About the Library: 2017-2018

The continued focus for OCCC librarians is to provide quality research assistance, bibliographic instruction, and information and media literacy training to OCCC students, faculty, and staff, as well as the public. Librarians taught 135 scheduled instruction sessions to 2,679 students. This is a slight reduction from the previous year (149 classes and 2,794 students). This is likely for similar reasons as the decline seen in FY2017, which includes lower enrollments and reductions in staffing.

For FY2018, librarian staffing consisted of three full time librarians, which included the Director, and one part time librarian. One additional full time librarian position was vacant. Due to the vacancy, the Library Assistance Desk coverage was reduced to 36 hours per week for FY2018, compared to 48 hours for FY2017 and 65 hours for FY2016. Though this has been challenging, librarians remain available on call and by appointment to continue to be as accessible as possible. The number of reference questions received has seen a slight decline. The reduction and changes in staffing, however, has offered an opportunity to reevaluate duties, cross train, and redistribute responsibilities across the remaining positions.

Librarians, along with the Professor of Student Success, worked on a redesign of the Library unit (now Media Literacy) in the Success in College and Life (SCL) course. New content was provided for the SCL courses in Moodle. Content for SCL will now focus on media literacy and source evaluation, with a basic overview of the Library and resources. This was piloted in the Summer of 2018 and will be continued for the Fall of 2018.

The Director of Library Services retired in August 2017. The position was filled in January 2018 by the Circulation Librarian, leaving that position vacant through the remainder of FY18. That position is expected to be filled in early fall 2018.

*Includes one full time librarian position that was vacant for FY18

Though computer use has declined moderately, there is still heavy use. The move to thin clients in 2016 has proven to be a good decision. Technical issues with the computers are very rare and are quickly handled by the Systems Librarian with the support of IITS staff.

Printing increased by more than 14% for FY2018 over FY2017. Though still significant, this is a much less drastic change from the previous year, which saw a 70% increase. Currently enrolled students receive 100 sheets of printing per semester. Public patrons pay using a coin-op.

Group study rooms continue to be well utilized and in high demand during the fall and spring semesters. We are often unable to meet demand at peak times of the semesters. The Collaboration Room equipment was upgraded to a Huddle Station, identical to those installed in the Main Building, and another Huddle Station was installed in the open area of the first floor. Both areas provide dry erase boards. The Collaboration Room was reserved 176 times. This is the only study room that can be reserved. 

Foot traffic decreased by 13%. This could be due to lower enrollment rates and increase in online enrollment, as well as a reduction in hours during intersession

The Circulation Desk continues to focus on providing excellent customer service. Due to fluctuation in student staffing, librarians and other staff have filled in as needed to provide the best coverage and service possible. This has provided the opportunity to train staff from other areas in basic Circulation tasks. The most common tasks are checking out Course Reserves items, helping with the printers, computers, scanners, and copy machines, as well as checking out phone chargers and dry erase board supplies. Though monitoring of the 2^nd floor was adjusted due to shortages in staff, every effort was still made to have a presence and maintain the quiet study area policy of that floor.

Course Reserves, the Library’s collection of textbooks, is a vital service for many students and allows them free access to textbooks. Reserves checked out 13,278 times. Calculators checked out 174 times, and phone chargers checked out 1,542 times. These continue to be very popular services for students.

Interlibrary Loan use remains steady. This service provides additional research materials that are not owned by the OCCC Library to both students and faculty. It is a reciprocal service. Items from the OCCC collection are loaned to other libraries and the OCCC Library borrows materials from other libraries.

Below are the primary article databases offered to students. “Total searches” demonstrates how many times users performed searches in the database, while “total viewed” shows how many articles from those databases were read or more thoroughly examined by the user as a result of the searches they performed.

The Library website received updates to the look and a new “Library Hours” calendar was added to make the Library hours more readily accessible.

The table below shows how many new items were acquired by the Library for FY2018. One area of focus for the collection was Spanish language materials. Many new titles in Spanish were added, both to provide materials to Spanish speaking students and community members, as well as for students in Spanish classes.

Library staff remain involved across campus by serving on committees and working to support the academic divisions and other departments on campus. A goal for the spring 2018 semester was for librarians to reach out to at least one other department to learn more about what they do and how the Library can offer support. Areas visited included TRiO, Veterans’ Services, Financial Aid, and Community Outreach and Education. Updates on Library services were provided and new materials for the collection were purchased that were recommended by these areas.

Three displays were created in collaboration with faculty or programs: Faculty Recommended Reads, a student art exhibit, and a program promotion for Child Development. For the Recommended Reads display, faculty submitted descriptions of books they would recommend to college students. The books, descriptions, and faculty photos were displayed and rotated throughout the entire spring semester. For the student art exhibit, students from a Foundations II class displayed student created 3D art. The exhibit was paired with information about the Art Program, as well as library books covering the medium of art the students were using for their creations. For the Child Development display, artwork created by children at the OCCC Child Development Center was displayed, along with information about the Child Development Program.

Librarians reached out to the Capitol Hill Library branch of the Metropolitan Library System, which is located directly behind the OCCC Capitol Hill Center. Librarians visited the library, met with the Capitol Hill Library Director, and discussed services the OCCC Library offers to the surrounding community. A handout was also created for OCCC students using the Capitol Hill Library, highlighting OCCC Library resources. The Director of the Capitol Hill Library also visited and toured the OCCC Library.

The Library is looking forward to the Circulation Librarian position being filled. One priority is to transition billing of lost or damaged materials to OCCC’s online billing system, allowing patrons to conveniently pay for lost or damaged materials online.

Librarians plan to evaluate and update all materials used for library sessions, as well as general library information handouts. The biennial Library survey is also due for FY 2019. This survey will evaluate patron satisfaction with customer service, library space, materials, technology, and resources, among other things. Feedback will be considered to meet the needs of library patrons.

Due to a retirement, the Reference Librarian position will be vacant at the start of FY2019. If this position is filled, it offers an opportunity to incorporate responsibilities from previously lost positions as well as challenge a new employee in this position to overhaul and update our reference and instruction approach. This position will be tasked with evaluating all processes with Reference and Instruction including content and materials used for library instruction sessions, ways to collect assessment data, and new strategies for outreach, among additional duties. 

Students had often received library instruction during the Success in College and Life course. With the SCL redesign, which focuses less on databases and topic selection, there is now a need for students to receive that instruction in other courses, such as English Composition. For FY2019, Librarians will encourage English faculty to bring their students, though the large number of English Composition sections will make it difficult to see each one. In the future, unique ideas and techniques must be considered to be able to reach every student.