Welcome to Fall 2012/FY ‘13

Welcome to Fall 2012/FY ‘13

As we move into the fall semester we continue to be busy, maintain our services and resources AND plan for new opportunities for our constituents. Our challenges are always to stay ahead of the “game” while meeting existing needs and assessing our worth and value to students, faculty and staff throughout all of our educational settings. I continue to be amazed at Library Services staff expertise and energy!

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS (SACS)

SACS is scheduled to visit ACC the last week of October. I will send out emails introducing the SACS visiting team and providing any schedule information we know. I have gathered and submitted extensive content this last year and continue to provide content to ACC’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness and the ACC SACS team. I still don’t have a final document to share with LS but will do so when the document becomes the official SACs report.

NOT-SO-NEW ADMINISTRATION

We continue to get to know the new ACC administration and have found them receptive and inclusive – which has been wonderful. The first step of the college reorganization included us – Instructional Resources and Technology – and placed us under the academic side of the house. This change means that my boss – Dr. Richard Smith – now reports to Vice President Mike Midgley. While this doesn’t change our day-to-day operation, we continue to attend our usual meetings and also new meetings for newly formed groups. It’s always rejuvenating to get to know new leadership! We understand that there will be a phase II reorganization early this fall. Watch the skies!

CONSTITUENT/PATRON BEHAVIORS AND EXPECTATIONS

As you know, handbooks for faculty, staff and students are available both in print and online. For the past few years, Student Services and Human Resources have been working toward discontinuing print versions and updating only online versions. In addition, Dr. Hensley’s campus managers have been working toward standardizing signage on campuses and I have asked for all signs to include the “helper dogs only” information as we have a number of students who are bringing in a variety of animals to campuses and to libraries. I am hopeful all signs will be standardized during this fall semester.

STRATEGIC PLANNING

Library Services Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee will continue to meet this last fall. Our goal is still to create a three year plan for Library Services. While it is possible to complete LS goals quickly, the college is revisiting it’s existing goals during FY’ 13. LS will not complete our process until we can compare and integrate ACC’s revised goals into our goals and strategic planning.

ORGANIZATION

The Ad hoc Head Librarian and Librarian Workload group was established last year to look at equity of workload in Library Services and provide recommendations in areas such as team work, facilitator work, reference hours, and collection responsibilities - to name just a few areas. This group's recommendations will be used to determine any need for balancing work responsibilities. The group completed their work this summer and has submitted recommendations. The Library Leadership Team Is reviewing the recommendations and identifying what is appropriate and possible to implement in Library Services.

We will continue to have Library Leadership Team meetings, Head Librarian’s meetings, a meeting of Team leaders, Facilitators and Stewards and will call a "Five or Fewer" (years of service) meeting of ”newer” librarians this fall as well as a "More than Five" meeting with similar questions, discussions, etc. to get input from senior staff. We are moving LLT meetings – at the request of the HL’s – to a morning time and intend to have every other meeting a conference call. Other groups have used a variety of ways to meet regularly as well and are encouraged to explore alternatives to face-to-face only. I will be asking for a wiki page for suggestions for ALL agendas so that any LS staff member can suggest issues and topics for discussions and problems to solve for any/all groups.

We will continue to have an Opening Day Collection subgroup of CDT for Hayes, Elgin Campus and Highland Mall library. In addition we now have an Emergency Management Facilitator and are bringing more attention to grant/soft monies and I hope to name a grants position this year as well as someone to focus on alumni and parents of our students.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Following our successful pedagogy workshop for librarians last year, the IL Facilitator and her designees continued to expand our program. This expansion included the review of products to assist us in revising our tutorials and integrated instruction assignments and integrating student learning outcomes (SLO’s). These SLO’s assist in providing our online presence and support for all classes including all distance learning classes as well as in the definition and assignation of value and worth to the services we provide. Following a review of products, the IL group recommended Credo’s Literati and the team is fast at work implementing what we can implement immediately and building the structure for the design of content for our next two years.

FACILITIES

Existing Campuses

Northridge is making changes to shelving, individual student seating and small group work seating. This summer’s duct cleaning has necessitated a major cleanup of shelves as well as an assessment of condition of materials for replacement. This will continue throughout the fall. Riverside lighting was assessed and replaced August 2012. The change is phenomenal and was financed in part by ACC’s Sustainability Office based on the choice of lighting. Pinnacle will be adding student chairs and rearranging furniture. Rio Grande is changing the reference shelving and student seating behind reference.

