Public Testimony Submitted for Spring 1999 Hearings
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Other Spring 1999 Hearings
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Nan Bell, Librarian, Ithaca Senior High School with Ari Rabkin
Regent Anthony Bottar
Susan Bretscher, Medical Librarian, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, ????
Debbie Collier, Library Media Specialist, Candor Elementary School
Deborah Coover, Executive Director, Pioneer Library System
Jean Currie, Executive Director, South Central Regional Library Council
Robert Dobbs, for the New York State Consortium of Consortia
Wilfred Drew, President, SUNY-Librarians Association
Judith Dzikowski, Oneida-Herkimer School Library System
Warren Eddy, Director, Cortland Free Library
Sam Forucci, President, Cortland Free Library
Christie Frost-Wendlowsky, Director, Schuyler-Chemung-Tioga BOCES School Library System;
President, School Library Media Section, New York Library Association
Dr. John Joyce, Trustee, Rochester Regional Library Council
Arthur Levy, Senator John DeFrancisco's office
Stephen Lynch, President, Seymour Public Library District Board of Trustees
Len Meinhold, Director, North Country Library System
Kathleen M. Miller, Executive Director, Rochester Research Library Council; President, Academic and Special Library Section, New York Library Association
Jennifer Morris, Associate Librarian, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva
Sharon Nottingham, Director, Liverpool Public Library
Judith Gibson Noyes, Director of Libraries, Colgate University, Hamilton
Darby O'Brien, Director, Utica Public Library
Lindsay Ruth, Director, Geneva Free Library
Bert Schmidt, Board Trustee, Onondaga County Public Library; Chief Financial Officer, WCNY
Keith Washburn, Director, Central New York Library Resources Council, Syracuse
Bonniel Wojnowski, Candor Junior/Senior High School Library Media Specialist
Debbie Collier
Elementary Library Media Specialist
Candor Elementary School
Candor, NY
My name is Debbie Collier and I'm the Elementary Library Media Specialist at Candor Elementary School in Candor, New York. I believe that the library-media center is the 'glue' that holds a school together. Teachers depend upon us to support their curriculum and assist them in their achievement of the New York State Learning Standards.
One of our major goals is to have our students become independent learners and have successful, productive lives. We help to accomplish this every day as students learn to seek and evaluate information from both print and electronic sources. From kindergarten through sixth grade, our students are taught how to locate suitable references, to select necessary information and use those answers appropriately. In our ever-expanding world it is more important than ever for our children to have the skills needed to locate and evaluate the answers to their challenges of life.
Candor Central School is a small rural school with a total enrollment of approximately one thousand students. The school is the center of all community activities and the source for most information. Last year, in an effort to share our resources, we opened our libraries to the public one evening a week. This was well used by the community and greatly appreciated by those families who do not have home computers or access to the public library due to limited evening hours. As the need for information grows, it is increasingly necessary that our school or public libraries be open each evening. We have worked closely with our public library so as to not duplicate services and to support each other's programs.
As always, the problem that we all face is that of funding. We are not adequately funded to allow us to purchase much-needed books, magazines and computer software. We rely heavily on volunteers to staff our facilities, but to insure a quality program, we must also pay for quality people to oversee and direct our libraries!
As we approach the new millenium, we must accept the challenge of educating all of our children and helping them to better cope with our complex and rapidly changing world. Both school and public libraries are a key element in accomplishing this goal.
Jean Currie, Executive Director, South Central Regional Library Council
My name is Jean Currie and I am the Executive Director of the South Central Regional Library Council, one of the nine library systems called 3Rs. We are a consortium of 84 libraries and library systems in 14 counties in the south central part of the state C we cover 10,000 square miles.
Membership in the 33-year-old Council has enabled regional libraries to share their resources among academic, public, school, health care, corporate, law, and not-for-profit libraries. These libraries impact the lives of all residents in our area, whether during their K-12 years, their college years, their working years, or their retirement years. The Council supports the work of libraries as they affect the life-span of people in our region.
A driving force for all libraries right now is the rapid pace of change C this is no surprise! These changes are in technology, in library users= expectations, in the demographics of our society, and in how and where information is delivered.
No library can meet these challenges on its own. There is not enough money, not enough staff, not enough access to information resources within the walls of any one library to meet the demands of their users, whether it is a large research library like Cornell University or a hospital library like Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown.
Consortia like ours enable libraries to do collectively what they cannot do individually. That is, by sharing, to obtain information quickly, efficiently, and at the lowest possible cost for the residents of the State.
Council planning driven by member libraries= needs
Over the last year, we have been going through a planning process to determine the preferred future of our organization. The final plan is not complete but there are several clear strategic directions that indicate the value of libraries belonging to this consortium. Several of these directions clearly offer significant cost savings for our members or enhance the services they can provide to their library users.
- Through collaboration fostered by the Council, we make the bibliographic resources (the library collections) available freely within our region. Libraries lend and borrow books and articles at no charge to other South Central members. What this means is that engineers at Lockheed Martin in Johnson City can obtain items from the Engineering Library at Cornell; that a family can obtain help from the Kennedy-Willis Center on Down Syndrome in Edmeston or the hospital library at Our Lady of Lourdes in Binghamton; that school children in Elmira can get help with their projects from the library at SUNY Cortland. But this is only possible because of the support we provide for the infrastructure needed to make this sharing happen, because of the training we offer in the steps needed to make it happen, and the physical delivery of the material.
- To make this interlibrary loan even more effective, we at the Council will enhance a virtual catalog of the region=s library resources so that with one search, library users can find out if books or journals on their subject are available in the region, and then ask for the item to be sent on interlibrary loan. This one-stop-shopping requires getting the records of all the approximately 10 million library items in our region into electronic form, using sophisticated software to do the searching and requesting, having access to high speed networks, and collaborating to make sure the protocols are in place to make it work.
- Groups of libraries are banding together to purchase expensive electronic databases of index or full text information at reduced costs. Not only does this offer cost savings, it makes it possible for even remote, rural, and poorer libraries to offer equitable access to information. Such group purchases are complex to negotiate and can best be done at a consortial level. The Council currently offers several such services but needs to expand these for even more cost-savings for its members.
- Library staff must continuously upgrade their skills to keep pace with the changes affecting their libraries and their users. Library staff in the region look to the Council to provide training and more training in traditional and cutting edge areas:
- technology, networking, selection of new types of information and the new formats this information comes in,
- the teaching skills needed to help their users choose the best information in the best format for their needs,
- different information searching skills to become expert navigators through the vast amount of good and bad information out there now, and
- new management skills to run the innovative, cost-effective libraries of the future.
