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To the Editor:
I am a regular and avid reader of the column Steven Mintz contributes. His insights and ideas around teaching and the work we do in higher education are thoughtful, challenging, and engaging. In his October 28 column, “What’s Gained, What’s Lost in the Evolving University Library,” Mintz writes, “ ... librarians are more essential than ever,” and that academic libraries should become “dynamic, multipurpose hubs” that engage in the broader mission of our institutions. As a college librarian for over 30 years (and library director for over 20 of those), I could not agree more!
Mintz correctly points to the now almost two-decades-long trend of declining print material circulation and the ways institutions have repurposed library spaces, sometimes in collaboration with library staff and sometimes through what we call “real estate grabs.” And he provides both strong support for faculty status of librarians, and a list of strategies for engaging in activities that I know speak to many of us working in academic libraries.
There is, however, one thing that Professor Mintz omitted from his observations. Where are the library faculty and staff who will create, organize, advertise and deliver all of this exciting programming? At my small public liberal arts college there were eight library faculty in 2014 (not counting me) and today there are three. Of the 12 library staff in 2014, there are now 5. What have we stopped doing? Programming and outreach. And we are not alone by any means. Staffing in academic libraries has been shrinking at institutions of all sizes for a number of years. Essential activities, e.g., acquisitions, cataloging, circulation continues. Some of us are even seeing slight increases in circulation and gate counts. But we no longer have the human and financial resources for programming, the work of engaging with our entire community in ways that create intellectual engagement and enjoyment.
At my library, our Center for Research & Writing (student peer tutoring center) is located in the library and has take on some of that vibrant programming. And our Head of Archives and Special Collections has found ways to connect our unique collections with curriculum around the college. I am grateful for the commitment and energy these folks bring to their work. But encouraging creative thinking is a challenge when making those ideas a reality is constrained by limited resources. Be a vocal advocate for library staffing! Participate in programming! Because libraries, and the amazing people working in them, are more essential than ever.
—Celia Rabinowitz
Assistant vice president for academic engagement and director of Mason Library
