by Pearl Ly, College of Marin (formerly Pasadena City College)

The ALA Summit on the Future of Libraries was held May 2-3, 2014 at the Library of Congress in the nation’s capital. I had the opportunity to participate in this summit with about 80 other library and related professions to imagine the future and prepare for the launch of the ALA Center on the Future of Libraries. This is a brief write-up sharing about my experience and some of my take-aways.

To challenge participants and start discussions, summit speakers included:
•    James Billington - Librarian of Congress since 1987
•    Stephen Dubner - journalist and author/podcast of Freakonomics
•    Thomas Frey - executive director of the Da Vinci Institute
•    Joel Garreau - Professor of Law, Culture, and Values at Arizona State University
•    Dr. Renu Khator - Chancellor/President of University of Houston
•    Joan Frye Williams - librarian, consultant, trainer of library services

At our arrival, we were asked to write two short words (or a short phrase) that reflected our perception of the future of libraries and attach them on ribbons to our name badges. We had the opportunity to change or add words throughout the conference. After asking the Pasadena City College staff what they thought, I choose the words, “community” and “knowledge.” After each speaker, we completed personal reflections and participated in table discussions. It was intimidating to share my thoughts with past, current, and future ALA Presidents and other well-known library figures but everyone was very gracious and my contributions were appreciated.

Two of the speakers really resonated with me. Stephen Dubner spoke at length about changing our own thinking as a way to change libraries. Dubner shared his observation that the hardest three words to say were “I don’t know” and that we often fake it or bluff. Instead, he argued that we should admit what we don’t know and work hard to get data by asking different questions. Limiting assumption-based decision making really resonated with me and I added “I don’t know” to my name badge. Dubner also spoke about the need, in addition to evidence, to tell stories in order to persuade people that don’t want to be persuaded. Stories are compelling and we remember them. As a library advocate in an environment of scarce resources and accountability, I want to work on my storytelling skills and ability to be a more effective leader.

The other speaker that sparked ideas for me was Dr. Renu Khator, Chancellor/President of University of Houston. Dr. Khator spoke about the global and technology trends in higher education as well as the need for universities and libraries to collaborate on issues together. She argued that “we can’t serve today’s learners with yesterday’s tools and expect to be in business tomorrow.” When applying this to libraries, Dr. Khator challenged us to focus on experiences and communities of learners instead of books. Furthermore, she argued that libraries should be flexible, open, and prepared for continuous innovation as a culture. After the Dr. Khator’s dynamic and passionate talk, I added “experiences” to my name badge. Changing organizational culture is difficult and I need to share with my library colleagues the sense of urgency that is needed for libraries to be integral to today’s learners and connected to our college mission and goals.

It was an honor to be an active participant in this national discussion on the future of libraries. A sense of urgency for change was clearly present during the summit and I look forward to the development of the Center for the Future of Libraries. As we think about the future, ALA President Barbara Stripling spoke about the need for librarians to have “grit,” a combination of perseverance and passion. I added “grit” as my last word about the future of libraries as we will need to be resilient and optimistic in our dynamic and challenging environment.

Here are additional resources about the summit you may be interested:
•    ALA Press Release
•    Summit Participant List and Agenda
•    American Libraries - Day 1, Day 2
•    Interview with Participant, Dr. Cindy Miles, Chancellor at Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College
•    Twitter - #libfuturesummit
There were a lot of ideas and rich discussion packed into a short amount of time. I will be reflecting further and speaking on the ALA President’s panel on the Future of Libraries at the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Hope to see you there or I am happy to chat with you individually about the summit.

Reported by Dan Crump

Open Education Resources (OER)

The Open Education Resources Council (created by SB 1052 and 1053, passed in the last legislative session) have selected the five courses for which affordable, open source textbooks and related materials will be identified or developed.

