College and Research Libraries The Learning Resource Center's Role in the Community College System Doris Cruger Dale Librarians in a community college system must accept the role of teacher if the library is to become an essential part of the college. The objectives of the library must include bibliographic instruction to provide students with the opportunity to master library skills. There are too many library-independent courses being taught in community colleges and too many dusty books on the shelves. Only if the librarian accepts a positive role as a teacher can this situation be turned around. et' s start with a basic question: Why is there a library in the community college? The an- swer is quite simple: tradition. Can anyone envision an academic institu- tion without a library? Universities have li- braries, four-year liberal arts colleges have libraries, high schools have libraries, and some elementary schools have libraries. The first public junior college still in ex- istence was organized in Joliet, Illinois, in 1901 as a two-year extension of Joliet Township High School; and the college students used the high school library. It was not until L. W. Smith's administra- tion from 1919 to 1928 that a separate col- lege library was established with Pauline Dillman as the first college librarian. 1 It was simply assumed that the college would have a separate library, and a li- brarian would be in charge. From this early beginning, community colleges de- veloped quickly, especially during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Community colleges offer m~ny oppor- tunities: (1) liberal arts and professional courses that can be transferred to other colleges and universities and applied to- ward a bachelor's degree; (2) technical and occupational courses leading to certif- icates and associate degrees in arts and ap- plied sciences; (3) special programs for adults who wish to expand their cultural and leisure experiences or earn a high school equivalency diploma; (4) profes- sional courses for persons improving their skills; (5) remedial courses to qualify stu- dents for other curricula; and (6) counsel- ing services. · These opportunities are spelled out in a variety of ways, but there are no state- ments about libraries or the need to learn library skills or reference strategies. Some- times that idea is expressed in such docu- ments as a list of library objectives or the book selection policy. It should be in- cluded and stressed, not only in the objec- tives of the college and the library, but also in the mission statement. The history of the community college li- brary or learning resource center as an in- structional service is traced by Gloria Terwilliger in the spring 1985 issue of Li- brary Trends, the first issue of that journal Doris Cruger Dale is Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Southern fllinois University, Carbondale, fllinois 62901. This is a revision of a paper originally presented at a faculty development workshop at the Jefferson Community College, Southwest Campus, Louisville, Kentucky, April16, 1987. 232 to be devoted to community college li- braries since October 1965-a twenty-year gap. Terwilliger uses the term learning re- source(s) center. In this article I will use the terms library and learning resource(s) center (LRC) interchangeably. The terminology is still in a state of flux. Many community colleges use the term library, and I visited one that called it a library LRC. The names learning resources, learning . resources center, learning center, and educational resources library center are also used, as are the terms instructional resources and instructional services. Library media cen- ter, which is used by many school li- braries, is also found. Richard Rowe sug- gested in American Libraries that librarians should now be called chief information of- ficers.2 The change of name is probably an attempt to indicate to the faculty and stu- dents that the role of library services in community colleges is changing, but it doesn't always work. The name ''Learn- ing Resources Center'' may be engraved in stone over the door, but the sign on the door reads "library hours." The recep- tionist may answer the phone ''LRC,'' but if you want to meet a friend, you say ''I'll meet you in the library.'' Terwilliger begins her history by men- tioning B. Lamar Johnson's experiments at Stephens College in Columbia, Mis- souri, when he tried to bring about a closer relationship between library and class- room. In the 1940s the forty-second year- book of the National Society for the Study of Education was written by a Committee on the Library in General Education. The statement was made that the library should be the resource center of the col- lege. