College and Research Libraries The Role of the College Library Staff In Instruction in the Use of the Library BY E. J . J O S E Y TH E L I B R A R Y undergirds the instruc-tional program of the college. It can- not be separated from the professors or the curriculum. Someone has said that we can dispense with the faculty and rely solely on the college library, and students will continue to be educated, but this is not the prevailing view. In many institutions of higher learning, there is the idea that students will learn without using the library or knowledge of the use of the library. However, it is the firm conviction of this writer that both the faculty and the college library are equally important in the education of college students. T h e faculty stimu- lates intellectual curiosity and critical thinking, while the library, through its resources, provides the intellectual sus- tenance which can be found only in books. If it is true that intellectual suste- nance is housed in the college library, then it is equally true that knowledge of the use of the library is important in the education of college students. T h e annual output of the world of publish- ing is enormous. Current publishing, coupled with the scholarship of yester- year that is found in antiquarian books, as well as information in the old and current periodicals, staggers the imagi- nation. It is sheer folly for college li- braries to spend thousands of dollars to assemble these materials, while at the same time no concrete efforts are made to instruct college students in the use of these materials. P U R P O S E O F T H E S T U D Y Savannah State College moved into its new library in the fall of 1959. T h e im- Mr. Josey is Librarian at Savannah State College Library, Savannah, Georgia. His master's degree in library science is from New York State College for Teachers, Al- bany. posing new structure with its spacious reference department and reading rooms stimulated library use. T h e former cramped quarters had been an impedi- ment to good library service. Now, for the first time in the history of the col- lege, the library staff had adequate space to confer with and offer reference as- sistance to students. It was soon apppar- ent that many students, including upper- classmen, were woefully unaware of how to use a simple basic tool such as the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature. T h e stark realization that graduating seniors did not know how to use the card catalog,1 as revealed from a study conducted by the catalog librarian, also helped to ignite the fire. T h e librarian placed the problem be- fore the library committee. It was dis- covered that the English department was responsible for a unit on the use of the library in Humanities 101. Instructors did their teaching in the classrooms with- out consultation with the library. After serious deliberations, the committee unanimously adopted the following rec- ommendation and instructed the librar- ian to inform the chairman of the Eng- lish department: T h e Library Committee recommends that the library staff be included for 1 Madeline G. Harrison, " S t a t u s of Card Catalog Use at Savannah State College L i b r a r y , " Savannah State College Faculty Research Bulletin, X I V (December 1 9 6 0 ) 5 - 9 . 492 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S o n e class period in the i n s t r u c t i o n in the use of the library as it appears in H u m a n i t i e s 1 0 1 . T h i s i n s t r u c t i o n should take place in the library so that the students may have personal con- tact with the r e f e r e n c e tools. T h e librarian and his staff were not satisfied with the "one class period" rec- ommendation, but in spite of its appar- ent limited consideration, it was an initial step in the right direction. How- ever, we were not prepared for the tempest in the teapot which followed. T h e librarian informed the English de- partment of the library committee's rec- ommendation, and the chairman of the English department returned the follow- ing reply: ' . . . M a y I request you to i n f o r m the L i b r a r y C o m m i t t e e that the English D e p a r t m e n t has already given serious consideration to library o r i e n t a t i o n in its freshman classes. T h i s consideration is based u p o n o u r professional knowl- edge o f the n a t u r e o f freshman Eng- lish courses a n d what constitutes con- t e n t a n d procedures in said courses. Accordingly, the members o f the de- p a r t m e n t , in light o f their experiences, t r a i n i n g a n d background, a n d in light o f i n d i v i d u a l i t y in each course, in terms o f its constituents and the meth- odology employed by the instructor, decided that they will work individ- ually with students in their classes ac- cording to course outlines in H u m a n - ities 101 and 102. A n d f u r t h e r that m e m b e r s of the D e p a r t m e n t o f Eng- lish will c o n t i n u e to work with stu- dents in t h e i r classes in the use o f the library in c o n n e c t i o n with specific as- signments r e q u i r i n g such use. " Y o u will n o t e that the a t t i t u d e o f the d e p a r t m e n t is student-centered and course-centered, n o t library-centered. As I m e n t i o n e d to you in an e a r l i e r conversation, knowledge o f library tools is simply o n e small phase o f in- f o r m a t i o n dispensed in H u m a n i t i e s 101 a n d 102, n o t