Indirect value of belonging to a library consortium
During our planning process, we also heard frequently from our member libraries of another need that is much harder to quantify C the value of belonging to a regional consortium where the people to people networking can take place. Being able to meet and share new ideas with staff of other kinds of libraries, knowing there is a real person at the end of the Council phone who can help with a problem, supporting meetings of librarians who would not otherwise be able to meet their colleagues (those in company libraries are a good example in our region), are all examples given to us recently where membership in the Council helped our members provide better services.
Statewide collaborative efforts
The cooperation existing in our region is extended through collaboration between all nine of the regional library councils. We work together to expand group purchases of electronic databases, we have some reciprocal arrangements across regional lines for interlibrary loan, we are working to make our regional virtual union catalogs into a statewide effort, and we work together to provide expensive training for library staff.
South Central Regional Library Council Services
[Following this] testimony are two documents we prepared for other purposes, but I hope they will be instructive for the Commission. They are summaries of the services we provided to our members in 1998 with some numbers and funding figures. Looking at these pages, I am amazed at how much we did with so little to ensure that library users got access to information with the help of skilled librarians!
I look forward to the completion of the Regional Library Council=s new Plan of Service in 1999. It is an exciting time to be in the information business. There are many challenges but these are also new opportunities for libraries and the consortia they belong to, to work together to make sure that the people of New York have equal access quickly, and cost-effectively, to the extraordinary information resources we have in this state.
Thank you.
Programs and Services Provided by the
South Central Regional Library Council
April 1999
What we do
Resource Sharing:
- Regional Union List of Serials in OCLC
- 57,000 titles, updated by full OCLC members and SCRLC
- Group Access service of OCLC for regional interlibrary loan
- used by full and selective OCLC users for electronic ILL
- used by 56 member libraries and systems
- BARC (Bibliographic and Referral Center)
- last resort ILL for members, fee-based ILL as needed by members
- Subsidies for resource sharing
- NYS Medical ILL Subsidy (funds to support use of RML Network, $30,750 for 25 libraries)
- Coordinated Collection Development Program for Academic Libraries (NYS funding for regional academic libraries, $175,028 for 22 libraries in 1998)
- SCRLC Resource Sharing Subsidy (as funding permits, subsidy based on regional ILL, $23,805 for 41 libraries in 1998)
- Grants to hospitals for collection development, information services.
- DOCLINE, BHSL, LVIS
- participation in consortia for reciprocal free ILL for medical and other libraries
- Shared electronic databases (FirstSearch Base Package, Wilson Full Text Select, Health Reference Center, Britannica, UMI ProQuest Direct, SilverPlatter)
- Specialized regional databases (Fire Academy, potential digitized databases)
- Remote Database Access Service from Obvia Inc.
LakeNet:
- LakeNet host for information by and about SCRLC
- Internet access for 150 rural libraries with no local provider (dial-access, 8 modems, subsidized by SCRLC, cost $55,000 in 1998)
- Free Web space for 5 member libraries, host 30 discussion lists for other library related organizations
- Gateway for one stop access to regional resources for resource sharing (OPACs, interlibrary loan, shared remote electronic databases, local, unique databases, other 3Rs)
Education and Training:
- Workshops (4-5 traditional one or two day workshops in a central location)
- Training a la Carte (hands-on training using networked laptops with individual IP addresses, 11 in 1998)
- Custom training (one on one or group training on-site at member libraries, 13 in 1998)
- Teleconferences (downlink appropriate events, 3 in 1998)
- Cosponsored events (with other 3Rs, members, or professional associations, 5 in 1998)
- Conference management services (provide logistical support for conferences)
- Grant-funded workshops (7 in 1998/99 on Conservation and Preservation)
Consultation and Technical Help:
- Help or training in ILL, ULS and other resource sharing activities
- Technical help with LakeNet, hardware, software, networks, and remote access in member libraries
- Focus groups for planning or accreditation purposes in regional libraries
- Referrals and other advice to members
Regional Collaboration and Communication:
- SCRLC Reports, Rxtra, LoanLines, online discussion lists, regional bulletin board on the Web
- NYTRO (3Rs) for electronic databases, statewide union catalog
- Visits to member libraries and systems
Hospital Library Services Program:
- Grants to 21 hospitals for collection development, hardware, and library services
- Subsidy for library services through circuit library program
- Education and training for health care library staff
What we do it with
Funding:
- Operating funds ($343,250)
- Regional Bibliographic Databases Program ($219,000 for region)
- Hospital Library Services Program ($114,550)
- Membership dues and fees for some services ($38,000)
- Coordinated Collection Development for Academic Libraries ($175,028)
- Grants (LSTA, NLM, others) (Varies annually)
Governance:
- Board of Trustees (elected by membership)
- New York State Library Division of Library Development oversight of law and regulations
- Advisory Committees and Task Forces
Staffing:
- 8 FTE=s
- Contracts for staffing of workshops, training, consulting, and serials cataloging
| Robert J. Dobbs, Jr., for the New York State Consortium of Consortia |
My name is Robert Dobbs. I live in Auburn and I am the director of the School Library System at the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES. I have been a president of the School Library Systems Association and I serve, with other library professionals, on a volunteer group called the New York State Consortium of Consortia.
I would suspect that by now you are aware, or will learn soon, that there are three types of library systems in New York State. These systems provide exceptional and cost effective library services to our citizenry. The public and school library systems and resource (or regional) library councils are library consortia existing through legislation, administered through the state library, Division of Library Development, and are managed by the Regulations of the Commissioner of the New York State Education Department. These systems are the adhesive that keeps every library in the state connected to the statewide library network. They help maintain the spirit of cooperation and the infrastructure that citizens need to identify and access the vast resources of all types of libraries across the state. My position, of course, is that the statewide library network could not function without its library systems.
These three systems, however, are not the only library consortia in the state. Groups of similar type libraries have voluntarily banded together to identify common needs and explore ways to better serve their immediate constituents. Through cooperative activities between libraries and other state and community agencies they seek ways to provide for the informational needs of the public in the most fiscally responsible way.
Not being satisfied that they've done all they can, many of these library consortia have joined into a larger volunteer group called the New York State Consortium of Consortia. The membership includes the various associations representing the legislated library systems and consortia serving all types of libraries. These groups are identified in the printed information we leave with you today.
We are primarily concerned with the explosion of electronic information that has become available in the last few years and the costs of providing access to this information.
With the availability of the Internet it is, at least perceived to be, relatively easy to obtain vast amounts of information electronically at little or no cost. It is also relatively easy at little or no cost for one to drive to the city dump and access huge amounts of 'stuff' that might be useful. Useful, that is, if we have the time to sort through it to find something we can use. Do you remember your mother saying "Don't touch that, you don't know where it's been!"? Similarly, from whence came this information - is it reliable and authoritative?