The first five courses are:

• Introduction to Statistics (C-ID number of MATH110)
• Introduction to Chemistry (CHEM 110)
• Principles of Microeconomics  (ECON 201)
• Public Speaking (COMM 110)
• US History to1877 (HIST 130)

Grants Initiatives

Online Education Initiative (OEI)--- http://ccconlineed.org

Common Assessment Initiative (CAI)--- http://cccassess.org

Educational Planning Initiative--- http://cccedplan.org

Adult Education---subscribe to the newsletter for AB 86 information--- http://ab86.cccco.edu/Home.aspx

ASCCC Spring Session

LIBRARY AND LEARNING RESOURCES ADVISORY COMMITTEE (LLRAC)---reported by Dan Crump

We had a meeting via conference call on April 14.

Annual Data Survey---we are working with CCL (OK, they are doing 99% of the work) to have data available for all years and all colleges.

The Student Engagement Survey was also discussed.  Please read the following information from LeBaron Woodyard in the Chancellor’s Office.  The time for the webinar mentioned in the email has passed, but you can access in the CCC Confer archives (www.cccconfer.org).  Also, contact LeBaron (lwoodyar@cccco.edu or 916/445-1780) if you are interested in having your college participate in the Survey.

The second part of the draft Framework for Information Literacy is available for review.  The second part included two additional threshold concepts.  The Web page “Towards an Expanded Draft” was posted on April 22, 2014 and can be found here:
http://acrl.ala.org/ilstandards/?page_id=133  The June version will contain additional threshold concepts and an executive summary.

Additionally,
The Information Literacy Task Group has had some valuable feedback from community college librarians. We greatly appreciate the input. I have done a short post relating the new Information Literacy Framework and some of the discussions relating to community college libraries. You will find this here.
http://tametheweb.com/2014/05/05/using-the-new-il-framework-to-set-a-research-agenda-by-ttw-contributor-troy-swanson/

We hope that you will continue to be involved. Our target is to have an updated draft before ALA Annual.
[From a CJC-L posting by Troy A. Swanson, Moraine Valley Community College]

in College and Research Libraries May 2014 http://crl.acrl.org/content/75/3/272.full.pdf+html This article has value for librarians working on accreditation and / or justification on campus with respect to Student Success and Information Literacy.

Abstract: The University of West Georgia’s Ingram Library has offered a fifteen-week two-hour credit course since 1998. In a longitudinal study covering twelve years, the library analyzed the progression and graduation rates of more than fifteen thousand students. Students who took the class during their undergraduate career were found to graduate at much higher rates than students who never took the class. The library examined students’ high school GPAs and aptitude test scores but were unable to account for the increase through any difference in pre-collegiate achievement.

by Marc Parry In The Chronicle of Higher Education April 21, 2014 complete article at: http://goo.gl/hnbCdY  

“Many professors and students gravitate to Google as a gateway to research. Libraries want to offer them a comparably simple and broad experience for searching academic content. As a result, a major change is under way in how libraries organize information. Instead of bewildering users with a bevy of specialized databases—books here, articles there—many libraries are bulldozing their digital silos. They now offer one-stop search boxes that comb entire collections, Google style. That’s the ideal, anyway. The reality is turning out to be messier.”

May 3, 2014   Contributed by Elizabeth Bowman, Santa Barbara City College

Thirty-three California community college librarians gathered on May 3rd at  Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) to share expertise, discuss, and present about issues of shared concern.

It was a delightful, invigorating, valuable day for attendees.

This is the 2nd unconference SBCC has hosted. In 2013, Canada College hosted an unconference for community college librarians with a focus on Basic Skills students.

The agenda for the day can be found here, and it included roundtable discussions on topics the attendees themselves had suggested ahead of time (and subsequently ranked all suggestions to narrow to the final agenda) and individual presentations librarians made to share or to get feedback on a particular program they are working on.

To give you a sense of the day, the topic discussions were:
DELIVERY OPTIONS FOR LIBRARY INSTRUCTION
A wide variety of practices for library instruction were discussed including course-based instruction vs. stand-alone workshops, outreach to faculty=better attendance, workshops organized through the student club,synchronous office hours, search path tutorials, using a syllabus+assignment to develop a tutorial/instruction prior to teacher request.

LIBRARY VALUE: ASSESSING AND MEASURING WHAT MATTERS

We discussed student surveys and other feedback, what our colleges expect,various methodologies for assessing non-instruction (reference desk interviews, for instance).

