66 · Survey Results: Survey Questions And Responses
Challenge 1
N=39
Challenge 2
N=31
Challenge 3
N=19
Staffing and training volunteers for
the Family History Center. Balancing
needs of both student and community
patrons.
Allocating sufficient digital storage
space to accommodate the growing
number of publications added to the
digital family history collection.
Staffing for exhibits that support the
various lectures and events associated
with public engagement programs.
Time: small staff is stretched to provide
service to campus community.
Funding: priority is given to library
services for campus community.
Time, staff, and money Little support for such activities without
assessment, which the library has
neither time nor money to conduct.
Time and resources
Time demands: Because almost all
public programs are taken on as part
of service to the library or institution,
they are done in addition to everything
that is part of a librarian’s primary
assignment. Most of the engagement
programs we are involved in require a
great deal of time to ensure that the
programs are successful. In addition to
the demands it places on the librarian
or librarians directly involved, we are so
leanly staffed that it also impacts our
departments.
Collaborative partnerships: Are
inherently challenging because all
entities have their own expectations
in regard to things such as publicity,
staffing the programs, sharing feedback
from program participants, etc. This can
be especially difficult when working
with new partners or when multiple
partners are involved.
Assessment: We would love to be able
to see how the library is impacting
(or not) responses to engagement
questions on such instruments as
NSSE, GSSE, or CIRP. Additionally, there
are requirements from some national
agencies that mandate the use of
certain forms in evaluating the program
but the questions asked may not
address local needs.
Time is always a critical issue, and
it is difficult to set aside time to get
community involvement, create a
program, publicize it, oversee and
evaluate it. When public engagement is
not specifically a part of our evaluation,
other services take priority over it.
The Heard Library has few locations
where we can hold sizable events. We
need an auditorium. When we hold an
event, we must book another space on
or off campus.
Booking spaces adds to the cost of
public engagement activities. During
economically uncertain times, we must
be creative to find ways to share costs
in order to provide such activities.
We are challenged to serve our primary
clientele — our faculty, staff, and
students — who have increasing
expectations from us. There isn’t t a lot
of energy to spare.
In this era of declining fiscal resources,
outreach has been identified as an
expensive commodity. The University’s
Strategic Plan raises issues about
increased cost recovery from outreach
initiatives.
We must be careful not to raise
unrealistic expectations of what we can
deliver to the community or on a state
level. Universities can no longer be
everything to everyone, and the state
library has been hit with a 50% budget
cut for fiscal year 2009/2010.
Challenge 1
N=39
Challenge 2
N=31
Challenge 3
N=19
Staffing and training volunteers for
the Family History Center. Balancing
needs of both student and community
patrons.
Allocating sufficient digital storage
space to accommodate the growing
number of publications added to the
digital family history collection.
Staffing for exhibits that support the
various lectures and events associated
with public engagement programs.
Time: small staff is stretched to provide
service to campus community.
Funding: priority is given to library
services for campus community.
Time, staff, and money Little support for such activities without
assessment, which the library has
neither time nor money to conduct.
Time and resources
Time demands: Because almost all
public programs are taken on as part
of service to the library or institution,
they are done in addition to everything
that is part of a librarian’s primary
assignment. Most of the engagement
programs we are involved in require a
great deal of time to ensure that the
programs are successful. In addition to
the demands it places on the librarian
or librarians directly involved, we are so
leanly staffed that it also impacts our
departments.
Collaborative partnerships: Are
inherently challenging because all
entities have their own expectations
in regard to things such as publicity,
staffing the programs, sharing feedback
from program participants, etc. This can
be especially difficult when working
with new partners or when multiple
partners are involved.
Assessment: We would love to be able
to see how the library is impacting
(or not) responses to engagement
questions on such instruments as
NSSE, GSSE, or CIRP. Additionally, there
are requirements from some national
agencies that mandate the use of
certain forms in evaluating the program
but the questions asked may not
address local needs.
Time is always a critical issue, and
it is difficult to set aside time to get
community involvement, create a
program, publicize it, oversee and
evaluate it. When public engagement is
not specifically a part of our evaluation,
other services take priority over it.
The Heard Library has few locations
where we can hold sizable events. We
need an auditorium. When we hold an
event, we must book another space on
or off campus.
Booking spaces adds to the cost of
public engagement activities. During
economically uncertain times, we must
be creative to find ways to share costs
in order to provide such activities.
We are challenged to serve our primary
clientele — our faculty, staff, and
students — who have increasing
expectations from us. There isn’t t a lot
of energy to spare.
In this era of declining fiscal resources,
outreach has been identified as an
expensive commodity. The University’s
Strategic Plan raises issues about
increased cost recovery from outreach
initiatives.
We must be careful not to raise
unrealistic expectations of what we can
deliver to the community or on a state
level. Universities can no longer be
everything to everyone, and the state
library has been hit with a 50% budget
cut for fiscal year 2009/2010.