Please forgive this perhaps silly illustration as we all benefit greatly from the many wonderful things available on the Internet. What we, as information professionals, need to assure is easy and affordable access to reliable electronic information and information that will be found in the same place when we need it again.
One of the major ways to obtain needed and reliable electronic information is by subscribing to database services which provide electronic versions of journals and other reference resources. The subscription database vendors provide this information because they have negotiated with various publishers to make their content more easily acceptable. Vast amounts of information is now available to enhance the print and other collections provided through the state's libraries. We can now provide even more value to our citizenry with information that they may not be able to access or afford on their own.
In the course of your commission activities you may hear how people are using these electronic services. Even in today's testimony comment may have already been made how these resources are appreciated. It is not my intent to sell you on their value. However, we suspect that you and the users of these services may have no idea how these resources are obtained and provided by libraries. The best things in life are not always free. And, these services are not free.
To effectively provide this information we must find responsible ways to pay for access to these resources. For some libraries, they only way they will be able to afford the subscription fees is by benefiting from cooperative efforts to obtain statewide pricing and licensing on their behalf. The primary purpose of the NYCoC is to cooperatively pursue the best pricing we can get for library products and services. Our citizens deserve the best value we can provide for their investment in us.
OUR GOAL
"To achieve, through aggregation, affordable access to an array of resources and services, primarily electronic, for all types of libraries."
In the document provided through this testimony you will see how this consortia has worked with the Office of General Services to obtain affordable statewide pricing for electronic content. You will see examples of the millions of dollars saved by these cooperative activities.
Aggregated pricing activities work on a simple premise. We need to get the lowest per unit cost to provide equal access to information for every citizen served. The vendors need a guaranteed volume if they are to survive to provide us with this information. Libraries working together provide the volume in exchange for a reasonable lower unit cost from the vendor. While the premise is simple these efforts take considerable time and pricing agreements are not often reached easily. A strong Office of General Services, especially the Office of General Procurement Services Group, working with libraries and library consortia will help insure the effective pricing structures we can use to serve our library patrons.
We ask that you consider our needs and helps us obtain the goals presented in the document included with this testimony. Thank you for your assistance.
[NOTE: Others testifying on behalf of the New York State Consortium of Consortia include Anthony W. Ferguson at the Long Island hearing on May 19, and Loretta Ebert at the Albany hearing on June 3.. In addition, a statement from NYSCoC can be found under Comments elsewhere on this site.]
Wilfred Drew, President, SUNY Librarians Association
Associate Librarian (Systems, Reference), SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology, Morrisville
My name is Wilfred Drew. I am an associate librarian at SUNY Morrisville College of Agriculture and Technology and am currently serving as the President of the SUNY Librarians Association (SUNYLA). Membership in SUNYLA is open to any one employed in any SUNY library. We have over 400 members from all across New York State. The main objectives of SUNYLA are:
- To be a strong and vital force in the general educational mission of the State University of New York through high quality library service.
- To further develop the principles and standards of librarianship in the State University of New York.
- To advance the professional status of librarians of the State University of New York.
- To encourage individual and collective professional development.
- To provide an organizational framework for professional interaction among those interested in the quality of librarianship in the State University of New York.
- To cooperate with similar organizations on local, state, and national levels to achieve these goals.
I am here to express support for improving library services in New York State.
The future of library services in NY State
Libraries will continue to play an important role in New York State. In the past libraries have provided access to print resources. The library today must provide much more than traditional items such as books, newspapers, and magazine. The library must reach beyond its doors and connect the patron to the vast universe of information via the World Wide Web and the Internet, remote libraries, and millions if not billions of other sources of information. The most practical way to do this is through such efforts as EmpireLink or SUNYConnect. According to the SUNYConnect FAQ:
"SUNYConnect is a long-term project that will integrate the newest technology-based library and information systems with more traditional library resources to meet the information needs of SUNY’s students and faculty well into the new millennium. The project was initiated by SUNY’s library directors and is coordinated by the SUNY Office of Library; Information Services."
In order for these projects to succeed, both must be fully funded. We now live in an information driven economy and unless the libraries of New York are prepared for the future we will not be an important part of that economy. Ways must be found for libraries to provide services to people in their homes, schools, and workplaces. SUNYConnect and EmpireLink both have the potential of accomplishing that if they are properly implemented and fully funded by the State of New York.
Improving library services for all New Yorkers
Many areas of New York State are underserved, or not served at all by a local library. Too many local governments have chosen to either underfund or not to fund library services at all. The result is large numbers of New Yorkers without access to library services. Many librarians in public, school, and academic libraries have seen large budget cuts over the last decade. When a school budget is defeated one of the first areas to suffer is the library. When local governments cut budgets, public libraries are usually the first ones to feel the pinch. Public college and university libraries are in the same bind. All libraries continue to see the costs of books, magazine, and other traditional items increase well beyond the rate of inflation. On top of that we are asked to provide new and necessary services such as access to the World Wide Web, electronic databases, and multimedia information sources. We must do that with ever decreasing funding. In my opinion the best way to improve library services is to first provide the necessary funds. The rest will naturally follow given adequate support from local and state governments.
Assuring ready access to library service for the education and information needs of all New Yorkers
Ready access is not easy. Ready access should mean access for any New Yorker anywhere anytime. That would include from home, from work or from school. Ideally the patron should not have to go to the library to access information such as that found in the EmpireLink service. Ready access must include remote access. This is especially important for the new distance learner. New Yorkers no longer need be on a SUNY campus to take a SUNY course. One of the goals of SUNYConnect is to provide that kind of access. EmpireLink should also be doing that. Beyond remote access, many smaller public libraries do not yet have access to the Internet and the vast information universe known as the World Wide Web. Many that do have some access are burdened with old computers that can not provide anything other than text only. That must change if New York is to be a leader in the next century.
Conclusions
Publicly funded libraries are necessary to the economic survival of New York State. Libraries and library services must receive more than just the minimal funding that they have received the last few years. Ways must be found to fully fund and expand such projects as the Electronic Doorway Libraries Program, EmpireLink, and SUNYConnect. At the same time funding must be provided for more traditional library services such as purchasing books, magazines and newspapers. More is now being published in print than at any other time in human history. Computers were supposed to bring us the paperless office. They did not do that. Computers will not bring us a paperless library either. Thank you for this opportunity.
