Evaluation of Reference Services in the Library Learning Commons

 “We may appreciate the qualities of an antique ... but increasingly most of us choose to use the more modern version of things in daily life.” - Layla McCay 

Eight years ago, columnist Rafael Behr wrote in an opinion piece for The Guardian, “We can’t embrace the future if we’re longing for the past.” Now, I have no idea what he wrote in the rest of the piece, if it has anything to do with libraries, or whether I even agree with his other opinions, but I thought that this was a particularly apt description of the state of reference services in the school library learning commons (LLC).

 

My LLC is a bustling hub of the school, with students flocking there everyday to socialize, play games, and find their next favourite book; busyness aside, the LLC is sorely lacking in one key area. You guessed it – reference services.

 

The State of the Collection

Don’t be fooled by my use of the word “lacking” – the non-fiction collection currently boasts over 5500 texts. Unfortunately, the average age of the collection is 16 years old, with nearly 100 titles alone being over 30 years old. Very few subject areas will remain the same for ten years, let alone thirty. Riedling states that any books dealing with science or technology should be replaced at least every 5 years, and that many texts on psychology, history, business or education should be let go after 10 years. In the breakdown of my school’s nonfiction collection by the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) it can clearly be seen that these disciplines are significantly outdated and that serious work needs to be done.

Riedling also states that print encyclopedias should be replaced every five years as well, but for better or for worse, my LLC has a very small collection of encyclopedias, and most of them are not on the main library floor. Those easily accessible by all patrons are our collection of Indigenous Peoples Atlases; all others are science based encyclopedias that are at least fifteen years old and should really be discarded.

 

We are fortunate to have access to 23 online databases, including those from EBSCO and World Book. Our school district provides the subscription to them, which means that while my school is not obligated to pay any subscription fees out of our budget, we also don’t have access to any usage data. I am confident though that not much use is made of them by staff or students, and I suspect that this is likely due to a lack of awareness that they’re an option.

 

So What Needs to Be Done?

It goes without saying that the reference services sorely need improvement in my LLC. The print resources do not meet Riedling’s standards for currency and are in dire need of a thorough weeding and intentional replenishing. The clearest indication that a change needs to be made though is the obvious lack of use of the LLC reference services, of which there are many factors (as seen in the graphic below).

 

A colleague of mine has apologized several times this year, saying “I always forget about you and the LLC as a resource!” She’s not alone – three years of pandemic teaching has profoundly impacted our teaching habits. In trying our best to adhere to health protocols and prevent any Covid-19 transmission, many of us ended up staying in our classrooms to avoid any chance of disease spread. As a result, many have fallen out of the habit of making use of outside resources like the library. The dated materials and challenges in finding the “good books” on the shelves are also factors in the lack of use of reference services, as well as a lack of awareness of the resources and possibilities that exist.

 

Making a Change

 

In creating a plan to improve the reference services in the LLC, I am taking a two-pronged approach – one for our print resources, and one for our digital resources.

Improving the Print Resources

Year 1

• How the Change Will Take Place:
• I will devote 2 – 3 blocks per week (out of 25 blocks) to weeding the non-fiction collection
• Who Will Be Involved:
• When necessary, I will involve colleagues of mine who are more familiar with subject matter to see if there are any texts I’ve selected to weed that should be kept – these will likely be from a “Maybe” pile.
• Ultimately, as the TL I have the final say and responsibility in what ends up being weeded due to my specific understanding of collection management.
• How Will I Communicate Changes:
• In staff meetings I will provide updates on the library with statistics. I will also make use of weeding rubrics, an idea I discovered from Jessica Jevanord

Year 2

• How the Change Will Take Place & Who Will Be Involved:

1. At the end of the current school year, I will send out an online survey to classroom teachers to find out what topics and units they covered with their students.
2. I will use Titlewave Analysis and data collected via weeding to see which subject areas of the LLC need new texts.
3. I will begin to curate a wishlist of books that match the topics mentioned through the data collected in points 1 and 2.

• Communicating the Change
• Once I have purchased new resources I will reach out to the specific subject area and/or grade level teachers whose curricula matches the acquired resources.

 

Improving the Digital Resources

Year 1:

In each staff meeting I am given time to speak to the staff about library business. In the three remaining staff meetings this year, I will use at least two of them to show how teachers can access the library catalog system themselves, and how to access the district databases.

 

Year 2:

1. At the beginning of the year I will email staff to begin the collaboration process. I will ask them to choose a unit of study they have planned for the year, and to select a time in the year (Term 1, 2, or 3) in which they hope to work through that unit.
2. This will allow me to create a planning schedule to collaborate with the teachers at my school. I will be able to work 1-on-1 with more of my staff which will not only help me promote the resources we have, but it will also provide me with feedback about what types of resources are missing.

 

Determining Success

Theoretically, it will be straightforward to measure the improvements made to the reference services because there is significant access to data. Through numbers I will be able to tell:

• the average age of the non-fiction collection
• the number of titles weeded
• the number of new texts purchased
• the number of teachers I’ve been able to work directly with

 

Admittedly, numbers do not always tell the full story, but I am confident that between the numbers and the anecdotal feedback I’ll receive from staff and students I will be able to gauge whether any improvement has been made. Time will tell!

References:

Behr, Rafael. “We Can’t Embrace the Future if We’re Longing for the Past.” The Guardian, 14 Feb. 2018, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/23/embrace-future-longing-past-nostalgia-memories.

Jevanord, Jessica. “Weeding Library Books: A Brilliant Strategy.” Library Learners, by Cari White, 13 Apr. 2021, librarylearners.com/weeding-library-books.

McCay, Layla. “Why We Should Let Go of Nostalgia and Embrace the Evolution of Libraries.” HuffPost, 23 Jan. 2014, www.huffpost.com/entry/why-we-should-let-go-of-n_b_3975806.

Riedling, Ann Marlow. Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist: Tools and Tips. Amsterdam, Netherlands, Adfo Books, 2005.