We Thought You Might Want To Know

Thoughts from the Dean, Dr. Edward Owusu-Ansah

Dr. Edward Owusu-Ansah, Dean of Cheng Library

We thought you might want to know that Cheng Library has the third highest gate count in our eight-institution peer group. We thought you might want to know that we conduct more instructional sessions than all but one of our peers. And we thought you just might want to know what we are doing for you as you wonder what the answer might be to that quintessential question of whether or not you really need us anymore in this ‘Age of Google.’ We thought you might enjoy a little read about us and what we are doing to provide our users the information and knowledge they need to succeed academically and professionally, to support the University’s mission, and be a valuable resource to our broader community.

Let’s begin with a perspective that grounds all of what we do within a national and professional framework. The American Library Association’s State of America’s Libraries Report 2015 has this to say about libraries functioning within institutions of higher learning: “Academic libraries provide resources and services to support the learning, teaching, and research needs of students, faculty, and staff.” The report also mentions an area of growing importance: library spaces and their reconfigurations in response to institutional goals and user needs and preferences. These resources, services, and space considerations translate into concrete collections, collection related activities, instructional and other user services, and their enabling infrastructure. They allow the library to provide and enhance access and effective use of an increasing number of resources and dictate the nature, quality, and diversified use of library spaces.

Regarding the library’s collection, the current 347,501 volumes housed in Cheng Library remained steady for over a decade. The introduction of a major e-book package in 2012 changed significantly the available volumes by instantly adding over 128,000 electronic titles to our collection, which has grown by an average of 2000 titles every year since. This transition and growing reliance on electronic books to expand the collection and provide access to more content continues as the conversion to digital formats and growing dependence on access to content rather than ownership of materials presents libraries with new collection dynamics and opportunities. We are working diligently on expanding our e-book collections and providing more resources in electronic form. We are also expanding our archival collections and activities, embracing digitization of important institutional materials for posterity, and cultivating collaborations and consortia relationships that provide cost efficiencies and professional synergies. 

Cheng librarians and staff also do more than build and expand collections. They provide critical services to help faculty and students navigate the information and knowledge the library provides access to. Our librarians fielded over 14,500 reference questions in fiscal year 2014/2015 and are exploring 24/7 virtual reference so that library users can reach a live librarian conveniently and at any time.

Our instructional librarians worked with faculty and students to improve student information literacy and research skills, and empower lifelong learning. They conducted more than 300 instructional sessions and more than 50 workshops toward that objective, reaching 70 percent of our undergraduate, 26 percent of our graduate, and 84 percent of our first year students. They explored innovative delivery methods, assessed effectiveness of their instructional activities to inform improvements for better outcomes. Textbooks are an important fixture of university life. However, cost and library funding has curtailed the library’s ability to provide an extensive textbook collection for student use. So, to provide William Paterson University students with free access to textbooks the library has had to rely on copies submitted to it by WP faculty. We encourage classroom faculty to place print textbook copies on reserve to ensure a larger textbook collection to support our students. On the electronic side of things, there has been more success. Access to electronic reserve materials continues to grow. New submissions by faculty for electronic reserves increased by 50% in 2014/2015 over the previous fiscal year and searches on the E-Reserves homepage and access to its reserve documents were up an impressive 160%.

Actual use of library resources and services remains stellar. While circulation of print materials is down, overall circulation figures are up, likely due to use of e-books, streaming video, and reserve materials. Our gate count, a traditional measure of library/building usage, remains high at 405,732 in 2014/2015. The numbers have persistently stayed above 400,000 for the past 13 years, a testament to the importance of Cheng Library to its users. Demand for library study rooms remains high as demonstrated by use data. Plans are underway for increasing the number of study rooms.  Laptops available in the library for loaning continue to be very popular, with their circulation reaching a total of 25,441 in 2014/2015, which represented a 158% increase over fiscal year 2013/2014. Each laptop circulated over 900 times.

There you have it in a nutshell; many of the focused ways in which your library provided vital resources and services and responded to institutional needs in the 2014/2015 year. That service continues with an ongoing attention to efficiency and effectiveness in the spirit of maintaining our relevance to your success and intellectual growth. To ensure that, the library conducts regular surveys and studies to gauge user interests, preferences, satisfaction. It communicates its findings, plans, services, and resources through the library webpage, its main portal, and periodically through its newsletter, Connections. Going forward, we hope to be able to improve our operational efficiencies, enhance our services and resources in response to university and community needs. We will strive to achieve better balance in our collections, continue to support faculty research, publication, and teaching. We will work diligently on improving user education to enhance student information literacy. We will redesign library spaces, improve communication with our user community, and provide more seamless access to our resources to better facilitate their anytime-anywhere use.  These actions and aspirations are in line with the University’s mission and aligned with Cheng Library’s strategic goals.  We look forward to achieving them with you. ?

May 31, 2016