Christie Frost-Wendlowsky, Director, Schuyler-Chemung-Tioga BOCES School Library System, and President, School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association
My name is Christie Frost-Wendlowsky and I am the Director of the Schuyler-Chemung-Tioga BOCES School Library System and President of the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association. Prior to being a School Library System Director, I was a middle/high school librarian for ten years and taught at the K-6 level for eight years. I am here today to represent School Library Media Specialists throughout the State. There are three issues that directly or indirectly impact the services that School Library Media Specialists provide to students and staff.
Certified School Library Media Specialists in elementary schools
The research supports the need for trained, certified School Library Media Specialists in elementary libraries, as well as in high schools. We are doing our students a disservice by not providing them with the instruction and encouragement necessary to foster a "lifelong love of learning".
As we endeavor to help our students meet the New York State Learning Standards it is apparent that a focus on early literacy and teaching information literacy (the ability to find and use information) are critical components in that process. School Library Media Specialists have specific training in both of those areas. Literacy in the primary grades is of paramount importance. The librarian plays an important role in encouraging reading. Research shows that having a certified School Library Media Specialist has an impact on elementary reading test scores. According to Krashen’s book The Power of Reading, "having a school librarian makes a difference in the amount children read. Libraries are a consistent and major source of books for free reading. Children get much of their reading from libraries. Direct encouragement to read helps if the right type of reading material is recommended."
The research also shows that collaborative planning with teachers and instruction in information literacy skills also has a positive impact on those same test scores. In the March 1999 NASSP Bulletin, Jean Donham writes, "Is information literacy important for today's students? If the ability to access information efficiently, to discern quality and authority, and to apply information to decision making and problem solving are keys to success in a world of rapidly growing information, then indeed information literacy is a basic survival skill for today's students." It is my belief, again supported by the research, that students need to have instruction in information literacy skills before they get to the middle or high school. Instruction needs to be consistent, constructive and tied to the curriculum. It is also my belief that librarians are the key to helping students discern quality and authority of information.
Reading and information literacy skills directly link to the NYS Learning Standards. The library provides a place for students to make connections between subject areas, read for information and understanding, use critical analysis, evaluation and communication skills, as well as utilize technology. Students in an elementary school without the service of a professionally trained School Library Media Specialist are at a distinct disadvantage.
Baldridge and Broadway (Principal, 1987) report that "although improved reading and language skills are most often linked with school library media services, studies show that these services are also related to achievement in mathematics, social studies and the natural sciences." In another study by Gaver, sited in this same article, "gains in reading and library skills among elementary students having access to a professional librarian were substantially higher than those among students who did not have professional library service available." The article concludes with "Library skills learned at the elementary level provide the basis for life-long learning. We must learn how to learn in order to keep abreast of what is happening in the world. That’s why libraries and professional librarians are essential not only in elementary schools, but at all levels of education."
Support for School Library Systems
In 1985 Education Law created School Library Systems. Currently there are 42 School Library Systems in New York. What is unique to the New York School Library Systems is that they are fully funded by State Aid. After 14 years of existence it is time to re-evaluate the amount of money allocated to School Library Systems. This would allow for diversified staffing and support programs that benefit all students. School Library Systems provide support for local schools, both public and non-public.
That support consists of providing:
- equitable access to a variety of materials through online databases, union catalog and resource sharing
- assistance in library automation through conversion of records, grant applications to assist in funding, training and support of hardware and software
- professional development opportunities locally, regionally and statewide
- collaboration/consultation with district staff and other types of libraries and library systems
In order for School Library Systems to continue to provide these types of services we need to increase State Aid to fully support these programs.
Support for the SUNY schools who offer MLS programs
Accessibility for students in upstate New York, in particular the central Southern Tier, is crucial to recruiting & keeping certified School Library Media Specialists in our area. Currently the existing facilities are: SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Albany & Syracuse University. The SCOOLS group (a regional consortium of seven School Library Systems), through an LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) grant, in collaboration with Nancy Zimmerman, Assistant Professor at the School of Information and Library Studies SUNY Buffalo, is investigating the possibility of providing library courses to the central Southern Tier via distance learning technology. This would allow greater access to courses without having to factor in travel time and weather conditions. It is critical that we provide professional development opportunities, through our higher education institutions, as New York begins the implementation of the 175 hours of coursework to maintain teaching certification.
Please consider the impact that certified School Library Media Specialists, the School Library System and SUNY schools offering MLS programs have on the future of our students. In an information age it is crucial to have the necessary skills to successfully navigate the barrage of information that we come in contact with on a daily basis. Only trained professionals can offer that instruction.
Attachments:
- Who Needs a School Librarian? You Do!!
- AASL Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning
- School Library Systems: Successful Collaborations
Table 1 Library Media Specialists, Their Activities & CSAP Reading Test Scores, Colorado Public Schools, 1996-97
Condition present/absent |
Number of Responding Schools |
Average 4th grade reading scores, 1997 Mean/Median |
Library Media Staff Library Media Specialist
|
32 25 |
62/67 53/59 |
Library Media Specialist & Aide
|
36 21 |
63/66 51/53 |
Library Media Specialist Activities Planning instruction w/teachers
|
35 16 |
58/66 54/59 |
Information literacy instructions
|
49 2 |
57/64 45/45 |
Providing In-service training for teachers
|
29 22 |
59/67 54/59 |
Evaluating students' work
|
34 17 |
58/65 54/59 |
Table 2 Technology in School Library Media Centers & CSAP Reading Test Scores, Colorado Public Schools, 1996-97
Condition present/absent |
Number of Responding Schools |
Average 4th grade reading scores, 1997 Mean/Median |
LMC has district-wide catalog
|
18 39 |
62/66 56/59 |
LMC provides access to online databases
|
14 43 |
63/71 56/64 |
LMC resources accessible via LAN (local area network)
|
33 24 |
61/67 54/54 |
LMC provides students access to WWW (World Wide Web)
|
33 24 |
59/66 57/57 |
1998 Colorado Department of Education
Keith Curry Lance, Director of Library Research Service
Dr. John Joyce, Trustee, Rochester Regional Library Council
Let me introduce myself! My name is Jack Joyce and I am an educator, a recent emeritus Professor of English at Nazareth College, where I taught for over thirty years. I am also a trustee of the Rochester Regional Library Council, a position I have held for only a year and a half. Finally, I am a user of libraries for many, many years, and as a resident of Farmington, New York, I have access to two fine libraries in nearby small communities (Victor and Canandaigua). I wish to talk briefly about three topics or concerns that relate to my use of libraries under each of these three aspects of my life.
A. In my work as a teacher, I became aware during the past decade and a half of the value of the growing electronic technology as a teaching and educative tool. I also quickly became aware of some problems inherent in the expanding technology available to students.
