Approved-By:  GBELL@KENTVM.BITNET
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.libref-l
Date:         Thu, 23 Jul 1992 19:01:18 EDT
From:         Sara Sluss <SSLBB@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Reserve reading rooms
Comments: cc: Lynn Tinsley <lt0m+%ANDREW.CMU.EDU@CARNEGIE.BITNET>,
              Kristin <KMDBB@CUNYVM.BITNET>
              22 Jul 1992 09:42:42 EDT from <lt0m+%ANDREW.CMU.EDU@CARNEGIE>

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
On Wed, 22 Jul 1992 09:42:42 EDT Lynn Tinsley said:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>
>I am interested in hearing from the community any ideas/experiences
>with locating a Reserve Reading area outside of library buildings.
>A fantasy proposal could be to locate reserve materials in a student
>center facility.  Is anyone currently doing this?  If so, I would appreciate
>hearing from you.  All pointers appreciated.
>
>Lynn Tinsley
>Carnegie Mellon University


For a number of years and for pragmatic reasons (i.e. space and
history), our Reserve Reading Room was located in a building two blocks
away from the building which housed the Library.  There are a number of
problems with having this important service housed elsewhere.  First,
the staff was isolated from the rest of the library, which on a social
level was a negative and which reduced the opportunities for the reserve
staff to learn about new services and systems in the library proper.  It
also meant physically moving materials from one building to another in
cases where faculty requested that books in our circulating collection
be placed on reserve for the semester.  We were not able to staff the
Reserve Reading Room for the same hours as the Library.  The Reserve
Room was never open on Saturdays; consequently an obtuse method of
arranging for transfer of needed materials from one building to the
other _for weekend use only_ was developed.  When the Library expanded
its hours to Sundays and had special late hours during the final exam
period, once again, the Reserve Room was not open.  It was also
difficult for those students not yet well acquainted with the College to
understand that although Reserve was administratively part of the
library it was not physically located in the Library.  We often had lost
souls wandering into the Library in quest of Reserve materials and
generally they reacted with dismay when told they had to take the
elevator down six or seven floors and walk two blocks to another
building.  In spite of the fact that our space has not increased in the
interim, we have recently (January 1992) moved the Reserve services back
into the Library.  The problems of overcrowding that this move created
have been outweighed by the advantages of having Reserve physically in
the Library.  All of the problems with hours of access, staff isolation,
and movement of materials have been eliminated.  We did considerable
advertising (posters, letters to all faculty, news item in campus
newspaper) of the fact that we were moving this service so had few
complaints from students who were habituated to going to another
building.  We also benefitted from the opportunity to cross train staff
who are now working at the same location (we integrated our Current
Periodicals Service Desk with Reserve service so that both of these
closed collections are accessible at the same desk by the combined
staff).  It has provided an added benefit to our students who can make
one stop for all library services--to borrow books, to use reserve, to
consult with a reference librarian, to use indexes, etc.

Before you make such a move you should seriously consider whether or not
this is a real service to your users.  I am, unequivocally, an advocate
for centralized collections and services.  Splitting reserve may be a
convenience for some students but not all and you will be left with the
responsibility for staffing and maintaining a separate service point at
a time when many libraries are trying to find ways to work with
shrinking budgets.

Note:  We are in the final stages of designing a new library building.
In the new facility the Reserve Service Desk will be continguous with
the Circulation Desk.

Sara B. Sluss
Associate Librarian for Reader Services
Baruch College Library/CUNY
156 East 25th Street
New York, NY  10010
212-447-3902
sslbb@cunyvm.bitnet
sslbb@cunyvm.cuny.edu
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