University Librarian's Reflections

Pico Iyer’s The New York Times’ op-ed “The Joy of Quiet” should be required reading for anyone considering the library environment in 2012.[1]  Iyer is the author, most recently of “The Man Within My Head.” His reflections address the increasing number of ways we have to connect, side by side with the increasingly desperate need to unplug. A version of his op-ed appeared in print on January 1, 2012, and continues to generate buzz - - letters, blog posts, etc. Indeed, even Aaron Cohen Associates have weighed in.

A little background provides context - - Aaron Cohen Associates, Ltd. (ACA) is an interdisciplinary library planning firm founded in 1972. Our consultants specialize in library space planning and design, whether for a new building project, reorganization effort or renovation of existing space. Our associates are professional library planners, librarians, architects, interior designers and organizational management consultants. Our team promotes and develops the functional building blocks for modern library spaces. [2]

Aaron Cohen Associates LTD have built their reputation on assisting libraries around the world with new buildings, renovations and additions -- including the conceptualization of state-of-the-art technologies. Their projects ranging in size from small special libraries to very large international libraries.

In their blog post in response to Iyer[3], they suggest “In 2012, it will be important to off-set the number of active and collaborative spaces with the number of individual spaces for contemplation and quiet.”

And they continue “The ‘library as place’ has a special role to play in our social environment. The amount of communication available can be overwhelming; the average teenager sends or receives 75 text messages a day. The average office worker today enjoys less than three minutes at a time at his or her desk without interruption. The paradox is that we can communicate anywhere anytime.

The library of the future needs to provide spaces for reflection and quiet time something very important for ‘student success’ and learning. The functionality of the library building shouldalways include space to turn-off the communication tools and focus or concentrate.”

Referencing Iyler, they report “the number of hours American adults spent online doubled between 2005 and 2009 (and the number of hours spent in front of a TV screen, often simultaneously, is also steady increasing).”  The blog post concludes with this suggestion - - “To off-set the constant barrage of information, libraries should be planned with quiet environments. This is not a new idea, but something to consider in the new year.”

Fueled by experience, expertise, data, evidence, some combination of, or some variation on the above, controversies about library design, library space, and even library planning itself, - - not to mention library value, will continue well into the future. Here’s the thing - - let’s not get bogged down. Quiet vs. active spaces is, I suggest, less important than quiet + active spaces, and that is less important that our ability to design and deliver a diversity of physical and virtual spaces. Taking it one step further - - with-or-without-books is, I suggest, less important to how we effect and sustain change in the future than is our ability to design and deliver physical and virtual services and collections that meet and anticipate social, group and individual needs.

A recent “Checkout” blurb in The New York Times caught my attention. Creatively titled, “My Own Private Librarian,”[1] the piece highlighted personal librarian programs that have been implemented in institutions as diverse as Barnard College, Drexel University, Emory University, and Yale. Think personal shoppers with a twist. Sure, you know what a personal shopper is - - maybe you even have one on staff (!) - - someone whose job is to help you buy what you want by either going to the shops with you or by going shopping for you. Maybe not. Oh well . . . .

A Sampling of Personal Librarian Programs

At Barnard Library and Academic Information Services (BLAIS) the Personal Librarian program gives library users a more personalized and direct link to the library. “Each first year student and each academic department is matched with a librarian who serves as their main point of contact for the library - a "go-to" person for all things library-related.  Of course, all the Barnard librarians welcome questions from anyone in the Barnard/Columbia community!”[2]

At Drexel, a student’s “personal librarian is [his or her] first contact from the library. He or she is a seasoned library staff member who knows its ins and outs and can help [the student] navigate through its thousands of resources. Contact your personal librarian whenever you have a question about library resources and policies, or about doing research.” The data are compelling. In its first year, the personal librarian program:

•matched 2,800 Drexel freshmen with 26 library staff members.

•fielded 45 questions in response to our letters and emails.

•welcomed 298 freshman visitors to the library in the first three weeks of class with gifts.[3]

 The Personal Librarian Program at Yale “is designed to introduce students entering Yale College to the collections and services of the Yale University Library.” The description continues “As a Yale freshman you will be matched with a Librarian, who will help you with any research involving the Library and its collections. Students doing more advanced work in their major should contact their Subject Specialist.”[4]

Variations on a Theme

At Oxford College, Emory University, each faculty member is assigned a personal librarian. These personal librarians function as the faculty member’s contact person for any library-related question, comment, or concern.  Some of the things these Personal Librarian can help faculty with include: meeting with the faculty member at the beginning of every semester to show you new library services and resources in your discipline; integrating meaningful research skills instruction into their classes; helping faculty schedule research skills instruction sessions for their classes; making sure the items their students will need are on physical or electronic reserve at the library; keeping them informed throughout the year of new resources, pertinent to their discipline, that become available; and finally, assisting faculty with their personal research; and answering any subject or research-related questions they may have, or directing them to the best contact person[5]

