I was at a Capital Area Consortium (CAC) meeting today, and one of the discussions centered around library closings. Karen Douglas from the Passavant Hospital Library suggested reading the post : "Why is the Hospital Library Disappearing?" from the Krafty Librarian. Instead of a lament about how libraries and librarians are undervalued and unappreciated, it is a call to reassess library services and recommit to the needs of library users. In our tough economic times, Michelle's comments are relevant to all libraries:
"Now days academic medical libraries are feeling the pinch of the economy and they are being asked to do more with less. How they respond will predict their outcome. If they become complacent or ignore the future issues, they will encounter many of the same problems as hospital libraries and librarians have been dealing with for quite a while. Time to stop thinking about your users coming to you, but how you can come to your users. That may not prevent all closures and cutbacks like those hospital librarians who were cut despite the wonderful services they provided. But to do otherwise will almost assuredly land your library in the same spot as the hospital library that still relies on card catalogs and has no links to their electronic collection."
Friday, June 19, 2009
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1 comments:
This comment is from Michael:
"I think we have to be innovative and a step ahead of our staff. We have to deliver things before they are requested. We have to do as much as possible to be visible.
We don’t have funds. Our funds are being cut. –What can we do to be creative? I am communicating all the time. I am hand delivering items. I prepare bibliographies; etc. How can we do new things? What are others doing?"
Beth's response: The more you make your services relevant to the institution, administration, and medical staff, the better positioned your library is to keep and possibly increase your budget. Continuing to address the needs of your community with quality research and services isn’t a talisman against library closures, but it definitely extenuates the need for these services. The economy has put some libraries in a tenuous position, and I would encourage everyone to take every opportunity to advocate for your library—update and implement your elevator speech, look for venues to highlight your services, listen to your users—and not to be complacent and think “everyone knows what we do.” Anyone else want to comment?
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