the m a i n focus. W e are certainly aware o f the fact that all stu- dents at S a v a n n a h State College should have some c o m p e t e n c e in library usage, but, d e p a r t m e n t a l l y , we do n o t as- sume the responsibility o f b r i n g i n g light where there may be darkness in this m a t t e r , which is college-wide, n o t merely a m a t t e r for the English De- p a r t m e n t to summarily solve in Hu- m a n i t i e s 101 and H u m a n i t i e s 102. " B u t please be assured, the m e m b e r s o f the d e p a r t m e n t are aware of the p r o b l e m and will work on this m a t t e r from three points (as i n d i c a t e d through- out this l e t t e r ) : (1) the individual stu- dent as the need arises, (2) the n a t u r e o f the individual course and the teach- er's m e t h o d o f conducting that course, a n d (3) accepted professional standards a n d practices in teaching E n g l i s h in C o l l e g e . " 2 T h e foregoing letter from the chair- man of the English department, and several unsuccessful attempts to confer with him, led this writer to devise an instrument to determine the extent of instruction in library use in a group of institutions of higher education. In ad- dition, an effort was made to assess the role of the library staff in the process. M E T H O D O L O G Y In the spring of 1961, the writer sent a questionnaire to 500 college and uni- versity library administrators through- out the United States. T h e librarians represented institutions of various sizes and types, i.e., large public universities, large privately-endowed universities, lib- eral arts colleges, teachers' colleges, pres- tige institutions, and less-known insti- tutions. Eight questions were posed and re- spondents were requested to check yes or no. (1) T h e reference librarian or a member of the staff is responsible for a course in the use of the library. (2) A member of the library staff gives one lecture or a series of lectures in connec- tion with freshman orientation week. (3) Library instruction is given as a unit in the freshman English course, and 2 Letter from the chairman. Department of English, Savannah State College, J a n u a r y 15, 1960. N O V E M B E R 1 9 6 2 493 classes are brought to the library for a series of lectures in connection with or one lecture by the library staff. (4) Formal instruction is given by the library staff to freshman students in a subject area other than English. (5) If the in- struction is not given in conjunction with the English courses, indicate whe- ther instruction is given to freshman students by the library staff with class work in subject courses at a time when the students are most likely to be using the materials. (6) Instruction in the use of the library is coordinated with the work of the library. (7) Do you feel that freshman library instruction should be given by members of the teaching faculty without the cooperation of the librarian and his staff? (8) Although instruction in library use is handled by the library staff, there is wholehearted faculty plan- ning and participation. L i b r a r y l i t e r a t u r e a b o u n d s w i t h descriptions of successful library-staff taught programs, but very little has been done in the area of faculty controled programs or assessing the role of the library staff in the teaching process. T h e r e is no need for a review of the literature, for Bonn has surveyed the literature thoroughly.3 F I N D I N G S T h e findings were varied and reveal- ing. Librarians felt so keen about the problem of instructing college freshman students in the use of the library that many were not content to check the questionnaire alone. T h e y also wrote letters to clarify their views. Of the 500 libraries canvassed, 397 or 79 per cent responded. In view of the high per- centage of returns, the findings are sig- nificant. Concerning question one, 239 or 60 per cent of the respondents reported that the reference librarian or a mem- 3 George S . Bonn, Training Laymen In the Use of the Library. (New Brunswick, N. J . : Graduate School of Library Service, R u t g e r s — T h e State University, 1960) pp. 27-54. ber of the library staff was not responsi- ble for teaching a course in the use of the library to freshman students, while 107 or 27 per cent indicated that they offered such a course; 51 or 13 per cent gave no response. With regard to question two, 177 li- brarians or 45 per cent indicated that a member of the library staff gave one lecture in the use of the library during orientation week; 75 or 19 per cent presented several lectures during the orientation period, while 145 or 36 per cent failed to check the question. T h e re- sults of question number two are not too conclusive, in view of the fact that a large number of librarians (36 per cent) failed to check the question, but if we consolidate the 177 librarians who present one lecture during the orienta- tion week and the 75 librarians who provide several, then 64 per cent of the respondents participate in some kind of orientation program. Most of the orien- tation week programs were no more than guided tours. Therefore, orientation week is used to a large extent to intro- duce students to the location of the li- brary and in some instances, for ele- mentary instruction. In spite of this high percentage of participation as reported here, many li- brarians have misgivings of orientation week programs. T h i s point of view is expressed by the associate director of the University of Nebraska libraries who warns, " W e must overcome the general idea that library instruction is some- thing that can be tacked on a one-day orientation program. . . . " 4 Regarding question three, which is concerned with library instruction given as a unit in the freshman English course, 118 or 30 per cent indicated that one lecture is given to English classes by library staff; 103 or 26 per cent give a series of lectures by the library staff English classes and 176 or 44 per cent 4 Letter from Richard A. Farley, associate director of libraries, University of Nebraska, April 14, 1961. 