Training in computer use has been very uneven among matriculating students at my college; those especially from rural and semi-rural and inner city areas often lag considerably behind others. These students enter college at a decided disadvantage, and in many cases are insecure and even reticent to involve themselves in the new electronic technologies. Meanwhile, we as faculty continue to upgrade computer uses in our academic programs as rapidly changing and new electronic resources become available -- a fact which further exacerbates the problem for students under-prepared for such assignments. Clearly, it seems to me, there is an urgent need to provide both the technology and software and provide proper training for junior and senior high school students in less affluent communities in the state. Proper funding of school and public libraries in underfunded rural and inner city areas would undoubtedly do much to help young students have access to library data bases and the www as they pursue school assignments.
As a teacher, I also became especially aware of the need for librarians whose services not only include showing the ways into various data bases and web sites on the www, but helping students to identify their sources as having integrity. I noticed a drastic increase in my classes in the production of papers citing sources that were obsolete, of dubious quality, and sometimes downright inane. As a professor, I have had the responsibility to address these problems through assignment instructions and during paper conferences, but the librarian becomes a much more effective source in confronting these problems at the proper stage in the research process--when students go to the library--helping them avoid later frustrations, introducing them to quality research computer search methods and sources, and making the student's way far more efficient and satisfying. Quite obviously, I am an ardent supporter of training for librarians in the uses of telecommunications and electronic research.
B. As a Council trustee, I have become much more aware over the past two years of the effectiveness and productive nature of the work that the RRLC and the Pioneer Library System provide libraries. They both offer high quality educational seminars and empower individual libraries throughout the five county area surrounding Rochester by leading the way in resource sharing. In the areas of education and computer training, I have especially become aware of the good work that the RRLC training center located in Fairport has done to improve the state-of-the-art performance of many regional librarians through its training seminars. The movement toward training and resource sharing of electronic data bases remains a successful hallmark in our region's effective transfer of information through libraries in this fast paced, electronic age.
There are other benefits from the sharing of resources. I heard just this morning about a BOCES grant which has allowed libraries in the Pioneer system to access the Internet; the grant supplies the money to pay the telecommunications costs. In an area of NYS where several different telephone companies charge unequally and substantially for separate line service, the savings to individual libraries has been substantial.
So, I applaud the good work of our regional library consortiums--in developing training programs, and in devising ways of sharing resources to become more cost efficient, and I enthusiastically encourage the Regents to actively promote support for regional library councils like RRLC and the Pioneer Library System.
C. Finally, as a library user, one that patronizes different types of libraries, a third concern that I have involves marketing. Librarians enjoy wonderful communications within the profession through conferences, newsletter communications, e-mail communications, and programs fostered by the ALA, NYLA, RRLC, and Pioneer -- but too little of what is new and good gets out to our users. We in Canandaigua witnessed recently two votes of the general population heavily against supporting the local library with additional tax funds. My own private observation is that library directors and librarians must get training in marketing the services they offer. Each library, especially those in smaller communities, should identify how their services fit the character of their individual communities -- and through effective marketing (employing the media including local television channels, radio, and newspapers; mailings; letters to newspapers by Board members and Friends; and making PR sheets available at the doors of libraries themselves) get the good word out about themselves. User audiences, specific groups that perhaps underuse library facilities, should be contacted and made aware of the resources available to them. Whether its called an Outreach Program or a Marketing Strategy, I do believe libraries in NYS would profit from greater public knowledge of their good offerings and services. Libraries and librarians have to do a better job of becoming advocates for themselves. And undoubtedly the people of New York State would respond positively in terms of recognizing and supporting the work of New York State public libraries.
Kathleen M. Miller, Executive Director, Rochester Regional Library Council, and President of the Academic and Special Libraries Section of the New York Library Association
My name is Kathy Miller. I am the Executive Director of the Rochester Regional Library Council, a multi-type library system -- one of the so-called 3Rs -- serving the Rochester, New York, area. RRLC has 61 members, including 5 school library systems and two public library systems. We also have as members 12 academic libraries, 16 hospital libraries, 8 for-profit corporate libraries, and 16 not-for-profit special libraries.
RRLC is one of 9 3Rs which together represent over 1,000 academic and special libraries in New York State.
I am also the current President of the Academic and Special Libraries Section of the New York Library Association. ASLS has nearly 400 members representing a variety of academic and special libraries. ASLS supports the goal of the New York Library Association, which is to lead in the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services ... in order to enhance learning, quality of life, and equal opportunity for all New Yorkers.
It is as ASLS President that I speak to you today. My experience as a 3R's director and my 17 years as an ASLS member give me some authority to speak to you about the needs of academic and special libraries.
New York is a Complex state
New York is a very complex state. This is not news. We are big in population and diverse in cultures as well as in geography. That complexity is reflected in our library community and especially in our academic and special libraries.
There are hundreds of special libraries in New York, and they range from the tiny historical society library to our largest corporate libraries and from rural hospital libraries to large urban medical centers. Unfortunately, there are not many statistics on New York's special libraries, but there is a bit more on New York's academic institutions. [Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac; Vol. XLV, No.1, August 28, 1998]
New York has 312 academic institutions -- 29% of which are publicly funded. However 56% of the college students in New York attend public colleges.
Contrast this with California. California has 384 colleges, 37% of which are public institutions. However, 86% of all college students attends public institutions.
Similarly, Ohio has 179 colleges, 36% of which are public, and a student population which is 75% public.
New York is nearly unique -- only Massachusetts and Pennsylvania compare -- in the number of colleges, the number that are privately-funded, and the high number of students attending private colleges.
What difference does this complexity make in library services for academic and special libraries in New York?
It means there is no one authority in New York that determines what library services will be. Only SUNY comes close, and they speak for only 56% of the student population and only 29% of the colleges.
It's not that we can't do things together. It's just that it is harder. But through organizations like the 3Rs and ASLS we are continually working to move New York's academic and special libraries into the digital age, while at the same time, continuing our significant contributions to the growth, economic development and cultural leadership of New York.
In 1997, New York's academic and special libraries loaned more than 600,000 items from their collections. If those were books purchased from Amazon.com, that would be worth $15 million. Through participation in their 3R's, academic and special libraries provide direct support to their local communities through on-site reference service and borrowers' cards. These communities include the K-12 population, educators, healthcare givers, researchers, and businesses.
Academic and special libraries enrich the overall intellectual and educational resources of the state. Yes, there is a complexity of libraries in New York, and, yes, we are very diverse. But that is only a reflection of New York itself. In our diversity, lies our strength.
Academic and special libraries are often on the cutting edge of new technologies. They share their knowledge and leadership with other libraries in the state through organizations such as the 3Rs and ASLS. Each year, over 500 librarians learn from ASLS leaders at professional development programs presented at the annual NYLA Conference. 3Rs present many hundreds of professional development programs.
