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The mission of the Sweet Briar College Library is to support the
College's stated mission by maintaining a quality collection of
materials and offering those services which further the purpose
and mission of the College as a whole. The overriding goal of this
mission is to meet the present and future information needs of the
Sweet Briar student. The centrality of the library to the educational
mission of the College must be understood and supported by those
responsible for the allocation of instructional and educational
support services resources.
The nature of
the environment, the specific needs of undergraduates and graduate
students, and the kinds of staff and services required to effectively
meet those needs are more fully described in the following paragraphs.
Environment
The Sweet Briar
College Library system consists of a main library building, the
Mary Helen Cochran Library, and three other facilities libraries:
the Martin C. Shallenberger Book Arts Library and Fergus Reid College
Archives, the Junius P. Fishburn Music Library and the Wick Closed
Stack building. Specialized services are provided for those doing
research, such as computerized searching of commercial resource
data bases and extensive on-line database access. The staff members
are selected for their ability to provide appropriate reference
services, to organize complex collections, and to select those materials
needed in an academic library and the Sweet Briar graduate program.
In-depth subject knowledge and managerial skills are highly desirable.
Users
The primary users of the Sweet Briar College Libraries are the
students. The library staff acknowledges and even expects from the
students varying levels of experience and ability in using libraries. As
a group most first-year students share the following characteristics:
- They do
not yet have the sophisticated research skills needed to exploit
the library's potential.
- They are
intimidated by the complexity and size of a distributed library
system.
- They are
often reluctant to ask for assistance in the use of a library.
- They are
unaware of the many services and resources which are available
in academic libraries.
The needs of
academic library users are on a spectrum, with study space, instruction
in basic research tools, and reserve books at one end, and primary
source materials and special bibliographic services at the other
end. The concentration on the needs of the student is at the former
end of the spectrum and the Sweet Briar College Library focuses
on serving these needs.
Other users of the Sweet Briar College Libraries include Sweet Briar
faculty members, staff and other recognized members of the Sweet Briar
community; students of Randolph College, Lynchburg College
and Washington & Lee University; local high school honor students;
Fellows of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Friends of the
Sweet Briar College Library. The Library is open to anyone to use its
materials in-house.
Information services
A library with
a collection of the size and nature required to meet undergraduate
and some graduate needs is not always easy to use. The identification
of materials wanted is often confusing and may be incomprehensible
until the user is actually shown how the system works. Teaching
students how to use a library is therefore a basic service provided
by the staff of the Sweet Briar College Libraries. The teaching
programs offered are varied. They include teaching by personal contact
and through the preparation of printed and other materials. They
include formal group instruction and informal, unstructured contacts
with students. The programs, in general, include three types of
activities: reference and referral, orientation, and formal instruction.
Reference encounters
with students often result not only in answering specific questions,
but also in personalized instruction in the methods of identifying
and retrieving library materials. Supplemental to this personal
contact is the provision of bibliographies, booklists, and other
aids designed to introduce students to the materials available in
the library and electronically and to guide them in finding the
materials. The reference service provided by Sweet Briar librarians
is also a referral service to the wide variety of resources in the
library system and throughout the world. Referrals may also assist
an students in becoming aware of community libraries and information
centers. To this end, the Library maintains cooperative agreements
with other area libraries through active participation in the Lynchburg
Area Library Cooperative, the Virtual Library of Virginia, the Southeastern
Library Network and other groups. Referrals also direct students
to personal supportive services, including academic, financial,
health and counseling services.
Orientation activities acquaint students with the facilities and
services of the Libraries. Maps and informational materials that
describe the library system and the resources and services of the
individual components within it are distributed; and staff-conducted
tours are offered for various groups. Orientation also includes public
relations activities that help students become aware of the services and
resources of the Libraries.
The goal of the information literacy instruction program is to improve
the ability of students to make effective use of the library
collections, services, and staff. Instruction is offered not only as
part of coursework in academic classes or interdisciplinary programs,
but also in separate courses on library skills, in workshops and
term-paper clinics, and through point-of-use aids in the library and via
the web.
Reference service,
bibliographic instruction, and orientation activities are appropriate
for all levels and types of library users. The Sweet Briar College
Library focuses on two problems that are particularly common to
students -- finding the materials they need, and knowing when to
ask for help and having the confidence to do so. Sweet Briar College
libraries provide a laboratory in which to teach students how to
use a library. The experience of using the campus library is preparation
for using all libraries; preparation not merely for graduate work
and research, but also for learning to use information sources that
will be needed by students for the rest of their lives as citizens,
as consumers, in their professions, and for their recreational interests.
Graduate work builds on that experience.
Staff
The staff of a library must have certain abilities in addition to their
information-seeking skills. The ability to interact on a one-to-one
basis with a diverse clientele is essential. Staff are expected to be
able to design and implement instructional programs that meet varied
user needs. In addition, they must interact with faculty in promoting
effective use of library resources in relation to classroom activities.
The ability to cooperate with staff of other libraries and resource
centers is also needed.
The staff of an academic library must have an understanding of the
pressures of campus life and a concern for students needs and problems.
The library staff should treat students with respect, make them feel
comfortable in the library, and encourage them to ask for help. Only
this personal interaction with students will humanize their library
contacts, open paths of communication for their growth in using
libraries, and increase their respect for libraries.
Study facilities
The environment of the Sweet Briar College Libraries encourages the use
of the library and its resources. The extensive hours of operation
attempt to accommodate a reasonably broad range of student requirements
based on class times, work commitments, and varied social habits. Many
students live in environments which are not conducive to study; others
simply prefer to study at a library. The Sweet Briar College Libraries
aim to provide sufficient study spaces, based on the size of the student
population, in a variety of seating to accommodate students' needs and
habits, e.g., quiet study of own materials, study with access to library
resources, limited group study, and informal interaction.
Development
As the college curriculum changes, so must library service. The Sweet
Briar College Libraries are recognized as being innovative and
experimental, alert to changing needs, and open to adopting
non-traditional library methodology, within resource limitations.
Current areas of development include the following:
- Continuing
exploration of effective use of library materials in support of
classroom teaching.
- Expanding programs of information literacy and electronic
resource instruction.
- Service
to special groups, e.g., international students, Turning Point
students and local high school students.
- Integration of new and/or advanced technologies as appropriate.
- Cooperative
programs with other campus units, such as tutoring and counseling
services.
Developments
in some of these areas may be at the library system level rather
than exclusively within a single library facility. However, it is
the responsibility of the Sweet Briar College Library staff to shape
these developments to meet the needs of students and their academic
programs.
Revision
5 Adopted by the Sweet Briar College Libraries on April 12, 1988.
Adopted by the Faculty Advisory Board on May 3, 1988.
Reaffirmed 5 April 1990
Revised and Updated May 1, 2005
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