E-SSENTIAL RESOURCES FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARIES: DATABASES AND E-BOOKS
We discussed vendor-specific benefits and problems, ebook collecting and weeding,

INSTRUCTION ASSESSMENT: ONLINE AND F2F
Issues were course and program assessment vs student assessment, assessment of student learning vs. giving feedback to students.  Various opinions were shared about level and appropriateness of feedback and assessment. SLOs, IL       across campus, service desk and short term instruction assessment were other issues raised.

ACRL Framework in community college setting
We discussed the five (so far) threshold concepts and their potential value in community college settings. Concerns about the language of the Framework and the concepts and how to implement them at community college were raised, as well as the  opportunities for campus-wide collegiality and conversation that might come out of this implementation.

KEEPING STUDENTS ACTIVELY LEARNING: ONLINE AND F2F
A wiki page was created for this discussion.

During the day there were also presentations by individual libraries, on a current project or topic:

•    Assessment in Action Poster Session practice for ALA annual/ Elizabeth Bowman, Santa Barbara City College
•    Executive summary of recent dissertation research findings on the topic of student experiences of conducting research in a community college/ Elena Heilman, Yuba College
•    Using TED Ed to flip and assess info lit instruction/ Ellen Carey, Santa Barbara City College
•    Developing one shot research sessions specifically for students with disabilities/  Annette Young, Chaffey College
•    Outreaching to your Child Development Center/ Sally Romero, Los Angeles Trade Technical College
•    Presentation about research project about evaluative tool for museum website, delivered at 2013 International Humanities Conference/ Don Brown, El Camino College
•    Faculty Outreach methods/ Susan Seifried, NORCO, Mt. San Antonio College

Materials and resources mentioned or otherwise shared in the presentations and topic discussions can be found in the Unconference blog under the tab called: SHARED RESOURCES.

Besides the excellent collaboration and collegiality experienced in the meeting rooms, one of the highlights SBCC's version of the Unconference is "recess" which we design for the afternoon break, to get people moving and thinking about anything besides libraries.  This year we offered maps for participants to take a self-guided campus tour or they could or shake off inhibitions at an improv workshop (offered by an English professor, who volunteered her time). Let's say, that was memorable for all participants!  Why improv? Laughter, of course, but also for library and teaching benefits as well as practical considerations.

Contact Elizabeth Bowman for more information.
We are eager to hear where UNCONFERENCE 2015 will be hosted. NorCal, anyone?

Contributed by Sarah Raley, Consortium Director
All orders should now be placed with the consortium to avoid increases in pricing. Watch for information from vendors regarding your access beginning July 1.

There was recent discussion on the listserv regarding vendors charging sales tax on products. The only time sales tax is charged is if a physical product is delivered.  Rev & Tax Code 605 states California sales tax is imposed upon a retailer’s sale of tangible personal property in California. If no tangible product is purchased, sales tax should not be collected.

This summer we will update our information to reflect Fall 2013 FTE as the basis for pricing. We use only credit FTE’s for consortium pricing.  FTE’s are pulled from the Chancellor’s office web page. If you would like to check your fall FTEs, here is a link to the source: http://datamart.cccco.edu/Students/FTES_Summary.aspx

Available PDF’s Powerpoints and Word documents are linked to the “Speaker Presentations” web page at http://infotoday.com/cil2014/presentations.asp

Retirement of Ellen Geringer, Library Coordinator/Media Librarian.

Ellen was hired on March 1, 1989 as CCC’s Media Librarian.  In 2003, she became the Library Coordinator. During her tenure she served on numerous campus & district committees, chaired the College Instruction Committee (6 long years), was the Professional Development Coordinator (10+ years), served on the advisory boards for Disabled Student Programs & Services, DVC’s Library Technology program, and CCC’s Friends of the Library. She is also the (unofficial) college historian.  She and her husband, Chris Tarp were honored as Benefactors of the Year by the college foundation in 2011. Her immediate retirement plans include sleep, reading, and traveling.  She hopes to continue indexing the student newspaper (she has completed the first 26 years), but will probably disappear for a while into Ancestry.Com.