New Campuses

Elgin Campus plans are completed and we have a wonderful space for students, faculty and staff in the library. The campus will open August, 2013 and ODC plans for collection will begin the selection process early this fall. Hays Campus plans are also completed and we have a wonderful space there for students, faculty and staff similar in size to Elgin. Hays will open in FY 2014 - probably by summer 2014.

Highland Mall Penney's space floor plans will be finalized early in fall 2012. The academic space will still be: space for approximately 5,500 student; campuses swinging in while they are renovated; student learning areas; and workforce curriculum such as mathematics delivered in teaching and learning spaces. Library space will be adjacent to the emporium with @7,000 square feet, reduced print materials and more seating. Library Services goals include moving Technical Services to the mall. The Technical Services space needs assessment has been updated and distributed to Facilities.

Staffing

Given our openings and our current freeze on job openings (we have an AA position frozen) I have decided to reassign Administrative Assistants. Beginning this week the following changes will take place:

• Shaula will return to splitting her time by supporting Round Rock and Cypress.
• Eddie will return to splitting his time by supporting Eastview and Riverside.
• Rosemary will return to supporting me and the Rio Grande Campus library and coordinating the activities of all AA's both full & part time.
• Bridgette will return to supporting Pinnacle (Library) and begin supporting the South Austin Library, so she will split her time between South Austin Campus library and Pinnacle Library locations.
• I am taking money from my administrative hourly account and Northridge will hire a 19 hour a week AA and Tech Services will hire a 19 hour a week AA. When the freeze is over (hopefully this fiscal year) NRG will continue with their 19 hour a week AA support and Tech Services will receive the open LS AA position.

As you all know from college-wide emails, we have two other frozen positions, one SLA position at NRG and one SLA position at RVS.

$tate Funding

• Funding for FY'14 continues to be uncertain for the state in general and for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Current plans for the statewide database program continue through August 2013. It is our expectation that - given the lost of 6 million dollars and the database funding for the aggregated subscription program, we need to expand our base of possible membership partners. To that end, the ACC LD E-Resources Facilitator has been exploring costs and membership in other consortia. Given data and outcomes , we have joined Lyrasis and will be subscribing to Discovery service through the Abilene Library Consortium
• At this point in time, the database core for the FY’13 year will NOT change.

What’s sort-of-new and what’s new…

• We continue to record statistics, however, we have a wonderful software Lola (Assessment Facilitator) and the IL team have customized to meet our needs. Watch as the StatBat reminds you and then changes personas throughout the year. A contest is in the air…I can just feel it.
• We are investing time in formalizing our student learning outcomes (discussed above) so there will be more rollout and use of our technology, software and expertise to integrate activities and platforms into our information literacy – again led by our IL Facilitator and her group.
• We continue to refine our staff development processes as does the college. Watch for new exciting online spaces created by our Staff Development Team. In addition, we continue to focus our all-LS staff development days and “emergency management” training is on the horizon planned by our new Emergency Management Facilitator.
• I am excited that we are migrating from one wiki to another. Throughout this year we will assess our current wiki content, delete and add as needed and move what’s critical to our new wiki.
• We have some great new looks and pages on our online web environment thanks to the Web Team and Web Content Team and our Web Master. Check out our new information pages for students.
• Our reference processes continue to meet our constituent needs and – under the leadership of our Reference group led by Sylvia – we explore the best platforms for delivering virtual reference. Great work here as we strive to deliver to our patrons anywhere and anytime AND create a structure that is easy to use.
• Under the direction of the Web Team, a social media group was formed. LS launched three social media channels this fall -- Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Staff are invited to suggest post topics to the social media group by completing the online Social Media Suggestion Form.
• Don’t miss the Northridge celebration of Disability Awareness Month when Project Enable – NRG’s unique focus on enabling hardware and software technology - hosts two Open Houses spotlighting what is possible for all information seekers, researchers and students, faculty and staff. Join them on Thursday, October 25, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and October 26, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Northridge Campus Library. These two open houses will provide a general overview of Project Enable, an assistive technology zoo, and its resources as part of ACC Library Services. Participants:
  
  • Can explore a variety of assistive technology devices and tools useful for addressing research, information, and learning needs of community college students;
  • Will learn about assistive technology and related software and resources that comprise Project Enable;
  • Will experience - through hands-on use - how to use the devices and assistive technology available through Project Enable; and,
  • Will learn about advocacy for Universal Design and Learning in academic libraries and college classrooms.
  • >Come ready to play! Continuing education credits are available for Library Services participants!