Purpose:
With the arrival of a new Dean of the Libraries, the University of Texas Arlington (UTA) Libraries leadership team looked at the future of academic libraries and realized that we were at a critical juncture. The time was ripe for us to consider how we might succeed in embracing the challenges presented by the growing needs and expectations of 21st century students, and the challenges that they faced moving into the workforce. As a critical first step in our strategic planning and reorganization process, the Libraries used a mixed methods approach to develop our understanding of our local environment and the broader environment of higher education in which we function. In 2012, the Dean of the Libraries invited all library staff to participate in one or more of five task forces created to develop this foundational understanding. Over nine months, more than 75% of the Libraries’ staff participated in these teams. The groups were wide-ranging in scope, from evaluating hiring practices locally and nationally, benchmarking UTA Libraries against current and aspirational peer institutions to identify strategic opportunities, and evaluating current and emerging best practices related to subject liaison work. Two other groups engaged in a broad range of ethnographic studies.
Design, methodology or approach:
After her arrival in July of 2012, the Dean began an ambitious project of inquiry to learn more about the environment that surrounded the UTA Libraries, both locally and nationally. After several months of setting the table and challenging the organization’s preconceptions and encouraging all staff to think differently about the work that we do, she asked for staff volunteers to participate in one or more wide ranging task forces. The five task forces created used a variety of methods, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques and local and national data. The Benchmarking Task force conducted a broad scale environmental scan of other academic libraries to identify best practices through analysis of formal and informal publications, white papers and library web sites. The Liaison Program Redesign Task force used benchmarking interviews to explore the practices of other institutions, after conducting a thorough literature review designed to help focus our inquiries. The Population Studies task force focused on learning more about our population focus groups and a variety of anthropological techniques. Using six different qualitative techniques, including charettes, focus groups, interviews and photo and GPS mapping diaries we endeavored to answer the research question "What are the academic and research behaviors and attitudes of students and faculty, including the factors that influence them?" As an extension of this work, the Library Use Task force, known to us as “Where’s Waldo,” used visual floor and furnishings maps of the Libraries’ facilities to document and then analyze usage patterns of library spaces across time. Finally, a group was charged with revising the Libraries professional development and travel policy, with an eye for making it more broadly available to all staff and for increasing levels of support for professional involvement and presentations rather than simple event attendance.
One of the key elements in the composition of the task forces was that the leadership of each group was determined by the group itself. Although members of the Libraries’ Management Team participated in various task forces, none led the efforts, either formally or informally. While there were many challenges to the work of the groups as the projects developed, the resulting shared leadership and broad participation helped to create a better foundation for the changes yet to come in the organization once the work was completed.
Findings:
When the work of these groups was summarized and then evaluated to identify the broad themes, we discovered that the ability to have a space that could be customized for their use, in an environment that they could loosely control, was a paramount concern for students. While they preferred to work at home, the level of distraction was not conducive to completing their academic work. Instead, a “homey” space elsewhere, which was both comfortable and flexible, was sought out. With an average student age of 29, many of UTA’s students attend evening classes, and come to the Libraries to study and do academic work before or after classes. Availability of both food and drink were high priorities for students, and most commented that healthier choices, self-service options, and extended hours for food service were also desired.
These observations informed decision making moving forward, including the eventual reorganization of the entire Libraries’ staff around a new mission of creation, connection, exploration and innovation. The findings have also been used in conjunction with new data from our card swipe entry system at the Central Library to make successful arguments for an expansion of service offerings at the Libraries, including a Smart Market food vendor, an Einstein’s coffee and bagel shop with extended hours and new partnerships across campus designed to facilitate student success.
Conclusions:
The results of the assessments provided validation of what many library staff and leaders already believed about student behavior, but having specific data to share with the University administration about facility and service usage, especially in the late night hours, was priceless. But the greater success was realized as an organization by the participation of so many staff in the assessment process. There were no experts, just people who cared about what the Libraries had to offer and were committed to find out more about our students’ needs and how we could help them be successful. Participants learned about assessment tools and techniques, and everyone had skin in the game when it came time to document and share the work. This collaboration was instrumental in forming new relationships and in communicating the findings of the study broadly across the Libraries and the university.
Space , Organisational issues , Services , Analytics , Usage
