Literatures and Languages Implementation Team Meeting Minutes
April 27, 2010, 3:00 p.m.
Present: Marek Sroka (chair), Paula Carns, Harriett Green, Tony Hynes, JoAnn Jacoby, Jo Kibbee, Bruce
Swann (minutes)
Absent: Bob Cagle, Dara Goldman, Renée Trilling
Sroka brought the meeting to order. Minutes of the April 13 meeting were approved for posting by
Jacoby. Minutes of the April 20 meeting, with additions, will be sent out by Jacoby for comment. Swann
will take minutes today.
Agenda items include:
1. Final report [members to assist with different parts]
2. Description of General Requirements for Literatures and Languages Library [attachment from
Sroka]
3. Questions for Jeff [who will attend the May 3 meeting]
Sroka initiated discussion of the final report, and the timeline that will be required to allow interested
parties to comment on a draft version before the end of the semester. Committee members will provide
Sroka with their contributions by early next week. Sroka will compile these into a complete draft report
by May 7 for comment by the committee. The draft should then be available for wider distribution and
comment during the week of May 10.
Committee members and the subjects of their contributions are:
Kibbee: vision statement
Jacoby: collections
Greene: digital services
Carns: services and reference
Sroka: background and context, recommendations, operation, staffing, and general requirements
Sroka and Swann: description of the unit head
Members may collaborate as needed, in particular Carns and Greene on services, and Jacoby and Kibbee
on collections.
Sroka noted that Jeff Schrader will attend the meeting on May 3. There was a suggestion that this
committee’s meeting begin at 3:30 that day instead of 4:00 to allow a better use of Jeff’s time.
Sroka mentioned the issue of staging the move, and how that can fit with the planning of the International
and Area Studies team. Jacoby noted that that IAS team recommendationshad suggested that English
vacate 321 by November 2010,but postponing this until December might be better from a public service
point of view. Jacoby then described a recently developed timeline that further delineated possible
pahsing for the move for the move.
The plan’s timeline may approximate the following:
May-July: selection/flagging of material in the English Library for transfer; un-flagged material will be in
future L&L collection
August : three temporary offices in the south end of 200D for English subject specialists, stacks installed
temporarily in the remainder of 200D for circulating collection, August 15-31: room 321 (current English
Library) is vacated for remodeling, periodicals to the shelves lining the perimeter of 200D, circulating
collections to the temporary stacks in 200D
August 31: room 225 will be entirely vacated for remodeling work may have already started on the ‘back’
or east half of this room
Summer and fall: collection in Modern Languages and Linguistics flagged and processed
Mid-December to mid-January: relocate all personnel, English Library material from 200D, and Modern
Languages material from 425 to the new unit in room 225.
Briefly, the south end of the Reference Room, 200D, will be used as surge space, and will hold the
English Library during the fall semester. Book selection (flagging for stacks or Oak Street) and
processing will occur from May through July.
Around the beginning of August three temporary offices will be installed for Cagle, Greene, and Sroka in
200D (Jacoby provided an unlabeled diagram of 200D which included the temporary offices). The
shelving along the wall in 200D will be used, along with additional temporary shelving to be installed in
200D, for the English collection (those items which were left un-flagged over the summer will remain in
the new unit). A circulation desk will be placed near the entrance to 200D.
Room 321 will be vacated by the middle or end of August. This move will allow remodeling in 321 to be
completed by the middle or end of October, after which the International and Area Studies unit will
occupy 321.
Modern Languages and Linguistics will perform a similar flag and process procedure for its collection
during the summer and fall.
Reference material for the new unit will for the most part be shelved in 200 with other reference material.
Jacoby has spoken with Janice Pilch about the German reference material, most of which will remain;
Carns is already working on the Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese material, and Kibbee has consulted with
members of the French Department about their preferences.
Jacoby repeated the views of Pilch (and others) that ‘entry point’ materials which provide an overview of
a subject, and are commonly used, are a good choice for the circulating and reference collection. Hynes
cautioned against establishing too large a number of loan periods for material in the new unit.
A discussion followed about collections which covered several points. Opinions will vary, but there is
some merit in locating material based on its type (Jacoby). For example, contemporary fiction need not be
browsed and could go to Oak Street (Kibbee, reporting a discussion with the French faculty); while more
focused research material is more usefully browsed in the stacks (Carns; Jacoby, reporting local stats
showing usage of 50% browsing, over 40% campus mail option). The growth of a collection is also a
concern, in keeping its meaning and purpose clear to the users of the collection (Hynes).
In the context of staffing the two unit s for the fall semester, Hynes also asked about the student wage
budget, but there is as yet no specific information available.
For estimating costs in the draft report, Jacoby offered to assign a value, or a cost per item as needed. She
also expressed the hope for more definite dates in the near future.
Sroka adjourned the meeting at 4:05.