Departmental Libraries: Aligning and Positioning at the Intersection of Collections and Services

Abstract

In the past few years, we have seen many large universities pare down the number of departmental libraries on their campuses. With the proliferation of secure digital archives and a seemingly ubiquitous lack of space on campuses, libraries are abandoning departmental libraries in favor of electronic access to resources and centralized reference services. And while these decisions make very good sense from a collections standpoint, they might be short sighted from a service or use standpoint.

Focusing on Labor and Business Libraries, the speakers will address what is happening in departmental libraries in general, but also more specifically about the restructuring that has taken place at both Cornell University (School of Industrial and Labor Relations Library & the Management Library) and the University of Michigan (Kresge Business Administration Library) and how they are utilizing the library staff to reach out and create a different purpose and relationship with the departments. The speakers will talk about the role of their departmental libraries, relations to the department/community they serve, and the role of service in keeping their operations used and viable. Their goal is to show how two leading universities (Cornell and Michigan) are utilizing departmental libraries to better connect with these students and faculty in ways that are not entirely possible via a central library.

Audience members will be asked to share their experiences with departmental libraries, liaison relationships, and about what type of library support they had when they attended library school – when specialized service might have been useful. This will provide a strong context for the exploration of the role, function and opportunities that these libraries can serve in the current age of electronic resources.