Joint Libraries by Gunnels Claire B.;Green Susan E.;Butler Patricia M.;

Author:Gunnels, Claire B.;Green, Susan E.;Butler, Patricia M.; [Gunnels, Claire B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Joint-use libraries—United States
ISBN: 1095008
Publisher: American Library Association
Published: 2012-05-07T00:00:00+00:00

Accessibility

Another faculty concern is the loss of access to college materials, both in the sense of theft and materials simply checked out to public patrons. The MLK library anticipated some problems. A faculty member at San Jose State University “envisioned scenarios in which tenth graders checked out stacks of books in an effort to beef up the bibliographies of their required papers in English class” (Guernsey 1998, A25). The solution that the library developed is that “the Operating Agreement states that should problems arise regarding student access to books necessary for their classes, the city is obligated to help the university find a solution, including the possibility of restricting access to certain materials. Additionally, faculty members and students will be able to recall any books checked out by other library members” (Kauppila and Russell 2003, 263). Typically, academic libraries have more pressure to bring to bear on patrons with overdue or recalled materials since students cannot get their diplomas, register for another semester, or check out additional materials if they have overdue items; while public libraries may block users’ library cards, they have fewer (and often more lenient) methods to ensure materials are returned promptly.

Libraries may have special collections reserved for their particular patrons. Many academic libraries have materials “on reserve” for students, which may contain items pulled from the collection, but intended for students to use with a shorter checkout time, such as two hours. At the LSC-CyFair library, the public library’s administrators did not want public library materials ending up on the reserve shelves for long periods. It was decided that any materials intended for course reserves or “faculty only” use had to be purchased with college funds. There are some difficulties in adhering to this policy since the library collection is totally interfiled. Faculty would often see items in the library catalog that they wanted to use throughout the semester for their courses, without knowing which partner was the owner of the material, and would then be disappointed they could not place the items on reserve for their students.

Borrowing privileges may also be a concern to faculty. Many faculty are accustomed to longer checkout times and no fines for overdue items. There may need to be a special borrower type for faculty, which may be resented by those on the public library side. The compromise reached for the Lone Star College system is that the faculty and staff are not charged overdue fines for materials checked out at an LSC library, but the materials are checked out for the normal loan period. This concern with loan periods seems particularly relevant since patrons can see when items are due on the online catalog. Public patrons might resent not having items available to them, without realizing that the materials are funded by the academic partner.

The age of library items may also come into consideration. Academic libraries may want to retain older resources for their historic and retrospective values or to show students how viewpoints and acceptable language have changed over time.

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