Academic and special libraries have a long history of cooperation -- over a century through the 3Rs ASLS, and other organizations such as Nylink.
However, the world is rapidly changing and these changes are having a profound effect on how libraries function.
Let me summarize three important factors that affect academic and special libraires.
Demographics
Demographic changes have been reflected in a change in the student population:
- older students
- more part-time students, and
- life-long learning for all of us.
Technology
Technological changes affect the way libraries deliver services. You used to have to actually go to the library to use the library. Not so anymore. Databases, full-text resources, and soon e-books and videos -- available through the library -- can be accessed from home or office or dormitory. Hospitals now have links to full-text electronic information resources in their operating rooms.
The Information Explosion
There continues to be a proliferation of resources available in electronic format. Libraries must provide access to these at the same time that they need to continue to provide access to traditional print resources. Not everything is on the web. And not everything that is on the web is valid. Anyone can publish a website and claim to be an authority.
What does this mean for libraries?
What do these three changes mean for libraries? How can New York State help?
- Libraries must support distance learners as well as those on campus and in the library. They must support the technology at a distance that the distance learner is using, and they must respond to users' needs anytime, anywhere.
New York can help by providing a statewide catalog of all library holdings, and a statewide borrower's card, so that students, researchers and the general public can find and borrow the materials they need regardless of where those materials are held. For book materials, there should be statewide delivery at an affordable price. For electronic resources, there should be a core collection of electronic resources that will be available to everyone in the state, regardless of where they live or work. We are all New Yorkers, and we all use different libraries at different times of our lives, and even at different times of the day.
- Libraries must continuously upgrade the hardware, software, and telecommunications connections needed to provide the knowledge resources available electronically. New York can help by ensuring that all libraries are not left out of any statewide telecommunications initiatives.
- Libraries must train. Train library staff. Train library users. The technology is rapidly changing and the need for training does not diminish. Library systems have been effective agents for providing training within each region, but training is costly. This must become a State priority.
- Libraries must teach information skills to people -- students and researchers, as well as the general public. A joint effort, sponsored by the Regents, and carried out by the 3Rs which already connect all types of libraries -- would greatly enhance the ability of New Yorkers to function in the Information Age.
- Libraries must do all this and still provide traditional library services. Not everything is on the Web, nor is it likely to be. We still need libraries as buildings. We still have valuable resources available no where else -- certainly not at Amazon.com -- which we loan to one another. There could be substantial savings to libraries if there were statewide-shared storage facilities that all libraries could draw upon. This combined with a statewide delivery service would save money on library expansion, at the same time that it would increase access to materials for all New Yorkers.
- Libraries must become publishers. Funds should be made available to help libraries digitize and publish on the web the many unique resources they hold.
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Libraries must work together. Public, school, and 3R library systems all serve the specialized needs of their users, and work effectively at the local level, where they can respond to the local culture. But more and more there also is a need and an opportunity to move in a statewide direction. New York can help by providing financial resources that will allow library systems to retain local services, but also to work on statewide initiatives where most appropriate. I have always quoted Lincoln when talking about 3Rs, saying leave to individual libraries those things that can best be done by the libraries, but the 3Rs should do those things that cannot be done by the libraries separately, or can best be done by joining together through the 3Rs. Paraphrasing Lincoln even more, I would say that we must do together locally that which can best be done locally, but we must do together statewide that which cannot be done locally, or can best be done statewide.
The needs of New York's academic and special libraries as outlined here are reflective of the changes that are occurring in society as a whole. Just as New York is helping other segments of our society, such as education, to meet the challenges we face, New York must also turn its attentions to libraries, and help us become "libraries for the 21st century".
Thank you.
Stephen F. Lynch, President, Seymour Public Library District Board of Trustees
I am here today in my capacity as the Board President of the Seymour Public Library District, and as a concerned citizen of New York State who greatly values public libraries and the role they play in our society. We applaud the purpose of this commission, and we hope the outcome of its deliberations will be a stronger, more secure network of libraries across the state. This strength and security will be achieved only when the issue of realistic financing is addressed.
We were surprised at the content of a New York Times feature article last December that dealt with public libraries in New York State. One would assume that with its preeminent place in emphasizing public education, our state would also be in the forefront of providing public library service. The Times stated otherwise. New York has more people without a public library than any other state in this country; 1.3 million individuals have no library chartered or financed to serve them. This can only be called an astonishing and embarrassing statistic, and it demands a forthright solution.
The Board of Regents has long held that all New Yorkers must be provided with quality public education, and it has backed necessary legislation over the years to ensure this goal. Public education and its financing are mandated by law. No choice is permitted. All municipalities must either sponsor local schools or participate in regional school districts, and local financing is augmented with meaningful state funding.
The Board of Regents has also long stated that all New Yorkers must be provided with public library service, but it has yet to take the necessary steps to make this anything more than a philosophical statement. Public library service has never been mandated by law, and municipalities are given the option of deciding for themselves whether to provide this service. Please don’t misunderstand me. I have nothing against communities making decisions they feel are in their best interests, and perhaps whether or not to sponsor a public library falls within this category. This follows our democratic tradition. But it is surely undemocratic and inconsistent for the Board of Regents to permit local decisions on the establishment of libraries, and then insist that those cities and towns that do choose to provide this service, mostly at their own expense, open their doors to those who have chosen otherwise. As I read it, Commissioner’s Regulation 90.3 is an attempt by the Regents to camouflage the embarrassing statistic referred to earlier, and pretend that it doesn’t exist. Furthermore, the regulation threatens to penalize libraries that fail to cooperation in this pretense. This behavior is not worthy of what we have every right to expect from the Board of Regents.
I am well aware that Commissioner’s Regulation 90.3 is not new, and has been a statute for more than 50 years. The recent decision to rigorously enforce it, however, is one reason I am here. The Board of Regents insists that all New Yorkers have free access to a public library, without addressing how these libraries are funded. The Regents are offended that someone whose community has no library should be expected to pay a neighboring library for service, but the Regents seem to be perfectly comfortable when the residents of the neighboring town pay a fee in the form of library taxes. Is this not also inconsistent? Janet Welch, the State Librarian, is quoted in the Times story as saying that the Regents have decided to enforce 90.3 because of an increasing number of complaints. One can only assume that the complaints come from those who have no public library, but who want the service and refuse to help pay for it.