494 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S did not present lectures in connection with English classes, while 20 failed to respond. Combining the single lectures and a series of lectures given in con- junction with English classes, we find that 221 academic libraries, or 56 per cent of the libraries surveyed, give in- struction in the use of the library to English classes. Teaching freshmen the use of the library in conjunction with English courses seems to be the preference of the majority of the respondents. Never- theless, librarians are not completely satisfied with this arrangement. T h e li- brarian of the University of North Da- kota writes, " O u r instruction in library use is done in the freshman English course by the instructors in the English department and classes are then brought to the library for a test in library ma- terials and use, which is compiled by the library staff but administered by the English instructor. During the taking of this test the library staff and sometimes the instructor are available to assist the students and offer explanation and further information. We do not feel that this is a very satisfactory means of ac- complishing library instruction. In the first place, the responsibility of the in- dividual instructor is met with varying degrees of enthusiasm and competence. Second, the library test seems to be viewed by students rather as a hurdle to be crossed than as a useful adjunct to studies in all fields. Third, because of this student attitude, there seems to be a minimal amount of actual ac- quaintance with library tools, plus copy- ing of answers from others with similar questions, and other time-saving short cuts." 5 Although a semblance of cooperation exists between the English department and the library in a large southern uni- versity, the respondent writes " T h i s year we changed our program and now have only a thirty-minute televised pic- 5 L e t t e r from Donald J . P e a r c e , head librarian, Uni- versity of North Dakota, April 4, 1961. ture (not enough, but all allowed by the English department) . . . I, per- sonally, am not satisfied with the tele- vised class as it is now handled, but it will be difficult to convince the English department that more time is needed." 6 Several librarians in their letters indi- cated that efforts were being made to improve the instruction in English classes. One healthy sign comes from the librarian of Western Michigan Univer- sity. Miss Stokes reports, " T h i s summer the educational T V staff of the univer- sity expects to work with the English faculty and the library staff to prepare a tape to be used for library orientation in English classes. We have high hopes of this being a much better solution than our previous attempts." 7 Question four sought to elicit whether formal library instruction is given by the library staff to freshman students in a subject area other than English. An- swering this query, we find 90 librarians or 23 per cent who responded affirma- tively, while 272 librarians or 68 per cent replied negatively and 35 librarians or 9 per cent ignored the question. It appears that for all intents and pur- poses English seems to be the desired vehicle for instructing freshman students in the use of the library. Librarians were requested in question five to denote that if instruction is not given in conjunction with the English courses, whether it is given by the li- brary staff, with class work in subject courses at a time when the students are most likely to be using the materials. T h e i r answers revealed that 137 or 34 per cent marked yes, 166 or 42 per cent marked no, while 94 or 24 per cent did not answer. These results pointedly call attention to the fact that the majority of the respondents give the instruction when the students are not using the li- brary for research purposes in their course work. 8 L e t t e r from Lucille Higgs, assistant, general edu- cation division, Florida S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y library, April 7, 1961. 