Outside of the lapse in logic there - if you have overdue fines, clearly you have found something you consider worth checking out & keeping long enough to have overdue fines - there is a larger issue. Is our library's collection adequate to meet student needs?
Well, in a word, yes!
Before I explain why, let me state that I first and foremost consider myself a library user. I have since the age of four, and since I have had my own library card (age seven) I have checked out books: many and consistently throughout my life. I grew up with Daniel Boone Regional Library, which is one of the most user-friendly library systems of its size I've become aquainted with. It was culture shock to drop into a town that does not bother to support the Public Library. Every change I make in my library department's policy and suggestions I make in policy for the library as a whole, start from the statement 'As a user, I expect: ____'. I am an opinionated individual, so I certainly call foul when I see something that needs to be improved.
The collection is not complete - and it never will be. That's why we have budgets to continue to add items to the collection. But I believe it is generally adequate. Why?
- Personal Experience. I help students every day find the information that they were looking for. It may be in an article when they thought they were looking for a book, it may be in a reference book when they thought they were looking for an article, but they find the information they need for their project and they go away thanking me. There are occasions, typically when time is a factor although not always, when this isn't possible. But they are far less frequent than the first scenario. Come ask if you haven't found what you need, and there's a good chance we'll find it. (That said, Jesus may have been able to turn water into wine, but I cannot turn a blank page into a research paper, so be sure to give yourself, and me, time to complete your research. I'm not a miracle worker!)
- Our consortium catalog. Have you tried it? You might like it. You're talking to a person who will have a minimum of 20 books checked out at one time. (And it should be noted that typically anywhere from 25-50% of them are locally owned items). You have a huge number of library collections available to you at the touch of a button. And before you say it's the size of our library that means you need books from other libraries, think again. When I attended the University of Missouri they had a similar system. Although I had millions of volumes at my fingertips, the books I needed were often pulled from small, private, religious affiliated institutions, much like our own, elsewhere in the state. The number of books we send out to other libraries tells me that I am not alone in that experience.
- Our Library. Perhaps you don't really want one more book on the shelf. Perhaps what you really want, is a new library. Protesting? Research studies show that user perception of collection quality is directly effected by the building the collection is housed in. So before you complain in a general way about the library never having what you need, think about that. If you think you need a new library building, talk about it. Talk often and talk loud and talk to the people who can make it happen. Maybe it will.
Finally, if you want to complain in a specific way (actual book titles, actual subject areas) about the library not having what you need, complain to the people who can do something about it. Tell me, or one of the other librarians, what you need, what you can't find. This doesn't guarantee that it can be added immediately, but it does let us know deficiencies. Sometimes we're already aware of them and are working on correcting them, sometimes we aren't in which case you telling us will be very helpful indeed.