All the presentation materials, including PowerPoints and posters, that have been made available are available from the conference website: http://libguides.cmich.edu/dls2014/program.
Of particular interest was the panel session (made wonderful by the great response of the participants)  featuring Cass Kvenild and Kaijsa Calkins of the University of Wyoming and Beth Tumbleson and me from Miami University. We led the participants in a discussion of questions related to Learning Management Systems Embedded Librarianship, and took notes on their responses in a Google Slides presentation http://goo.gl/cr4vfJ.

Jean Smith (San Diego Mesa College), Committee Chair May/June  2014

New members: 

• Brian Greene from Modesto will replace Stephanie Curry in the East Central region.  Brian served previously on the Committee but his term was cut short when he was laid off from Columbia College during the economic downturn.  He spent a few years at colleges in Oregon before returning to accept a position at Modesto College.
• Carol Hutte from Chaffee will replace Linda Braiman in the Desert region.  Carol is currently a Reference Librarian and Library Coordinator at Chaffey College. She received her undergraduate degree from UC Santa Barbara in History, Linguistics and Slavic Studies and her MLIS from San Jose State University. Previous to Chaffey, she worked on the Reference Desks at Anaheim Public Library, the Honnold-Mudd Library at the Claremont Colleges, and at Chapman University. She also has worked in the Inter-Library Loans departments at UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
• Steve Hunt is a returning member of the Committee, having served from 2004-2010 representing the Los Angeles area.  He is now temporarily representing the Southwest Region while Rachel Sandoval is on sabbatical.  Steve is systems librarian at Santa Monica College. Prior to that he was a cataloger and later systems librarian at the Los Angeles County Law Library.  He has an MLS from UCLA and a BA in French Literature from the University of Wyoming. He lives in El Segundo with his wife, daughter and dog.
• Glorian Sipman will serve Fall 2014 to cover for Elizabeth Horan’s sabbatical.  Glorian has been the Technical Services Librarian at MiraCosta College since 2001.  Prior to that she worked at the University of Georgia and the Getty Research Institute, and had an internship at the Library of Congress in the Rare Book & Special Collection Division.  She received her MLS from the University of Arizona.  She also served on the CCL-EAR committee from 2004-2012, first as a regional representative and later as chair.

Shared ebook collection deselection project:  The Committee finalized plans to weed the 10 shared ebook collections offered through CCLC between 2001 and 2010.  Tamara Weintraub will chair the deselection “Team” with several other Committee members participating.  Any librarians in the field who would like to join the Team can contact Tamara (tweintraub@palomar.edu).  The project will begin Fall 2014.  The list of suggested titles for possible deselection will be shared early in the Spring 2015 semester with opportunity for appeals.  Weeded titles will be withdrawn Summer 2015.
 

Ambrose Video review:  Ambrose Video 2.0 offers 566 videos with over 1200 video clips. Video publishers include Centre Communications for Ambrose Video, which is an academic video publisher that has created videos for Discovery, Animal Planet, and the History Channel, Cromwell Films, Antelope Films, Starbright Media Corporation, the BBC, and Time-Life. Many of the videos are accompanied by teacher guides, quizzes, and timelines as Word documents. The web based videos can be accessed by any Internet browser without any special software. All videos are closed captioned.
Download the full text of our review for more details. You are also encouraged to share your thoughts about this product via the “Leave a Comment” feature on the review page.

Future reviews:  The Committee plans to take on the following reviews during 2014/2015:

• Science database comparison
• Grove Dictionary of Art
• Grove Dictionary of Music
• Salem Press
• Lexis/Nexis
• Discovery services (Ebsco, OCLC, and Summon)

Passing the torch:  It has been an honor and a privilege to serve on the CCL EAR Committee as a member and as chair.  Darryl Swarm will now take over as chair with a great group of dedicated Committee members.  I am not only leaving the Committee but am also retiring at the end of May.  Many thanks to the CCL Executive Board and to those of you who supported the efforts of the Committee over the years.