7 L e t t e r from K a t h e r i n e M . Stokes, librarian, W e s t - ern Michigan U n i v e r s i t y , J u n e 2 0 , 1961. N O V E M B E R 1 9 6 2 495 T h e answers to questions four and five do not correlate, but the investigator refused to discard question five, for there is the possibility that if busy respondents hastily read question five and ignored the not in the wording of the question, the last question in the preceding paragraph is apropos. At the same time, the low correlation directs attention to one of the great limitations of the questionnaire method, i.e., the respondents do not always interpret and answer the questions in the same context that the investigator is considering. T u r n i n g to question six which at- tempted to ascertain whether instruction in the use of the library is coordinated with the work of the library, we find that 127 or 32 per cent replied no, 181 or 46 per cent yes and 89 or 22 per cent failed to respond. It is clearly evident that the largest percentage of the re- spondents felt that there is real coordina- tion between the library and the aca- demic departments in this regard. Librarians were requested in question seven to answer the crucial question: Do you feel that freshman library in- struction should be given by members of the teaching faculty without the co- operation of the librarian and his staff? An overwhelming majority of 379 li- brarians or 95 per cent answered no, seven librarians or 2 per cent stated yes and eleven librarians or 3 per cent gave no response. Librarians responded in eloquent, forthright, clear and unequivocal lan- guage, in reference to question seven. T h e librarian of George Peabody Col- lege for Teachers stated, "As for myself, I am rather firmly convinced that as our collections grow larger and larger, the library staff must and should be the persons designated to offer a minimum program of instruction in the use of the library." 8 T h e director of libraries at the University of Notre Dame pointed out that, " I disagree very strongly with 8 L e t t e r from J . Isaac Copeland, librarian, George Peabody College for Teachers, April 17, 1961. a program that would provide freshman library instruction by members of the teaching faculty without the cooperation of the librarian and his staff." 9 T w o in- teresting comments that were included on the questionnaire are the following: Herbert B. Anstaett, librarian of Frank- lin and Marshall College, gave a re- sounding "definitely n o ! " In his terse style, Guy Lyle, director of libraries, Emory University, who answered no, stated, "although it would be better than non-instruction." T h e final question attempted to elicit from librarians whether there was whole- hearted faculty planning and participa- tion if the instruction was handled by the library staff. T h e findings showed that 170 or 43 per cent reported yes, 135 or 34 per cent stated no, and 92 or 23 per cent disregarded the question. Many of the respondents objected to the investigator's use of the phrase "wholehearted faculty planning and co- operation." T h e y vividly opposed the use of "wholehearted," striking through the word and substituting words which did not bespeak well of their faculties. Some of the more vocal comments on their questionnaires are as follows: Frank A. Schneider, assistant librarian of Ari- zona State University, wrote, "Where we have stirred interest the cooperation has been high." Joseph T . Popecki, assistant director of libraries, Catholic University, stated, "varies with the many freshman English instructors." Mrs. Mary Watson Hymon, librarian of Grambling College, wrote "wholehearted planning and par- ticipation of those involved. We do not reach the total faculty." And Sarah D. Jones, librarian of Goucher College, commented, "As new faculty members come, we have to convert them, so that degree of wholeheartedness wavers." I M P L I C A T I O N S T h e foregoing analysis of the responses from the 397 librarians suggests serious 9 Letter from Victor Schaefer, director of libraries, LTniversity of Notre Dame, March 31, 1961. 496 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S implications regarding the extent of in- struction in library use and the role of the library staff in the process. Most of the respondents (60 per cent) do not offer a required formal course in the use of the library. It may be that librarians have rejected this approach as being academically unfeasible or curriculum committees do not desire the encroach- ment. T h e small number (27 per cent) who offer the required course indicated that the course is handled by a member of the library staff. Orientation week is used by many li- brarians to introduce the incoming col- lege students to the location of the li- brary. T h e largest number (45 per cent) that offers elementary instruction in the nature of one lecture or guided tour, and a few (19 per cent) present several lectures during this period. A growing number of librarians seem to be doing away with the orientation week ap- proach, because of the large enrollments and the helter-skelter fiesta-type affair that characterize most orientation peri- ods. Concerning growing enrollments, one librarian asserts " W e used to give a series of lectures, but due to the rapid increase in student enrollment, the li- brarians found they had too much to do in such areas as building the collec- tion, etc., to keep up with all of these lectures. . . . " 1 0 Miss Seaberg writes, " W e did have for years, a tour-lecture system. As the enrollment increased and the staff load became heavier, this method seemed to get more and more mass-produced and less effective." 11 Ori- entation week programs seem to be less palatable. In the words of an Eng- lish instructor and a college librarian, "clearly, it is not enough to arm the freshman with the floor plan of the li- brary and urge him forward." 12 On the basis of the findings, it appears 1 0 L e t t e r from J u l i e t t e A . T r a i n o r , librarian, Paterson S t a t e College, April 5, 1961. 1 1 L e t t e r from Lillian M . Seaberg, assistant librarian, U n i v e r s i t y of Florida, April 6, 1961. 