Week in Review
September 16, 2013
Good morning everyone,
Last Friday we hosted the Welcome Reception for Parents' Weekend. Thanks to Erin for coordinating the event, Aleeah, Cindy and Tonya for helping arrange and run it, and the R&I Librarians for mingling with the parents and helping them realize they have a campus resource specifically in place to help students succeed academically.
While I did not have to spend as much time on Board relations last week as in the previous weeks, I did spend time working on issues associated with plans for major renovation to Waterfield and Pogue Libraries. In short, there are several different plans being floated with the Board, any of which - upon the Board reaching a decision - require inclusion in MSU's 6-year Capital Projects Budget. This is typically due to CPE and the State Finance Office in November; however, since our next Board meeting isn't until December, we have received permission from the State to finalize details following the December meeting.
Last week saw the kick-start of a number of projects which have been building for months. The Jesse Stuart Collection, which has been on loan to Morehead State University for the past few years, is due to return in December/January. I contacted my counterpart at Morehead to begin planning the return process. We hosted reps from EBL last week, who gave presentations for the library and the Deans on how their demand-driven acquisition program works for eBooks. The Deans are much more understanding of what this project means now, and very supportive of the direction. I was also able to update our Strategy-Vision Alignment document last week; following review at AAC tomorrow, that plan will be distributed out to the entire library and placed online. We will also be finalizing our 2013-14 Assessment Plans this coming week.
Also taking place this week is the first meeting of a Wrather Advisory Committee. When we inherited Wrather, we did so with only its student wage line and two foundation accounts. This committee is to help us determine and prioritize the issues and future directions of Wrather, and to help advocate for additional funding to handle the many issues with the facility.
Finally, I would like to issue a call for people interested in serving on two different work groups. These work groups should not take much time to complete, but should generate some interesting ideas and valuable directions for us. The first is a workgroup to envision ways we can engage with diversity to a greater degree. An academic library can and should serve as a place where people can encounter different viewpoints and perspectives in a respectful environment. Beyond having a balanced collection, I think we can do more, and I would like library employees to help think of some simple things we can do in this area. The second is a Workplace Values team - charged with developing a set of workplace values which we all can focus on each year. Please email me if you are interested in serving on one or both of these.
Have a great week.
Thanks,
Adam