A Collaborative Library Model for
Management, Labor, and Hospitality Support
Fact Sheet – August 2010
As part of the University’s and the Library’s strategic planning, a group of faculty, students, and librarians conducted a joint review of the Hotel, Labor, and Management libraries. Based on their recommendations as well as the consensus of the Deans of the three schools, the University Librarian, and the Provost, a careful and balanced consolidation of some library functions is planned. The goal of these changes is to maintain and even improve on-site, high quality, specialized research help at all three sites; to maintain the excellence of the collection; to further modernize library services by responding to well-established and emerging trends in use patterns and information technology; and to use available spaces and resources in a more efficient manner.
With questions please contact Janet McCue (jam7@cornell.edu), Associate University Librarian. In addition, FAQs will be available as questions come up and details are developed.
PROCESS:
In March 2010 the Deans of the three schools and the University Librarian called together a group of faculty and students from the three schools and the directors of the three libraries. Their charge was to envision excellent future library services for the three schools by thinking creatively about alternate means of providing services and scholarly resources and by examining all viable options with an eye toward both improvements and cost savings. The group’s work was informed by a survey of the users of the three libraries, as well as three focus groups with students, and an analysis of available library data including detailed circulation statistics and service transactions.
The Advisory Group recommended four goals including enhancing service excellence by focusing on evolving user needs; ensuring optimal resource use by appointing a change leader for the three libraries; finding opportunities to share resources; and testing new ideas of sharing and learning from these experiments. Building on the Advisory Group’s report the respective Deans and the University Librarian identified specific approaches for moving towards these goals including a commitment to maintaining study space and library subject experts in all three locations; defining a single director for the three libraries; consolidating the physical print collections; and developing cross-functional teams across the three units. Some of the changes are effective immediately, others will be planned and implemented in the coming one to two years.
APPROACHES:
Enhanced electronic access
Following the ever-increasing demand for online information, access to e-resources will be expanded. Where feasible, Cornell’s excellent print holdings will be digitized for easier discovery and use. Reserve operations will be shifted toward online with appropriate recognition of faculty and student needs.
Consolidated print collections in the ILR Library
Responding to decreasing use of printed resources and an already interconnected circulation profile, on-campus physical collections of the three libraries will be consolidated into the ILR library stacks (or the Annex as appropriate) within 1-2 years. This will provide savings by reducing the staff and facility costs of circulation and stacks management functions.
Continued on-site services in response to local Hotel and JGSM needs
All three school communities spoke very highly of the excellent on-site subject-specific research help and its importance to their work. Such local services, together with access to specialized databases at JGSM, individual and group study space at Statler, and access to computing will continue to be available. Staffing hours at these local service centers will be analyzed. The feasibility of after-hour key card access in a manner similar to Law Library practice will be investigated for unstaffed, but safe and controlled extended hours at JGSM.
Consolidated administration, collaborative teams, shared functions
Moving toward consolidated leadership, a single director will oversee all three libraries with a charge of enhancing services, implementing changes, and increasing fiscal efficiency. Until a permanent director can be hired, Janet McCue, an Associate University Librarian, will serve as the interim director for the three libraries, effective immediately. The Deans and the University Librarian will agree on direction and goals for this interim period and will meet regularly with Janet.
The incumbent directors of the three libraries will become assistant directors and continue to play a pivotal role for their respective communities but they also will take on new leadership roles as coordinators of collaborative teams across all three schools and be responsible for change management within the team and across the schools. The teams will involve both the staff and the user community and they will focus on collection development, outreach and services, and collection management. In order to take advantage of staff attrition, consolidation of some functions, such as the Night Supervisor role, will begin immediately.
A newly formed faculty, student, and staff advisory group, with membership from each of the three schools, will meet regularly with the director and the three assistant directors.