2014/2015 meeting schedule:

• 9/12/14                                     Phone meeting
• 10/2/14-10/3/14                        Ontario
• 11/14/14                                   Phone meeting
• 3/13/15                                     Phone meeting
• 4/30/15-5/1/15                          Oakland

KinderCaminata participants were invited into the library for a Target-sponsored Sneetches story time on Friday, May 2, 2014. Once inside, the kindergartners were treated to storytelling by Acquisitions Librarian Monique Delatte Starkey, Systems Librarian Erica Bennett, and Library Assistant Betsy Murray. Visitors discovered that the children’s books may be checked out, and that the read-aloud children’s collection at FC Library is sponsored through a generous grant from Target. Sneetches bookmarks, also Target-sponsored, were distributed by LIB 100 students to help the young visitors remember their library visit.

 Acquisitions Librarian Monique Delatte Starkey and Library Assistant Betsy Murray provide a Target-sponsored Sneetches story time for KinderCaminata visitors in the Fullerton College Library

"Getting the Right Fit: Tailoring Assessment Strategies for Your Library"was a half-day event at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, on April 22, and co-hosted by the Boston Library Consortium and OCLC. Slides, Chat Archive, Video, and handouts are available at:   http://goo.gl/4z9uoW
This event helped to define the practice of assessment, explored what drives a successful assessment program, and identified practical tools and techniques that can be tailored to use in reaching the specific assessment goals of your library.

 Lobby

The Library Learning Resource Center at Los Angeles Harbor College opened April 14 after a hectic week of Spring break moving! The building is on two floors in the central area of the campus and is home to the Library, as well as the Learning Resource Center (LRC), and a portion of Special Programs & Services (SPS).

 Study Room

We are very happy to finally be able to work in and enjoy this gleaming new building. Students make good use of the nine study rooms, a 96-station computer commons, comfortable banquettes, bright reading rooms, and an atrium lobby with lounge space. A “pop-out” conference room is in high demand and provides a nice view of the L.A. Harbor and the towers of the Vincent Thomas Bridge.

Thanks, everyone: CCL membership has reached 104!  Why not 112?  Because some districts have stopped allowing “membership” expenditures, because some colleges just don’t have the funds, and because some libraries don’t have librarians making the decisions about paying the CCL membership invoice when it arrives.
Check the list on the CCL website to be sure that your library has the star.  And if it doesn’t … it’s not too late!

Contact me (gregg.atkins@wavecable.com) and I’ll send a digital copy of the membership invoice.  We’d love to inch closer to 112!

Excerpted from the April 17, 2014 Library Journal Opinion Blog “Not Dead Yet” by Cheryl LaGuardia
She asked a “bunch of  front-line librarians (public, academic, special, public services, tech services, special collections, etc.) what they’re actually doing in terms of professional development.
WHAT THE FRONT-LINE LIBRARIANS SAID
Listed in order of the frequency each activity was mentioned (most to least):
1.    Getting embedded in courses they support
2.    Learning about user interfaces and user experiences
3.    Keeping active on social media (Twitter, library blogs, etc.)
4.    Writing for the professional literature and/or presenting at conferences
5.    Taking classes in project management
6.    Learning about data and information visualization
7.    Taking classes in an area of subject interest for their jobs
8.    Taking classes in a language pertinent to their jobs
9.    Learning about web development and design
10.    Attending professional conferences; performing committee work

The Sacramento City College Library is reluctantly allowing Sandy Warmington to retire. Sandy first came to SCC in 1991 after working at several other libraries, including Columbia University. Sandy worked on a huge number of initiatives, including ILS migrations, college-wide IT projects, and the promotion of information competency. She taught in SCC’s Library & Information Technology program, served in the Academic Senate, and held a key position in the faculty union. She has long overseen the library’s reference services, insisting on a high standard of professionalism and accessibility to students. Over the course of her career Sandy has supported, encouraged and mentored thousands of students and colleagues. When she moves on to her new chapter, she will be missed more than she could possibly imagine.

Jean Smith will retire at the end of May after 14 years as the Electronic Resources and Periodicals Librarian at San Diego Mesa College.  Jean held previous positions at UCLA, UCSD, and CSU San Marcos and is now the proud holder of an ALA lifetime membership card. While at Mesa, Jean served two terms on the CCL-EAR Committee and was chair of the Committee for the past two years. She will return to Mesa part-time after her 6 month “embargo” but in the meantime is looking forward to more golf, tennis, travel, and not having to write any part of an accreditation self-study.

