ACADEMIC ASSEMBLY OF LIBRARIANS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
2:00PM
Paley Library, Lecture Hall
MINUTES
Attending: Jenifer Baldwin, Doreva Belfiore, Brian Boling, Jim Bongiovanni, Mark Darby, Carla Davis Cunningham, Krisitina De Voe, Erin Finnerty, Leanne Finnigan, Andrea Goldstein, Ann Harlow, Josue Hurtado, Margaret Janz (recording), Noa Kaumeheiua, Delphine Khanna, Molly Larkin (chair), Jonathan LeBrenton, Rick Lezenby, Joe Lucia, Jill Luedke, David Murray (vice-chair), Katy Rawdon, Fred Rowland, Brian Scholar, Adam Shambaugh, Caitlin Shanley, Margery Sly, Gretchen Sneff, Nancy Turner.
1. Approval of the minutes
Minutes from May and September 2014 meetings approved.
2. Report by the dean (J. Lucia)
Dean Joe Lucia deferred his report in order to move to the next agenda item regarding concerns about the future of the library.
3. Library Planning: Hopes and Concerns (K. De Voe)
This agenda item was added after Fred Rowland and Kristina De Voe attended a recent Faculty Senate meeting. The subject of the new library was brought up by faculty who had concerns about the book bot, open spaces, and whether or not the new library represented students’ preferences. De Voe and Rowland felt that these issues as well as concerns being discussed in library departmental meetings should be addressed in this forum. De Voe then directed those in attendance to begin the discussion with any questions they had.
Discussion began with questions relating to some resources that Lucia had sent to ADC that Jenifer Baldwin had forwarded to the RIS department[1]. Some felt that the materials suggested a criticism of RIS librarian activities such as staffing the reference desk and doing instruction.
Lucia said he only meant for the article to promote conversation about the evolving role of liaison librarians. He wants to know how to be more effective in helping undergraduates to succeed, something that is also important to TU’s president. He noted, however, that the number of people being served at one time has to be taken into account. He questioned the role of the reference desk and what things could be done to liberate more time for RIS librarians.
Baldwin noted that within RIS that question had been raised and RIS librarian time at the desk was cut in half and now their consultation times had increased greatly. David Murray noted that no amount of training can prepare support staff to handle all reference questions and warned that if service quality decreased then patrons would no longer see the value in seeking help from staff at the library.
Lucia questioned how many questions were too deep for support staff and noted that perhaps losing contact with those small number of patrons was worth it if more students could be helped elsewhere. He pointed out that students will be missed no matter what and questioned other ways they might be caught.
Baldwin agreed that another path to supporting patrons could be beneficial, but asked what that path might be.
Nancy Turner suggested user testing on the website to determine if that’s another path to service. She also wanted to point out that technical services people consider themselves public facing and that their work has evolved as well. She brought up another document Lucia had sent from OCLC.[2] Lucia briefly described the OCLC document about the changing ecosystem of how research is produced and how libraries fit with these new models then returned to Baldwin’s question.
Lucia feels that the Libraries are doing a good job in instructional efforts, but questioned if we are using enough technology and deploying all the tools necessary to go beyond foundational courses. He feels there is a higher level we’re not reaching and wants to know how we could reach it and if it would all be in person.
Concern was expressed about the idea that tools could replace face to face teaching and reference. Lucia questioned the scalability of reaching all departments on the same level that some RIS librarians reach any one of their departments, noting the large time investment that is compounded by how many things a librarian may want to do.
Some RIS librarians commented that what they want to be doing is continuing their efforts in instruction.
Lucia said he didn’t think great instructors should stop being instructors, but those who want to explore other roles should be supported. He feels people should be doing what they are strongest at.
Relief at hearing RIS librarians would not be turned into technologists was expressed; within the department there had been a sense that their roles were underappreciated and they are happy to hear this is not the case.
Lucia stressed that he doesn’t think everyone needs to become technologists, but he does feel that TUL need to push the envelope in many areas, which is a separate issue. He acknowledged the importance of this conversation and continuing it.
4. Update on the TAUP Contract/PARA Process (F. Rowland)
Fred Rowland, David Murray, and TAUP president Art Hochner negotiated with Richie Holland, Joe Lucia, and Sharon Boyle. Several things have changed with this contract. First, instead of four separate 1-year contracts and a 2-year contract, there will be three 2-year contracts for new librarians. Because of this, we’ll have to be careful to keep new hires on track with documentation. There will no longer be any springtime contract renewals. The PARA Committee is trying to change things so that promotion and contract renewal will be applied for at the same time.
Another change to the TAUP contract is that the Provost will have less time and the Dean of Libraries will have more time to review contract renewals.
The 35 hour work week wording has been removed from contract. TAUP librarians are exempt employees but the limit on time in the library is still 35 hours a week.
No changes were made to the STO policy.
Previously, temporary employees could be hired with grant or foundation funding. Now temporary or project employees can be hired so long as the number of these employees are not more than 20% of regular appointment librarians staff. 60% of that 20% can do the same work as TAUP librarians.
No parental leave was granted with the new contract. No one is pleased by this, but if anyone wants to express concerns, Rowland encourages them to contact him. He noted that flextime can be used creatively for people with new babies, although this is not as preferable as actual parental leave.
5. ACRL Assessment in Action Activities (C. Shanley)
TU Libraries is participating in the ACRL Assessment in Action program. The idea is to help communicate the value of libraries. It’s one of ACRL’s professional development programs. Group includes Caitlin Shanley, Ken Finkle, Nancy Turner, Jenifer Baldwin, and Gina Calzaferri. The project runs from May 2014 to June 2015. They will be presenting a poster at ALA’s Annual Conference about it. So far this program is free and the participants are varied. 70 participating libraries are from the USA and a few are from Canada. It promotes cross campus partnerships and gets the Libraries involved in campus assessment projects. Shanley will be teaching a class for Ken Finkle and will get the students’ papers to assess information literacy learning demonstrated in them based on a rubric Shanley is designing.
Jenifer Baldwin asked how the group is addressing the fact that the students in Finkle’s class will be doing the same assignment three times. Shaley said that according to Finkle, there has always been great improvement between the students’ first and second papers, but no improvement on the third.
Nancy Turner commented that the project has been great for bringing awareness on a campus level of assessment happening in the libraries.
6. Old Business
None
7. New Business
Erin Finnerty asked if the AAL Steering Committee can set up a special meeting to continue the conversation with Joe Lucia. Jill Luedke also felt that continuing the conversation would be very important, especially since it seemed there had been a lot of miscommunication. Molly Larkin had looked into this and found that the Steering Committee could set up a special meeting and she will be looking into setting one up before the next scheduled General Assembly meeting.
Adjournment at 2:58pm.
[1]Jaguszewski, J.J. & Williams, K. (2013, August). New Roles for New Times: Transforming Liaison Roles in Research Libraries. Report prepared for the Association of Research Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.arl.org/nrnt and
TheDruckerSchool. (2011, September 1). Appreciative Inquiry: A Conversation with David Cooperrider [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JDfr6KGV-k
[2] Lavoie, B., Childress, B., Erway R., Ixchel F., Malpas, C., Schaffner, J.,
& van der Werf, T. (2014). The Evolving Scholarly Record. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Research. Retrieved from