Mainstreaming Media: Innovating Media Collections at the NCSU Libraries

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) predicates its "Guidelines for Media Resources in Academic Libraries" on assumptions that general principles of collection management and library service apply equally to media formats (http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/mediaresources.cfm). Yet, implicit in ACRL's Guidelines is the additional (and perhaps contradictory) assumption that, to be effective, academic library media collections and services must form a separately administered "program," headed by a single librarian. At The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries, we have instead chosen to administer our many media collections and services using the same structures we use for those of other formats, interweaving media into the very fabric of the NCSU Libraries' collections and services. While they sometimes pose particular challenges, media are increasingly present and significant in our collections, and "mainstreaming" them – dealing with them as a holistic part of our already diverse portfolio of formats – has meant tremendous benefits for budget, workflow and user experience. As the unofficial "coordinator" of media collections for a decade (one of many hats!), I offer a quick review of our many collections and service points, including: a "media center" that is now integrated into the library's main circulation desk, an open-shelf circulating DVD collection, video game collections, and a vast and growing collection of online films (both vendorand library-hosted, and many of which are not owned anywhere else in streaming format). Our media collections and approaches to providing them are equally forward-thinking. I am and I am not a media librarian. At The NCSU Libraries, we do not have a dedicated media librarian, as do probably most of our research library peers. Instead, we have chosen to thoroughly integrate media collections and services into the core of what we do, offering videos as just other formats through which information is found and delivered. Our subject selectors are our media selectors, and we do not budget separately for media by format, any more than we would budget separately for hardcover versus paperback books. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) predicates its "Guidelines for Media Resources in Academic Libraries" on assumptions that general principles of collection management and library service apply equally to media formats. Yet, implicit in ACRL's Guidelines is the additional (and perhaps contradictory) assumption that, to be effective, academic library media collections and services must form a separately administered "program," headed by a single librarian. It is certainly important to have staff who are knowledgeable and attentive to special issues surrounding video formats, and who communicate with each other well. I am the unofficial "coordinator" of media collections, and my colleague Tripp Reade, Interim Associate Head of Access & Delivery Services, coordinates the more public services end of things. Each of us brings particular ideas and expertise coming from our respective collections and access services perspectives. For many years, we still devoted physical space to a separate media center, with a service desk manned by support staff and students, but fiscal realities, space needs, and the desire to improve services led us to dismantle it. For example, our main library stayed open 24 hours, but media services were available only until 10pm each evening. We have been able to convert the old media center spaces into a very nice lounge, study area, and reserve-able tutoring room. The video collection itself now largely lives as a Teaching Collection, physically located behind our main circulation desk. Fulfilling our core historic mission with regard to video, the main goal of the Teaching Collection is to support course-related teaching needs. To help keep DVDs in working order and available for classroom use, circulation continues to be somewhat limited. We've retained the same circulation policies as before for instructors,