In April Kenley Neufeld was elected to serve as an OCLC Global Council Delegate representing Community College libraries from OCLC’s  Americas Regional Council.

Brian Haley, is retiring.   Brian started his California Community College career in 1990 at Butte College when he became Director of Library, Tutoring, and Media services. After six years at Butte, where the live TV class program was greatly expanded and a campus instructional network was developed, Brian moved to Sierra College as Dean of the new Library/LRC building in October of 1996. During the next eighteen years, he was a collaborative mediation trainer for new staff at the annual Granlibakken retreats at Lake Tahoe, EEO person for many hiring committees, and President of the Management Senate. He was chosen Manager of the Year in 1998 and 2002. Brian was also the Dean over the Skill Development Department and the Basic Skills Committee as well as Distance Learning, the Library, and the Tutoring, Testing, and Writing  Centers. From 2002 through 2007, Brian was the President of the Learning Resources Association of the California Community Colleges. For many years, he was the library representative on the Distance Education Technical Advisory Committee. He served on many accreditation teams with his last visit occurring in 2012.
Brian plays the flute and loves to read, two activities he plans to pursue in retirement. He has four children and three grandchildren. With his wife Ada, Brian will travel the United States in the coming years. He feels fortunate to have been able to work at Sierra College and throughout the state on various CCC committees with people who share his passion for libraries, education, and collaboration.

There are two new librarians on staff:
Lauren McFall is a librarian committed to providing the best user experience for our students, both in-person and online. Lauren has a BA and MA in linguistics from UCLA and MLIS from San Jose State. Before that, she was a student at Pierce College, which is just one reason why she is dedicated to helping all of our students succeed.

Sally Romero is a librarian that supports students in achieving their educational goals through a learning-centered environment.  Her mission is to provide instruction, guidance and services promoting information literacy focusing on student success within an environment of integrity and respect.  Sally has a BA in Communications with an emphasis in Advertising from California State University, Fullerton and a MLIS from San Jose State University.  She comes with many years of public and academic library experience.  Sally believes in playing an integral role in the intellectual and cultural life of the college by facilitating the transformation of information through knowledge using core values such as integrity, diversity, community inclusion, student focus, and lifelong learning.

The LATTC Library Mission statement says, “The library serves as a center for the college community for learning, exploration, and discovery.” This was noted on a visit from the Child Development Center.

CCL President, Tim Karas

Hello, I cannot believe we are only a few weeks away from the end of the academic year. As usual the year has been a winding path full of illumination. The year has been fiscally better for many Colleges. The return of Instructional Equipment and Library Materials (IELM) funding was a very positive development.

ACCJC and the revision to Accreditation Standards has been a major theme for this year. Since the Dean and Director’s meeting in March the saga continued to unfold. I want to thank all the individuals and institutions that submitted feedback to ACCJC during the public comment period. Executive Board members Paula Paggi and Jim Matthews attended the ACCJC public hearings at the end of April. I want to thank those who attended the hearings, wrote statements, passed local resolutions, and endorsed ASCCC resolutions. Our voices were heard. It was verbally stated at the public hearings that the library standard sub-section would remain independent within Standard II. I will attend the ACCJC Commission meeting in June to review the revised draft and represent CCL.

The Chancellor’s Office has launched several initiatives this year. A major initiative with millions of dollars of funding concerns College Equity Plans. To be eligible for these funds Colleges must submit plans by November 2014. College student equity plans focus on increasing access, course completion, ESL and basic skills completion, degrees, certificates and transfer for students. We are aware of the vital contributions libraries play in the success of our students; however, many other people may not. Watch for an email soliciting ideas of the ways libraries contribute to student equity. The goal is to provide a menu of practices that librarians can bring to their College to imbed in the Student Equity Plan. General information is located on the Chancellor’s Office website at http://extranet.cccco.edu/Divisions/StudentServices/StudentEquity.aspx

We successfully complete year one of our 2 Year Strategic Plan and transition to year two goals. Working together we will assess this past year at our Board retreat July 17-18 and plan for the future.

Enjoy your summer,
Tim