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a tremendous growth in the number of comprehensive community colleges. Each had a learning resource center, al- though it was often built without consult- ing the librarians. In the 1970s, the LRCs became involved in instructional develop- ment and computer-assisted instruction. The 1972 ''Guidelines for Two-Year Col- lege Learning Resources Programs'' influ- enced the development of the LRCs. Terwilliger states: "Learning resources center systems, services and materials The Learning Resource 233 have been designed and structured as supports for achieving institutional in- structional objectives. " 3 In most of the statements about libraries or learning re- sources centers in community colleges the term support appears again and again. Most librarians would agree that the pri- mary task of any library in an educational institution is to provide materials and fa- cilities to carry out the instructional pro- gram of the school. The library must re- flect the basic purpose and philosophy of the community college. Harriet Genung in 1953 called the community college li- brary the ''heart of the college. ''4 This idea was further developed by Louis Shores when he outlined his library-college phi- losophy. The eoncept of the library- college as conceived by Shores was com- posed of two parts: (1) independent study by the student was to be the essence of the library-college, and (2) the sum total of hu- manity's community possibilities in all formats, levels, and subjects was to be provided to the student. 5 These are rather grandiose ideas, given current budget re- straints and the realities of the situation to- day. In a very perceptive article written in 1931, Edith Coulter listed the following three functions of the community college library: (1) teaching-students must learn how to discover information for them- selves and must become self-reliant li- brary users; (2) professional needs-some specialized materials must be provided for faculty members to keep up-to-date in their fields; and (3) community needs- the adults in the community must be pro- vided for (although the community col- lege library should not attempt to replace other information centers such as the pub- lic library); it should make available to the community specialized information not obtainable elsewhere. 6 The first function- teaching-is the most important, but it is not stressed enough. One way to examine the philosophy and goals of most community colleges is to ex- amine their catalogs, which also project the image of the school's library. In many instances the philosophy of the college is stated in broad terms with no concrete meaning for library services. For example, Lincoln Trail College 234 College & Research Libraries ''The first function-teaching-is the most important, but it is not stressed enough.'' belongs to the people whom it serves and who support it. The college strives to be responsive to individual and collective needs of its citizens. LTC seeks to meet the diverse educational needs of all the people in the geographical area it serves. Comprehensive programs are offered to meet the educational needs of the district by preparing students for a full participation and active involvement in their society. The college serves as a stimulus to raise the level of intellec- tual and cultural aspiration and achievement of the people in its area. Lincoln Trail College is committed to the pursuit of excellence in a con- text of concern for all. Lincoln Trail College is dedicated to provid- ing educational opportunities which will per- mit persons of all ages to enrich their lives and advance their careers to the limits of their de- sires and potential. Students are challenged to become competent in their area of study, to de- velop and exercise independent judgement which results in responsible citizenship, to think logically without bias and prejudice and to seek wisdom as well as pursue knowledge. 7 This is a tall order for any academic insti- tution. In a few instances, the objectives of the library are also listed in the college cat- alogs, although frequently the section de- voted to the library merely lists services and materials available. I developed a scale for evaluating the image of the library reflected in the college catalog. The highest possible score was six, computed as follows: one point if the library or learning resource center was mentioned in the table of contents, one point if either term was found in the in- dex, one point if the description of the li- brary was less than 225 words, two points if the description was more than 225 words, and two more points if the descrip- tion included information about services, staff, and especially the objectives and philosophy of the library. Of the twenty- nine college catalogs I examined, none achieved a score of six, and three scored zero. Seven scored five, one scored four, three scored three, eleven scored two, and May 1988 four scored one point. Two additional studies by Mari Ellen Leverence and Ro- land Person confirmed this dismal pic- ture.8 Very few catalogs spell out the specific objectives of the library. In the Rend Lake College catalog, the objectives of the LRC are only hinted at: "The Learning Re- source Center plays a vital role in the in- structional process of Rend Lake College. Students, faculty and other district resi- dents are encouraged to make full use of its facilities for study, research, leisure reading, class preparation and brows- ing.''9 Two questions emerge from this general study: (1) Is the LRC fulfilling its teaching function? (2) Is the LRC providing suffi- cient materials to meet curriculum re- quirements? The' literature on library ori- entation and instruction is very extensive. An annual conference on library orienta- tion is held each year at Eastern Michigan University (the first one was held on May 7, 