Reflections

Several questions come to mind - -

• Do personal librarians differ from personal shoppers? If so, how?
• What skills and experience are necessary for becoming a personal librarian?
• Is library experience necessary? Academic library experience?
• Is it necessary to train with an experienced personal librarian?
• How are these services being marketed, and does marketing make a difference?
• Do personal librarians help with recruitment and retention? Is anyone paying attention to this question?
• To what extent does a personal librarian program equate with good customer service? Exemplary customer service?
• How do personal librarian programs differ from the F2F or virtual information, reference, or research services we currently provide?
• How do the services provided by personal librarians differ from those provided by subject specialists? By liaison librarians?
• Are these programs anything more than the creative repackaging and marketing of existing services?

Make no mistake, today’s students lead very busy lives. They juggle multiple demands and pressures, and quickly learn that their academic success hinges on successfully navigating the rigors of search and discovery. I suggest that academic librarians are well qualified for this not-so-new role - - should we choose to repackage our services and market ourselves as personal librarians.

If you have a minute, check out The Reality Check blog, from John V. Lombardi, and specifically his October 19, 2011 “in Praise of Librarians” entry ( http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/praise-librarians [accessed 13 November 2011]). Lombardi describes our world as a “digitally confused world of information,” and proceeds to praise librarians who, he asserts, “are transforming our world of information with creativity and imagination.” True, his focus is on Association of Research Libraries (ARL) librarians, however, having worked in both ARL and non-ARL academic libraries, I suggest that the attributes he ascribes to ARL librarians are characteristics that non-ARL librarians share as well.

Lombardi’s “In Praise of Librarians” is as much a commentary on our information universe as it is on the role and function of academic librarians, as much reflection on the problems and opportunities we face as anything else.

If you have any doubt of our value - - academic librarians’ value, to our institutions, to our users, spend a few minutes with Lombardi and your doubts will, I’m sure, seriously diminish if not disappear.

Will dropouts save America? I will let Michael Ellsberg, author of “The Education of Millionaires: It’s Not What You Think and It’s Not Too Late” reply to that![1] Whether or not higher education is the only path to stable employment is less my interest than the skills and competencies that promise to insure success in entering and staying in, the job market.

What skills exactly put students - - or anyone else, at an advantage in the formal or informal job market? We are hearing a lot about the value of classroom skills putting folks at an advantage in the formal market, and street-smart skills and real-world networking putting folks at an advantage in the informal market.

What do I believe?

I believe that critical thinking skills are key to success in the formal and informal markets.

What am I talking about exactly?

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following:

• understand the logical connections between ideas
• identify, construct and evaluate arguments
• detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
• solve problems systematically
• identify the relevance and importance of ideas, and
• reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values[2]

Other definitions of critical thinking have been proposed, of course. Even a cursory review of these definitions reveals that clarity and rationality constitute the common core across the different conceptions on critical thinking.

Is critical thinking a matter of accumulating information? Or is it more?  Should we conflate critical thinking with being argumentative or being critical of other people? What role does critical thinking have in helping us acquire knowledge, improve our theories, and strengthen arguments? Can we really use critical thinking to enhance work processes and improve social institutions?

Consider the following

Good critical thinking might be seen as the foundation of science and a liberal democratic society. Science requires the critical use of reason in experimentation and theory confirmation. The proper functioning of a liberal democracy requires citizens who can think critically about social issues to inform their judgments about proper governance and to overcome biases and prejudice.[3]

Earlier I stated that I believe that critical thinking skills are key to success in the formal and informal markets. Specifically, the ability to think clearly and rationally is important whatever we choose to do - - whatever field we choose to work in, whatever subject area we choose to focus on. Secondly, in the new knowledge economy, I believe that the ability to analyze information and integrate diverse sources of knowledge in solving problems has never been more important. Thirdly, I believe that thinking clearly and systematically strengthens our language and presentation skills. Fourth, what about creativity? Of course there is a link! What does it mean to come up with a creative solution to a problem? Is it only about having new ideas? What about the generation, application, evaluation, and, perhaps (I’m just sayin) modification of those new ideas? Don’t those matter? Finally, consider this question - - what is the relationship of critical thinking to self-evaluation? I suggest that critical thinking is crucial for self-reflection, and therefore, for progress.

Okay, so, you get it - - I believe that critical thinking is a critically important thinking skill. Some would suggest, and I concur, that it is a meta-thinking skill.

If you want to know more about critical thinking, consider a Google search. There is plenty about higher order thinking skills - - what they are, why they matter, etc. Working definitions abound, as do suggested characteristics. Try to get beyond the buzz words and skill sets, beyond the overviews. I challenge you to stop and think about it.  

I suggest that academic library staffs are key to the development and maintenance of this meta-thinking skill, a skill that, I suggest, insures success in entering and staying in the job market.