To set the record straight, we are a Library District that charges borrowing fees in lieu of taxes from those who reside outside our chartered service area. We are surrounded by communities that for one reason or another have chosen not to provide public libraries or enter a contractual agreement to support a library. We are dealing with several thousand unserved people, many of whom want library service, and are willing to pay for it. The fee we assess is consistent with the average household tax paid to our Library District by property owners within our District. We feel our arrangement is fair to all concerned. Our constituents are not expected to subsidize those living outside our chartered area, and many unserved individuals are able to receive full borrowing privileges on an equal footing with our taxpayers. This is a good system that fits local circumstances, and enforcement of 90.3 threatens to undo it. An unfortunate side effect will be that several hundred borrowers will be without a library.
The Board of Regents should take one of two positions vis-à-vis public libraries. Either it steps forward and strongly recommends mandated service statewide on an equal footing with public education, or it takes a "hands off" approach, allowing local decisions without interference. The Times further quotes the State Librarian as acknowledging that public libraries have become more and more expensive to run, particularly with the added technology of the Internet; she fails to add that it is the local taxpayers who foot the bills, not the communities without libraries, and certainly not the State of New York.
My hope is that this commission will make a strong recommendation to the Regents that public library service be mandated. This position will blend both the philosophical ideal that all be served with the practical acceptance that tax dollars should pay for this service. Then, and only then, would the Board of Regents be able to say honestly that all New Yorkers are served.
Jennifer Morris, Associate Librarian, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva
The Need for a Statewide Approach to Information Literacy
College and research libraries in New York provide an essential component of statewide library service. Not only do they provide thousands of books and articles to public and school library patrons through interlibrary loan they serve their local communities as reference, research and instruction facilities. One of the key educational roles academic libraries have traditionally played is teaching students the basic skills necessary to find, evaluate and use information effectively. This was a challenging role even when all we had to do was explain how to select and use various printed abstracts and indexes. Now our role has taken on new urgency and new complexities with the rapid expansion, indeed explosion, of information and telecommunications technologies. It is essential that our students are taught to navigate not only through printed material, but also through the many electronic databases and online services to which we subscribe. It is essential that our students learn to select the most appropriate sources for their particular research. It is essential that our students learn to evaluate the information they discover through the library’s resources or while surfing the web. It is essential that our students learn to access, gather, sort and present information in a useful way. We call these expanded skills Information Literacy, and academic libraries all over the U.S. are integrating Information Literacy into their general undergraduate curricula. Information Literacy is not a concept limited to undergraduates however. The American Association of School Librarians has an Information Literacy program that promotes new national guidelines and standards for students in grades K-12.1
Students who are Information Literate can:
- Recognize and articulate an information need;
- Develop effective search strategies;
- Select and use information retrieval tools;
- Locate and retrieve information sources;
- Analyze and critically evaluate information;
- Organize and synthesize information;
- Use/apply information;
- Appreciate the ethical, legal and sociopolitical issues surrounding information and information technology.2
As you can see, these are skills that all New Yorkers should learn, not just undergraduates. Our citizens, our future leaders need to be effective "information consumers" and need these competencies in order to compete effectively in the information-based global economy of the next century. I would like to suggest a partnership among school, public and academic libraries to teach Information Literacy in a systematic way within each of our communities to the benefit of all New Yorkers.
To achieve this we need to agree on a comprehensive Information Literacy curriculum to be used by all types of libraries, which is appropriate to our institutional missions, with specific well-defined goals for each component. We need to develop scaleable instruction programs that can be delivered to large numbers of students. We need to teach librarians to be effective teachers and designers of assignments in systematic ways. We must develop performance measures to assess competencies and identify and quantify meaningful related outcomes.
This would require coordination and a modest amount of funding to begin a systematic approach to teaching Information Literacy to all New Yorkers. I propose that the Regional Library Councils be the agents to coordinate this effort, in that they already provide and coordinate services to all types of libraries. New York can then be among the first states to have a network of Teaching Libraries in our schools, in our communities and in our colleges and universities.
1Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning, 1998. American Library Association and Association for Educational Communications and Technology.
2Oberman, Cerise, Bonnie Gratch Lindauer and Betsy Wilson, "Integrating information literacy into the curriculum," C&RL News (May 1998) 59(5):347-352.
Sharon Nottingham, Director, Liverpool Public Library
My name is Sharon Nottingham. I have been the director of the Liverpool Public Library for nine months now. Liverpool Public Library is a school district public library in Central New York serving about 55,000 people. Liverpool Public Library is a member of the Onondaga County Public Library System. The building is 24,000 square feet and quite small for what we accomplish from it.
I am going to talk about public libraries today. Not to say to you to pay more attention to public libraries, but because I have worked in public libraries for most of the past three decades. That makes public libraries what I know best.
Once again this Spring, I have noticed that my commute is made longer and more difficult because of the roadway and bridge construction. I don't mind the inconvenience because I know that will mean that my commute will be smoother and safer after the work is completed.
Highways and bridges are not the only part of the infrastructure that needs to be attended to. There are other parts of the infrastructure essential to smoother and safer passage through life. That is the infrastructure of our public libraries.
We need to build bridges for learning in our communities. Most public libraries predate computers. Everything I read tells me that we are in the throes of a major paradigm shift. A shift often compared to the industrial revolution in the extent of the impact on our lives. Those who predict the future are predicting massive changes in our lives as a result of the changes in technology.
Predicting the future is difficult business. And most predictions end up being wrong. We can be right about the future, however, when we look to the changes that have already taken place. Look at how much we already use technology. The cell phones, the pagers, the fax machines, the laptops, the Internet.
Public libraries are already integrating electronic access to information with the traditional library services they provide. This integration does not happen easily, however. Buildings are too small; electrical outlets too few and in the wrong places. Budgets have not expanded to maintain the traditional services and add the new ones.
We need to take the broadest view of libraries. A broad view that encompasses citizens' needs for information as a totality. We need to preserve the records and documents of our past. We need to create the content for information needs in the present. We need to provide access to information and recreational reading materials. And we need to prepare for the future use of technology.
Here at the Liverpool Public Library we experience good support from our community. As a school district public library, we go to the voters each year and they vote on the annual operating budget. Last month, the proposed budget passed by a two to one margin. We have the community's support for basic operating expenses. But that is not enough for us to keep up with the changes in technology. State funding directly to us and to the Onondaga County Public Library makes a big difference in what we are able to provide to residents. Without a significant level of support from New York State it would not be possible for us to offer the level of access to electronic information that we do.
For instance, last month a patron researched health information about a chronic condition her mother had that was eluding diagnosis. The family was able to participate in making the diagnosis with information they found at the Liverpool Public Library by searching Information Access Health Information database. This database is provided to us by the EmpireLink project of the New York State Library. How would that family have been provided with improved medical care without that database?
The system aid we receive from New York State is almost equal to our technology equipment budget. What would we be able to purchase without that money? Very little.