1971). Tours alone are of little value, al- though librarians persist in giving them at the beginning of each academic year. Indi- vidual aid by the library staff is the most used and most expensive type of library orientation. Many librarians have told me that they are burned-out from desk duty during which they explain the use of the Readers' Guide over and over. Slide-tape presentations, videotapes, and other vi- sual means are used to reach large groups, but these must be kept up-to-date. Library instruction is often differenti- ated from orientation and is defined as a specific scheduled course for credit. These courses can range from one to three credits. I have found many course titles in various college catalogs: Library Skills, Use of Books and Libraries, Finding Infor- mation, Introduction to Research, Access to Information, Effective Use of Learning Resources, Enjoying American Maga- zines, and Audiovisual Materials and Equipment. Many libraries offer self- instruction courses and respond to stu- dents' questions via feedback bulletin boards. Librarians offer term-paper clinics when needed. Courses for faculty are fewer. One library maintains faculty pro- files on three-by-five cards that include in- dividual faculty pictures. Computer data- base management systems lend themselves to this type of analysis and could provide current information about new books and services to faculty. In planning a library instruction pro- gram in a community college, several questions must be answered: will the course be required or an elective, who will teach it and who will be taught, what will be taught, when will it be taught, where will it be taught, and how will it be taught? One successful library instruction course has evolved over several years at Earlham College. There are three basic principles in this program: integration, demonstration, and gradation. 1. The instruction is integrated, whenever pos- sible, into the course work in those courses re- quiring intensive use of the library. 2. A class period (or more) is set aside for one of the library staff to demonstrate the search for and use of library materials. Each student re- ceives an annotated bibliography which locates and describes the most important reference tools for that course and watches the librarian demonstrate the use of these sources by work- ing through a library search similar to what the student himself is facing. 3. The instruction is gradated-it builds on pre- vious instruction. 10 ''The greatest benefit of an effective program of library instruction is that it can bring the library into its right- ful position as an essential element in a college education." James Kennedy concludes ''the greatest benefit of an effective program of library instruction is that it can bring the library into its rightful position as an essential ele- ment in a college education. " 11 Although designed for a four-year liberal arts col- lege, this program has implications for community colleges, especially for their liberal arts courses. Before undertaking an elaborate library instruction program, a needs analysis sur- The Learning Resource 235 vey of both the students and the faculty should be done. A questionnaire designed to measure student opinion of library ori- entation and instruction can be distrib- uted. One such study by Elizabeth Badger revealed that 85% of the students planned to transfer to four-year colleges and 80% felt adequately prepared to use the com- munity college library. 12 To be the heart of the college-a goal universally desired-has not been univer- sally reached. One seminal study com- pleted in 1966 by Richard Hostrop de- serves more attention than it has received. 13 Hostrop researched library us- age at the College of the Desert In Califor- nia, studying the relationship of academic success and selected other factors to actual student use of library materials. A January 1966 inventory showed total holdings at 14,370. The library has a fully automated circulation control system. The study used the following data: (1) inter- views with all department chairs, (2) inter- views with students and faculty, (3) six different questionnaires, (4) three kinds of circulation records, and (5) student data. The study was limited to the circulation of printed library materials to students at- tending the college in the fall 1965 semes- ter. In a thirteen-week period, 413 full- time students (about one-third of the total full-time student body) made 3,385 with- drawals. Of these, 3,010 (88.92%) were course withdrawals and 375 (11.08%) were noncourse withdrawals. Of the course withdrawals, 400 (13.28%) were from the reserve collection and 2,610 (86.71%) were from the general collection. Of the 14,370 holdings, 2, 995 individual pieces were loaned 4,352 times. There- fore, 20.8% of the collection circulated once or more, and 79.2% of the collection never left the library. (With the advent of sophisticated circulation systems, these would be the books appearing on your "dusty-book" reports, those considered for withdrawal from the collection.) Full- time students made much greater use of the library than part-time students. An analysis of student characteristics sug- gested that (1) students who were older than the average age of the student popu- 236 College & Research Libraries lation were likely to