ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Letters

C&RL News:Breath of fresh air

To the Editor:

When recently leafing through the July/Au- gust 1992 issue of C&RL News to see if there were any new articles on the John Cotton Dana Public Relations Awards, I happened on a short piece by Phillip H. Young titled “Death of the book greatly exaggerated.” I was thoroughly captivated by his vivid description of an estate auction and the book lovers who were willing to delve into cardboard boxes in the backyard on a very hot day, looking for treasures to buy for their own collections. How I wish I could have been there to see what was up for auction!

As the “curator” of a rather small staff development collection, I flip through many professional journals, most of them rather boring (if necessary to the profession). Your publication of this piece puts you out front of most—it was like a breath of fresh air to read about people who LOVE BOOKS.—Nancy C. Woodall, Training Coordinator, Fairfax County Public Library, Virginia

Librarians' role on accreditation teams

To the Editor:

The perception of librarians’ roles on accreditation teams described in Ralph Wolffs article in the July/August issue of College and Research Library News, “Rethinking the librarians’ role on accreditation teams,” closely parallels my own experience as a member of Middle States accreditation teams. I have often found it difficult to involve other team members in the assessment of library services. I agree with Mr. Wolff that the evaluation of the library clearly needs to go beyond looking at the library and talking with library staff, to determining how the needs of the faculty and students are being met. Furthermore, at least in institutions accredited by the Middle States Association, the team needs to determine whether information literacy is being achieved.

A study, recently completed by Peter Deekle and myself and soon to appear in the Journal of Library Administration, showed that many, if not most, chief academic officers saw no role for the librarian beyond the library itself and few of them understood the term “information literacy.” We must work towards changing this.

I would like to suggest an additional role for the librarian on accreditation teams. He/ she should also participate in the review of computing resources, academic computing in particular, to determine whether appropriate new information resources can be made accessible to the campus community. It is time for academe to make the library the “heart of the university” in more than name only.—Ann de Klerk, director of library and instructional media services, Bucknell University ■