The e-rate discount from the Federal government has also made a difference in making our T1 line affordable. How would we be able to pay for that without this assistance? At great sacrifice of some other vital service or not at all.
I ask that New York State continue to support libraries with State funds so that public libraries can build bridges for learning. Support libraries with State funds so that the public can turn to the public library to help us all survive a paradigm shift to an information economy. Support libraries with State funds so that public libraries can serve as bridges for the people between the twentieth century and the twenty-first century.
Judith Gibson Noyes, University Librarian, Colgate University, Hamilton
In preparation for this hearing, a survey was sent to the fourteen academic library directors within the Central New York Library Resources Council (CLRC) 3Rs region to determine the issues of particular importance to academic libraries at this time. A copy of this survey with the results from the thirteen academic libraries that responded is attached. While this is only one region, I think you will find the survey answers also reflect the practices of many research and academic libraries and the concerns of many of their librarians throughout the State.
ACADEMIC LIBRARIES SERVE EVERYONE
All thirteen libraries serve New York State residents, and twelve will loan them materials from their extensive and scholarly collections directly. Ten do so without any charge, and three have very small one-time fees. In addition, each year these libraries provide people in the United States and around the world with information from their collections through interlibrary loan. Last year, these thirteen libraries provided more than 30,000 items to people just within New York State. Many of their outreach services benefit all residents as well. These include educational programs for schools, professional development programs for librarians, reference services, Elderhostel programs, and access to their own online catalogs as well as to "Web gateways" with links to high quality information on the Internet that can be used by all.
PRIORITIES IDENTIFIED BY THIS SURVEY
In this survey these Central New York academic libraries identified seven priority issues that should be included in a brief to the Commission.
- A Statewide Virtual Union Catalog -- A statewide catalog would make New York’s extensive library resources more easily accessible to all and enhance resource sharing throughout the State.
- A Statewide High-speed Network -- New York’s researchers, teachers, students and citizens need the power of affordable, high speed networks, such as Internet II, to enhance their work, to access multimedia applications and high resolution images such as x-rays, and to deliver more resources to more people, both on and off our campuses.
- Statewide Provision of Electronic Databases --The advantages of providing statewide access to a large collection of electronic resources include:
- Equal access to important information resources for all New Yorkers.
- Enormous cost savings resulting from vendor discounts for multi-library purchases.
- Savings in staff time since database investigations, consortial arrangements, vendor negotiations, purchasing and complex license agreements are very time-consuming and duplicated by individual libraries.
- The assurance that students who choose New York’s higher education institutions, regardless of their size or location, will have the advantages of access to electronic resources equal to or surpassing those in other states.
- Professional Education and Expertise -- As information and its formats increase and as online information resources expand and become more powerful and complex, guidance from professional librarians with sophisticated research training and specialized expertise is more important than ever for New Yorkers. Strong graduate programs and continuing education are essential.
- An Electronic Journal Center for the State -- If New York State had centrally purchased post-graduate level, highly specialized print journals some years ago, all New York libraries could have shared them through interlibrary loan at tremendous cost savings to individual institutions. We now have a new opportunity to do this with electronic journals by providing access to expensive, highly specialized information through a shared, centralized online collection.
- Statewide Interlibrary Loan Delivery -- A statewide delivery service could increase timely, universal and cost-effective access to library materials for all.
- Collection Preservation -- Many older materials in New York’s academic libraries are unique and will be lost forever if they are not properly preserved.
IMPROVEMENTS ARE NEEDED
Libraries change lives. New Yorkers need and deserve excellent libraries. Strong academic and research libraries are a key part of this total picture. Over the last one hundred years our State’s library systems evolved into the hodgepodge of systems we find today. In the last decade the computer and the proliferation of electronic resources have made it imperative that these systems be re-examined and streamlined. They need to be strengthened and given new mandates when appropriate. New York, with its proud library history, must improve statewide access to electronic information resources and must do it soon. Coordination, cooperation, centralization and strong state library leadership are critical to ensure better library services and lower administrative costs in the future.
SURVEY OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN THE CENTRAL NEW YORK REGION
FOR THE REGENTS COMMISSION
Spring 1999
The following thirteen libraries responded to this survey: Cazenovia College, Colgate University, Hamilton College, Herkimer County Community College, LeMoyne College, Mohawk Valley Community College, Onondaga Community College, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Health Science Center, SUNY College at Morrisville, SUNY Institute of Technology, Syracuse University Barclay Law Library, and Utica College.
1. How many items did your library loan through interlibrary loan to NY State libraries last year?
Thirteen academic libraries in the CLRC 3Rs region loaned over 30,000 items to other libraries of all types in NY State.
2. How much did your library spend to license access to electronic resources in 1997/98?
The thirteen libraries reported spending a total of $667,834 for this purpose.
3. Can NY residents who are not part of your primary clientele use your library onsite without charge?
All thirteen libraries answered "yes" to this question.
4. Can NY residents who are not part of your primary clientele borrow books from your library?
Twelve answered "yes," only one "no."
5. Do you charge NY residents who borrow books and are not part of your primary clientele?
Ten answered "no," only three "yes."
6. If "yes," how much is the fee?
For all three charging libraries, the fees charged are "one-time." They range from $5 to $25.
7. What other services do you provide that benefit the larger community?
Programs for schools (8 libraries)
Programs for professional librarians in the region (6)
Reference services (12)
Web "gateways" to information links on the Web, and other information
on your school's site that might be of benefit to citizens (10)
Elderhostel programs or presentations to Elderhostel groups (5) Other
examples: ElderLaw Decisionmaking Day; Clergy Day; Consumer Health
Info. Center and Web Site; Civil War and Lee Brown Coye information
8. [If you are not] sending in an individual submission what issues/problems/solutions [would you like] to be mentioned at the Regional Hearing?
Virtual Union Catalog (8 libraries)
Statewide high-speed network for transporting data, video, images, and sound (8 libraries)
Statewide provision of electronic databases (7 libraries)
Professional expertise in academic libraries for the State (7 libraries)
E-Journal Center for the State (6 libraries)
Preservation of library collections (6 libraries)
Statewide delivery for interlibrary loan (6 libraries)
Centralized offsite storage (3 libraries)
Other (1 library)
This survey was developed by Elizabeth Elkins, Director of College Libraries, SUNY College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, Judith Gibson Noyes, University Librarian, Colgate University, Laurie Thompson, Director, Health Sciences Library, SUNY Health Science Center and Keith Washburn, Executive Director, Central New York Library Resources Council (CLRC). It was distributed and summarized with the assistance of the staff of CLRC.
Updated September 15, 2000 -- am