ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

LIBRAS internship in college library administration

By Jonathan D. Lauer Library Director Aurora University

Where to get some hands-on experience.

More than two years ago William A. Moffett sounded the clarion call proclaiming the continuing vitality and value of college librarianship in his ACRL conference address, “Reflections of a College Librarian: Looking for Life and Redemption This Side of ARL,” later published in College and Research Libraries. The sentiments expressed in his paper rang true for many college librarians, a number of whom shared his hope “that the Great Lakes College Association (and perhaps other college consortia) can be persuaded to offer internships in college library administration… By doing so we may be able to compensate for the lack of a recognizable career ladder for college library directors and perhaps counter some of the bias which discourages good people from seriously considering careers in smaller institutions.“¹

As a direct response to his challenge, the LIBRAS consortium will offer its first internship in college library administration during the summer of 1987.

LIBRAS, a consortium comprising 15 Chicagoarea liberal arts college libraries,² celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 1985. Since its inception, LIBRAS has established an impressive record of library cooperation. While the expeditious exchange of resources among its constituent members through interlibrary loan remains an integral aspect of its commitment to cooperation, LIBRAS activities encompass cooperative collection development, continuing education (including an annual all-day workshop), and group purchasing of supplies. No fewer than six members also participate in LCS, Illinois’ statewide library computer network, with two more institutions authorized to join in the near future. And five LIBRAS libraries recently extended their interlibrary loan capabilities to include telefacsimile reproduction.

It is in this context of cooperation that the LIBRAS internship program came into being. The internship will extend over a mutually agreed upon four week period during the summer of 1987 (broadly conceived as May 10 through September 10, 1987). As Ed Meachen, library director at North Central College, so ably stated, “The summer months, particularly at the end of the old fiscal year and the beginning of the new, are especially critical. This is the time of budget discussions, writing the annual report, special (library-wide) projects…and individual staff projects. Summer, therefore, is not a slack time, but rather the most important library ‘business’ time of the year.”

One LIBRAS library will serve as the Mentor Library with a number of cooperating libraries serving as field trip sites to provide a depth of exposure and experience not possible if the entire program were confined to one institution. LIBRAS will extend a $1,000 stipend and a $200 room allowance. The intern is responsible for transportation and incidental expenses. Applicants must have completed one year of library school or be currently employed in a college library. The intern will complete a written report of the experience which will include, but not be limited to, such activities as a supervised reading program in library management, shadowing the host director, analyzing the library budgeting process, comparing the library’s organization chart and job descriptions with the realities of day-to-day activities, and helping revamp collection development policy and mission statements.

Internship applicants should submit a letter and resume by March 1, 1987, to: Jonathan D. Lauer, Chair, LIBRAS Internship Committee, Aurora University, Aurora, IL 60506.

Notes

1. William A. Moffett, “Reflections of a College Librarian: Looking for Life and Redemption This Side of ARL,” College & Research Libraries 45 (September 1984):338, 345.
2. Aurora University, Barat College (Lake Forest), Concordia College (River Forest), Elmhurst College, Illinois Benedictine College (Lisle), Judson College (Elgin), Kendall College (Evanston), Lake Forest College, Lewis University (Romeoville), North Central College (Naperville), North Park College (Chicago), Rosary College (River Forest), Saint Xavier College (Chicago), Trinity College (Deerfield), and Wheaton College.