After nearly a year of weekly meetings, a Faculty Senate commitee looking at the status of the Frank C. Ogg Science and Health Library presented their findings to senators at their meeting last week.
The 17-member commitee reaffirmed the need for the library, and recommended some changes including increased hours of operation, relocating materials and making undergraduates more aware of the library.
The Ad Hoc Committee’s final report was presented at the Sept. 7 meeting, and it is now up to the Senate to review the report and decide what measures to take.
Though the library will not close, despite rumors last year, some changes still need to be made, said R. Michael McKay, commitee co-chair and associate professor in biological sciences.
“I think we made the point that the conventional library is not going to become obsolete, at least for the foreseeable future,” he said. “We also have to take responsibility for the plight that the library is in.”
Questions were raised regarding the state of the library in Oct. 2003, and the committee was established to get a better handle on the issue. The commitee launched an online survey last spring and received 380 responses.
Committee members hoped for a 10 percent response rate, which they got, despite low undergraduate response, McKay said.
“We reached roughly 25 percent of the combined faculty and graduate student constituencies, a sizeable proportion for those areas,” he said.
According to Linda Brown, committee co-chair and library collections coordinator, survey results indicated that the science library is well-used and has a high level of satisfaction with staff service.
Survey respondents also felt that library space could be more effectively used for group work areas and made more comfortable. In addition, visibility of the library needs to be increased among undergraduate students, Brown said.
Other suggestions from the report include that materials from the Northwest Ohio Regional Book Depository, located in Perrysburg, be transferred back to Ogg for quicker and easier accessibility by students and faculty alike. Microform materials have already been moved from Ogg to Jerome because of the better viewing equipment located there.
“If these improvements could be made it would help the sciences department and the campus as a whole,” Brown said.
Though the science library has seen a decline in the use of materials, it’s because printed material is becoming less common and is being replaced with easier to access electronic copies. With the Internet, students no longer need to go to the library to check out materials. Now, many of these materials can be accessed via e-reserves, Brown said.
According to Head Science Librarian Robin Sinn, there are 2.75 fewer permanent staff in the science library than two years ago. The science library’s recent cut in staff and operating hours is in part due to a lack of funding, specifically reductions in money from the state to finance University operations.
At 39 percent, the University has the lowest cost rate of any state-supported university in Ohio.
According to McKay, it will be another two or three years before this cost is renegotiated, but an increase in only a few percent could greatly help library funding.
Overall, the location of the science library is important to students.
“It’s nice to have a library in the Math Science Building,” student Tyler Willson said. “You can see other people from your classes and talk to them, there’s a sense of community.”
Sophomore Matt Claxon agrees.
“The library is a quiet place to study, and instructors are nearby so I can ask them a question regarding class material,” he said.
Now that committee members have done their part, the ultimate decisions will be up to the Senators, McKay said.
“I don’t know what, if any of the recommendations will be implemented,” he said. “Obviously we hope that many of them will. We hope that Faculty Senate will read the report, ponder the recommendations and that we can take action.”