be nonlibrary users; (2) females borrowed more library materi- als per capita than did males; (3) students who achieved greater scholastic success in college were more likely to be library us- ers; and (4) students who carried heavier semester unit loads were more likely to be library users. The student library user also lived at home, had a greater number of books in his home, and had a father with a higher socioeconomic status than the non- library user. About 18% of the students accounted for about half of the circulation. About half of the students accounted for almost 90% of the course withdrawals. Out of 161 courses investigated, 5 accounted for more than half (53.07%) of the course withdrawals and 40 courses accounted for 95.49% of the course withdrawals. The au- thor reported on interviews with the 9 in- structors whose courses generated high li- brary use, representing 23.68% of the 38 ful!-time instructors who taught graded classes during the period of the study. Hostrup interviewed 23 students who were heavy library borrowers, 14 students who were nonlibrary users but who still got A orB grades, and 5 full-time students whose fall semester grade point average was 4.00 (A). On the basis of these interviews and other data, the typical library user at the College of the Desert was likely to be fe- male, to withdraw books from the general collection, to spend much time in the li- brary, to have a native curiosity that prompted reading, to come from a higher socioeconomic stratum, and to live in a family home that contained many books, including paperbacks that the student had bought. In response to a four-question course survey form (with 100% return from the 38 full-time and 20 part-time instructors and an 83.8% return from the 419 full-time stu- dents), 121 graded courses were shown to be library independent-that is, both in- structors and students agreed that use of library materials was not notably or ex- tremely important in determining final course grades. These 121 graded classes represented 75.15% of all graded courses offered in the fall semester of 1965-66. An May1988 additional 28 classes or 17.39% were judged by a majority of the students but not the instructors to be library indepen- dent (for a total of 90.30%). In a student survey of library- instructional relationships, 2 factors out of 20 interfered with library use: (1) instruc- tors were not library oriented, and (2) there was too much noise in the library. In 12 of the 161 graded courses (7.45%) there was agreement by both instructors and students that the use of library materials was extremely important in determining final grades. Although the use of library materials was not very important for suc- cess in examinations, 10 (83.33%) of the 12 classes reported that use of library materi- als was very important in order to get a good grade on a term paper. The 12 library-dependent classes were taught by only 5 instructors. The students implied that motivation to use the library came from two sources: the instructors and the library staff. · ''Most courses stimulated little or no student use of library materials.'' Both hypotheses tested in this study were accepted by the researcher: (1) there are few student characteristics associated with the use of library materials, and (2) most courses stimulated little or no stu- dent use of library materials. This study points to the need for more precise and ac- curate circulation statistics from commu- nity college libraries. Hostrop recom- mends that (1) the library staff provide library-use instruction; (2) community col- lege libraries establish library committees; (3) library staff conduct in-service work- shops for new instructors, and (4) library- instructional objectives be established and implemented. A study of satellite learning centers of U.S. community colleges demonstrates how difficult it is to provide service to stu- dents at these centers. Of those colleges responding to the survey, 82% operated satellite learning centers, but 73% re- ceived no library support. 14 Various use studies have demonstrated that miles of books in many libraries are hardly ever used. 15 Although many stud-. ies used circulation records, Robert Broadus states that "use of materials in the building seems to be parallel and pro- portional to circulation.' ' 16 Recent materi- als are used most frequently, and most Americans do not use materials in lan- guages other than English. Some specific recommendations gleaned from field trips and research stud- ies include the following: 1. Examine your college catalog. What are the objectives of the college? Do they . include one relating to the mastery of li- brary skills to promote lifelong learning? Are the objectives of the library clearly stated? 2. Do a needs assessment, a user study, a study of circulation records, and a study of the use of materials in the library. Be- fore beginning any studies, read the docu- ment prepared by the Subcommittee on Use and User Studies, Collection Manage- ment and Development Committee of RTSD. This document provides a sum- mary of the methods available to deter- mine the extent to which books, journals, and other library materials are used. 17 3. Develop a three-credit library instruc- tion course, in-service workshops, term- paper clinics, and informal networks with faculty. Teaching Librarians to Teach, by Alice S. Clark and Kay F. Jones may be helpful. 