1 2 Haskell M . Block and Sidney Mattis, " T h e Re- search P a p e r : A Co-operative A p p r o a c h , " College Eng- lish, X I I I ( J a n u a r y 1 9 5 2 ) 212. that the freshman English course con- tinues to be the traditional course for offering instruction in the use of the library, for 56 per cent reported affirma- tively on this question. Many librarians while indicating some degree of coopera- tion from their English departments are not completely satisfied as reported in the letters referred to above. Coopera- tion between the library and the English department is essential, if a modicum of progress is to be experienced. T h i s view is cogently voiced by a distinguished reference librarian who states, " I would like to emphasize that the success or failure of any program depends to a great extent upon the cooperation of the English department. We have had our good years and our poor years, de- pending largely, we feel quite sure, upon the enthusiasm and interest of the faculty member in charge of freshman English instruction." 13 T h e majority of the librarians who indicated that instruction was given in courses other than English also pointed out that the instruction was given at a time when the students were not using the library materials. We have no ex- planation for this situation. T h e r e is the possibility that the unit on the use of the library is sandwiched in at the most opportune time without regard for the sound educational philosophy of pre- senting the instruction when it will be more beneficial to the students. T h e results of this study confirm this writer's belief that freshman library in- struction should not be given without the cooperation of the librarian and his staff, for 379 librarians (95 per cent) as- serted this fact. Librarians are better qualified by their training and knowl- edge of bibliographical techniques to guide the uninitiate through the maze of materials that are now housed in col- lege and university libraries. As the writer pointed out at the beginning of 1 3 Letter from Josephine M . T h a r p e , reference li- brarian, Cornell University library, April 7, 1961. N O V E M B E R 1 9 6 2 497 the paper, it is foolhardy to amass the highly specialized reference tools and collections and, at the same time, fail to provide instruction in the use of these materials. Many of our college freshmen come from areas where there is poor school and public library service; thus, their first experiences in the college li- brary can be foreboding. By and large, members of the teaching faculty are not equipped to cope with this type of col- lege freshman in the college library. Some college instructors have become so immersed in the educational jargon of "independent study," while they have forgotten that most of our students will continue to be dependent for many years to come until we improve the public schools. A librarian who has a serious concern about instructing the average student in the skills of using the library effectively asserts, "the average or below average student, on the other hand, is likely to avoid the library, having found it a useless if not actually a terrifying place. It is not enough that he be stimu- lated to use the library, he must be pro- vided with experiences which convince him that using the library is a necessary and meaningful part of education." 14 It is impossible to evade one of the serious questions raised by librarians who reported that they had dropped library instruction because of growing enroll- ments and shortages of staff. Increasing enrollments and staff shortages will be- 1 4 P a t r i c i a B . Knapp, " T h e Montieth L i b r a r y P r o j c c t : An E x p e r i m e n t in Library-College R e l a t i o n s h i p , " Col- lege and Research Libraries, X X I I ( J u l y 1 9 6 1 ) 257- 258. come more acute as we move towards the 70's. T h i s is a salient fact which every library administrator must con- sider. A solution to this problem may very well be our turning to automation, as suggested by the director of libraries at Southern Illinois University.15 In our search for alternatives and in our quest for closer cooperation with the faculty, librarians must be ever mindful that the college library is not an adjunct to teach- ing, it is at the very heart of the in- structional process. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that college students be given the skills to use the library at the beginning of their college education. T h e role of the librarian in educating the faculty to this point of view is arduous. College librarians must empha- size the following two inescapable points to their teaching colleagues. First, stu- dents' knowledge of using the library strengthens the relationship between the library and the instructional program, and second, professionally trained li- brarians who teach the skills of library use will not usurp the responsibilities of the faculty, but will supplement their efforts, for librarians alone are aware of the bibliographical and guidance services that the library staff is capable of offer- ing. T h e essentiality of the times is the need for the integration of college li- braries more completely with the cur- riculum, through a coordinated program of instruction in the use of the library. 1 6 Ralph E . McCoy, "Automation in F r e s h m a n Li- brary I n s t r u c t i o n , " fVilson Library Bulletin, X X X V I ( F e b r u a r y 1 9 6 2 ) 468-472. 498 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S