EARL K. LONG LIBRARY
LibQUAL+® Application for 2007 Grant Program
Introduction
The Earl K. Long Library at the University of New Orleans participated in the
Spring 2005 LibQUAL+® Survey, with results that library personnel found sometimes
surprising, sometimes disappointing, sometimes gratifying, but always instructive. We
planned to wait two years before participating in LibQUAL+® again, in order to avoid
respondent fatigue and to give ourselves more time to implement changes based on
respondents’ replies. Meanwhile, however, our library, our university, and our city were
irrevocably altered by Hurricane Katrina, which struck on August 29, 2005.
When the hurricane hit, the Long Library stood on the brink of implementing a
major reorganization. Since the storm, reorganizing has become even more important
as we cope with the loss of 30% of our library faculty and staff. Plans call for a more
flexible deployment of personnel, so that more persons are available and competent to
step in wherever they are most needed, as illustrated by the merger of reference and
circulation services described below. One of the principles guiding this reorganization is
to strengthen our focus on library users and how we can best meet their needs. Results
of the 2005 LibQUAL+® survey have been instrumental in determining exactly what
those needs are.
About the University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans (UNO), part of the Louisiana State University
System, is a major urban land-grant institution serving the metropolitan New Orleans
region. Before the hurricane, UNO was the second largest university in Louisiana,
enrolling 13,000 undergraduate and 4,000 graduate students; Spring 2006 enrollment,
however, dropped to approximately 11,500. UNO is among the most diverse major
public universities in the nation, with a pre-Katrina minority student population of 44%
(22% black). The university offers instruction, research, cultural activities, and public
service in keeping with its urban nature and also with its status as a major university
with a regional, national, and international reputation.
Located in an international city, the University of New Orleans uniquely links
Louisiana, the nation, and the world.
The university’s partnership approach
1
Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans
2
strategically serves the needs of the region and builds on its success through mutually
beneficial engagements with public and private bodies whose missions and goals are
consistent with and supportive of the university’s teaching, scholarly, and community
service missions. Technological and cultural partnerships connect the institution and its
faculty and students to the community. Focused local partnerships with public schools,
government, foundations, and business and civic groups enrich opportunities for
learning and creative discovery, as well as enhance opportunities for career and
community growth. Graduate study and research are integral to the university’s
purpose. Doctoral programs center on fields of study in which UNO has the ability to
achieve national competitiveness and/or to respond to specific state/regional needs,
notably needs which have emerged from the devastation of the Gulf Coast caused by
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. UNO is categorized as a SREB Four-Year 2 institution, as
a Carnegie Doctoral Intensive, and as a COC/SACS Level VI institution.
About the Earl K. Long Library
The mission of the Earl K. Long Library is to support the research and
instructional needs of the students, faculty, and community partners of the University of
New Orleans. To meet these needs, the library develops, organizes, and preserves
collections for optimal use, and it provides services, instruction, and facilities which
enable its users to succeed in their academic and intellectual endeavors. Relying on its
highly skilled staff, the library encourages innovation, capitalizes on appropriate
technologies, forges effective partnerships, and strives for excellence.
Although the university is located in the hard-hit Gentilly area (neighboring residences took on roughly nine to ten feet of floodwater), the campus sustained serious
flooding just at one corner of the
campus (shown at right), affecting
mainly the Engineering Building and
student housing. Located on high
ground in the center of the campus,
the library did not flood but did
sustain damage from wind and rain,
notably a severe roof leak that
rendered an elevator and our best
scanner inoperable. The resulting
dampness and lack of air conditioning permitted mold to grow on books
in the History classification and on
boxes that house special collections
materials. Generous grants from the Society of Southwest Archivists/Society of
American Archivists and especially the National Endowment for the Humanities have
assisted with recovering the moldy books and replacing the affected containers.
Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans
3
Financial need
On April 21, the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors granted UNO
Chancellor Timothy P. Ryan’s request to declare the university in “financial exigency,”
which will remain in effect from July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007, unless terminated
sooner or extended. This extreme measure occurred in response to a loss of $16.5
million in revenues, resulting from cuts in state funding and the decreased enrollment
noted above. Consequently, programs affecting some 400 students were cut, and faculty
members face the likelihood of layoffs. One member of the LSU Board of Supervisors
called the two days of the Board’s meeting “the darkest days in LSU’s history” (Jessica
Fender, “UNO Wins OK to Cut Back Staff,'” New Orleans Times-Picayune, April 21,
2006). Although no library personnel have been cut, the outlook for the 2006/07
budget is bleak. Every available dollar will be earmarked for library materials or for vital
supplies. For the Long Library, participation in the 2007 LibQUAL+® survey is
contingent on securing a grant.
Contribution to the growth of LibQUAL+®
Hurricane Katrina ranks high among the worst disasters that have ever befallen
the United States. Because of having participated in the LibQUAL+® survey shortly
before Katrina, taking part again at an early opportunity would position the Long
Library to demonstrate the effect of a major disaster on library services and on users’
perceptions of those services. Areas for possible exploration include:

Hours. Staff shortages necessitated abbreviating hours, although many
participants in the 2005 survey clamored for longer hours. What has been
the impact of shorter hours?