18 4. Develop a good public relations pro- gram, good signs, a newsletter, and arti- cles in the school paper. You do not have a captive audience, as is often assumed in academic settings. You must win over both the students and the faculty. Get out from behind the desk, quit checking out books yourself, don't shelve books, and get involved in curriculum planning, in- structional design, faculty meetings, and informal networks. 5. Weed the dusty books, the books not The- Learning Resource 237 used, and quit trying to preserve the world's knowledge-it's impossible any- way; even the Library of Congress no longer tries to do it. Now that the com- puter can issue a "dusty book report" weeding is easier. 6. Investigate using technology to create connections between radio, television, video, and computers and library materi- als. ''Why Is This Library?'' a guest editorial in the fall1985 issue of Community & Junior College Libraries, prompted this article. 19 Perhaps the library is because of tradition, apathy, prestige. How can one be against apple pie, the American flag, and li- braries? But it is interesting that in a recent book on excellence in the community col- lege, not a single chapter is devoted to the library or the learning resource center. 20 Two paragraphs on communications mention the flow of information between both individuals and groups, but the li- brary is not included. 21 Nor is the library included in the Roueche-Baker Commu- nity College Excellence Model. 22 If excel- lence can be achieved without libraries, in- deed, why is there a library? Libraries must be accountable and must stand up and be counted. Public, school, and aca- demic libraries all compete for the same tax dollar. There is considerable duplica- tion, waste, and many dusty books. In his guest editorial, Harold Ettelt concludes: This library is because we recognize that no in- troduction to a field of knowledge is complete without instruction in how to proceed beyond that introduction on one's own. What the stu- dents learn today can never be all they will ever need to know. For most of their lives there will be no teacher present to fill those needs. The world is evolving, knowledge is expanding, and the best education we can provide students is the ability to cope with rapid change. It is the most important thing they can learn in the col- lege, and only the library can provide it. 23 Is your library providing it? REFERENCES AND NOTES 1. Joliet Junior College: Its Past-A Prologue for Its Future Goliet, ill.: Joliet Junior College, 1976). 238 College & Research Libraries May 1988 2. Richard R. Rowe, "You, the CIO: Can Librarians Make the Jump to 'Chief Information Officer'?" American Libraries 18:297 (Apr. 1987). 3. Gloria Terwilliger, "Forecasting the Future of Community College Learning Resources Centers," Library Trends 33:531 (Spring 1985). 4. Harriet Genung, "Heart of the College," Junior College Journal24:136-46 (Nov. 1953). 5. Louis Shores, "Library-College U.S.A.," ALA Bulletin 63:1547-53 (Dec. 1969). 6. Edith M. Coulter, "The Function of the Junior College Library," Junior College Journal1:481-86 (May 1931). 7. Lincoln Trail College Catalog, 1983-1985, p.12. College catalogs of community colleges in Illinois were used for these examples because they were readily available for my research. 8. Marl Ellen Leverence, ''Images of lliinois Junior College Libraries as Portrayed in the College Cata- logs" (M.S. research paper, Southern Illinois Univ.-Carbondale, 1974); and Roland Person, ''The Images of Illinois Junior College Libraries: A Replication and Comparison,'' Illinois Libraries 60:319-24 (Mar. 1978). 9. Rend Lake College (catalog), May 1986, p.31 . . 10. James R. Kennedy, "Integrated Library Instruction," Library Journal95:1450-53 (Apr. 15, 1970). 11. Ibid., p.1453. 12. Elizabeth Badger, "What Do Students Think of Library Orientation and Instruction?" (San Anto- nio, Tex.: Mt. San Antonio College, 1966), unpublished. 13. Richard Winfred Hostrop, "The Relationship of Academic Success and Selected Other Factors to Student Use of Library Materials at College of the Desert" (Ed. D. diss., Univ. of California, Los Angeles, 1966); published as Teaching and the Community College Library (Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String, 1968). 14. Claire J. Larsen, "Satellite Learning Centers: An Off-Campus Extension of Community College Services" (Ed.D. diss., Brigham Young Univ., 1974). 15. Robert N. Broadus, "Use Studies of Library Collections," Library Resources & Technical Seroices 24:317 (Fall1980). 16. Ibid., p.319. 17. Dorothy E. Christiansen, C. Roger Davis, and Jutta Reed-Scott, "Guide to Collection Evaluation through Use and User Studies," Library Resources & Technical Seroices 27:432-40 (Oct./Dec. 1983). 18. Alice S. Clark and Kay F. Jones, Teaching Librarians to Teach: On-the-Job Training for Bibliographic Instruction Librarians (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1986). 19. Harold J. Ettelt, "Why Is This Library?" Community & Junior College Libraries 4:1-2 (Fall 1985). 20. John E. Roueche and George A. Baker, Access & Excellence: The Open-Door College (Washington, D.C.: Community College Press, 1987). 21. Ibid., p.105. 22. Ibid., p.12. 23. Ettelt, p.2.