs! I think all of us will feel quite proud and satisfied when we have completed our task and our collection is all in order and looking good.