Services. One facet of reorganization is combining the former reference
desk and circulation desk in a single, conveniently located service point.
Originally, part of the impetus for this move was a poorly designed
building that placed the reference desk out of view to persons entering the
library. Now, however, this merger of personnel has become vital because
the reference staff has been particularly hard-hit: resignations have cut its
staffing by 60% (from 12 persons to 5). How is this move to a single
service point affecting services to library users?

Electronic resources. Before the storm, the library was moving
increasingly to the provision of electronic resources. When the University of
New Orleans opened for the fall semester—the only New Orleans university
to do so—with an enrollment of 7,000 on October 10, 2005, however, the
library was plunged headlong into the electronic delivery of materials. With
the main campus still inaccessible (the library would be one of the first
buildings to be reoccupied, but not until December 5), students took courses
Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans
4
at five remote locations in the suburbs and online from points scattered
across the nation. Efforts to provide the resources they needed included, for
example, greatly expanded e-reserves.
In the 2005 survey, some
respondents bemoaned the encroachment of electronic resources on the
printed holdings, but most who addressed this question called for more, not
fewer, electronic resources. Did the sudden, unanticipated, and complete
dependence on electronic resources last fall influence users’ attitudes?

Facilities. Respondents in 2005 reserved some of their harshest
criticism for the Library as Place. Comfortable furniture, as well as
displays highlighting UNO history and attractive materials from Special
Collections, have been added to the lobby, but by drowning one of our
elevators and discoloring many ceiling tiles, Hurricane Katrina contributed
to the library’s shabby appearance. What have been the effects of our
refurbishing and the storm’s damage?
In short, the “different environment” exemplified by the Long Library is the
environment of the disaster survivor. It is a different environment, not only from the
LibQUAL+® perspective; it is also a vastly different environment internally than it was
when 2005 survey results arrived just a year ago.
Improvements in local service and quality
An examination of the results of the 2005 LibQUAL+® survey concerning the 22
core perceptions disclosed that in every instance respondents reported a negative gap
between adequacy and superiority. Worse, 12 of 22 responses—more than half—revealed
perceptions that were less than adequate. Just one negative adequacy gap occurred
among 9 perceptions in the Service category, and it was a very small one (-0.02,
“Dependability in handling users’ service problems”); thus we are justified in concluding
that services are adequate but not superior. “Library as Place” fared worse, with 3 negative
adequacy gaps among 5 perceptions (“Library space that inspires study and learning,” 0.26; “A comfortable and inviting location,” -0.23; and “A getaway for study, learning, or
research,” -0.02). The library fared worst of all with “Information Control,” wherein
students reported an adequacy gap in all 8 of 8 perceptions (ranging from a low of -.03 for
the library’s Web site to a high of -0.70 for “Print and/or electronic journal collections I
require for my work”). Needless to say, it was surprising and disappointing to discover
that in the 22 areas most crucial to the library’s effectiveness, our patrons perceived us as
adequate in fewer than half of the areas studied and superior in none of them. Obviously
there is much opportunity for improvement.
Hurricane Katrina occurred barely a month after Dean of Library Services Sharon
Mader presented the results of the 2005 LibQUAL+® survey to library personnel. The
storm-related closure of the library for three months and the subsequent decreases in
staff and budget have hindered attempts to improve services and collections. Neverthe-
Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans
5
less, efforts have been made and continue underway to address the concerns raised by
survey respondents. Goals for the 2006/07 academic year are as follows:

To achieve a positive adequacy gap in all 9 Services perceptions

To achieve a positive adequacy gap in at least 2 Information Control
perceptions

To achieve a positive adequacy gap in at least 3 Library as Place perceptions

To achieve a positive superiority gap in at least 3 perceptions.
By helping us to discern what our library patrons need and want from the library,
and the extent to which we are—or are not—providing it, LibQUAL+® has been a highly
valuable assessment tool. To evaluate our progress toward the ultimate goal of
achieving superior service, facilities, and information control, however, we need the
comparative data that a subsequent survey will produce. Because of the extraordinary
events bookended by late August 2005 (Hurricane Katrina) and late August 2006
(library reorganization), 2007 is the optimum time to assess our progress and how
changes have affected our library.
Contact information
Florence M. Jumonville, Ph.D.
Chair, Louisiana and Special Collections Department
Earl K. Long Library
University of New Orleans
2000 Lakeshore Drive
New Orleans LA 70148
fjumonvi@uno.edu
telephone: 504-280-7275
fax: 504-280-7277
About Florence Jumonville
Applying for the LibQUAL+® grant program on behalf of the Earl K. Long
Library, Florence M. Jumonville is in her tenth year at the library, following twenty
years of employment at The Historic New Orleans Collection. She holds master’s
degrees in library science, education, and history, as well as a doctorate in education.
Her research interests emphasize various aspects of the history of libraries and
publishing in Louisiana. With two books, eight chapters, and more than two dozen
articles to her credit, she is currently researching the history of the State Library of
Louisiana and its role in the development of public libraries throughout Louisiana. She
has also served as editor of Louisiana Libraries, the Louisiana Library Association’s
quarterly journal; has obtained funding for and successfully administered several grantfunded projects; and has received three state and national awards for contributions to
the profession and the literature of librarianship.