Compliance Status

Louisiana State University and A&M College is in compliance with this principle.

Narrative

Louisiana State University and A&M College (LSU) has a sufficient number of qualified staff members in library and/or other learning/information resources to accomplish the mission of the university. Serving the flagship institution of the state, LSU libraries [1] provide foundational support for the academic core, and the mission, of LSU:  “the generation, preservation, dissemination, and application of knowledge and cultivation of the arts” [2]. The mission, vision, and goals of the LSU Libraries are aligned with the mission, vision, and goals of LSU. The LSU libraries mission states that

Library staff organize, preserve, and share resources to meet the information needs of the university community, providing access to resources essential to teaching, research, and service.  Library staff members go beyond the role of information gate-keepers, teaching information literacy and research skills and proactively preserving our region’s history and culture. Reaching beyond the university community, the library staff extend information services to the state and make the unique holdings of LSU available to the world [3]. 

The LSU libraries employ a highly qualified and dedicated staff, including 39 faculty, 40 library associates, 12 professional/administrative staff, 6 FTE graduate assistants, and approximately 20 FTE students.

Features of the LSU Libraries

Middleton Library houses the main collections [4].  Assistance is available in person, virtually, and by phone [5].  Guidance in using an academic research library is available by registering for LIS 1001 for one credit hour or by asking for assistance at one of the public service points.  Also housed in Middleton are two collections: Carter Music Resources and Education Resources.  For material not found in the libraries, faculty, staff, and students may borrow materials through interlibrary borrowing.   LSU libraries’ U.S. Regional Depository Library and the U.S. Patent Depository Library collections are housed in Middleton Library.  The library has been a depository for federal government publications since 1907 and has a substantial number of U.S. documents issued before and after that time.  The library became a Regional Depository Library in 1964. The library was designated an official depository for U.S. patents in 1981.  The patent collection includes all patents issued from 1871 to the present. 

Hill Memorial Library houses Special Collections and University Archives [4].  The LSU Libraries Special Collections unit in Hill Memorial Library provides a center for research in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. The primary strength of Special Collections resides in The Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, an outstanding integrated collection that consists of materials documenting the history and culture of the region.

Additional information resources include the Cartographic Information Center ([CIC] [6], housed in the Howe-Russell-Kniffen Geoscience Complex), and the LSU Veterinary Medicine Library [7], neither of which is administratively part of the LSU Libraries, though each provides resources to LSU students and faculty.   The Cartographic Information Center is staffed by an experienced map librarian assisted by student workers. The LSU Veterinary Medicine Library employs two librarians and two support staff members, plus one FTE student worker.  Serving the faculty, staff, and students of the School of Veterinary Medicine, as well as the LSU and Baton Rouge communities, the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine Library is the major health science library in the greater Baton Rouge area.

Professional librarians at LSU hold masters’ degrees from Library and Information Science programs accredited by the American Library Association.  There is one exception: Judy Bolton, head of Special Collections Public Services, holds a master’s degree in history, which is an appropriate qualification for her job providing research assistance to users of the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections housed in Hill Memorial Library.  With 29 years of service, Ms. Bolton’s effectiveness has been attested by the written acknowledgments of numerous scholars who have benefited from her expertise.  Library faculty undergo the same rigorous review for reappointment, promotion, and tenure as do other faculty at LSU, in accordance with state law and the university’s Policy Statement 36 [8].

Unit Staffing within the LSU Libraries

Research and Instruction

Twelve librarians with offices in Middleton Library’s Research and Instruction (R&I) (formerly Reference) department have as their primary responsibility the provision of research assistance and library instruction to the LSU community.  Their efforts are supplemented by subject liaisons and special collections librarians who have research needs in their areas of specialization. A core group of five faculty within R&I teach LIS 1001: Library Research Methods and Materials each semester [9].  Library faculty also provide library instruction to classes in various disciplines throughout each semester as requested by teaching faculty; during FY2012, they offered 246 sessions that reached 5,000+ students.  The libraries’ outreach librarian organizes and schedules library representatives who take part in freshman orientation events, as well as recruiting events such as Preview LSU. 

Subject Specialists & Liaisons

Twenty-three library faculty serve as subject specialists, to whom students and faculty can turn for expert assistance in their fields [10].  Twenty of those subject specialists are also assigned as liaisons to specific disciplines and work closely with the faculty in those areas providing research assistance and acquiring requested materials as the budget allows.

Government Documents/Microforms

LSU is one of 51 Regional Federal Depository Libraries located throughout the U.S. to provide access to government information [11]. The unit also houses a large collection of microforms.  Government Documents/Microforms has an FTE staff of five, including two professional librarians, three paraprofessionals, 0.75 FTE graduate assistants, and 10-15 student workers, who work together to provide public access, research assistance, technical processing of the materials, and stacks maintenance tasks related to the upkeep of a large collection of print and microform documents [12].

Music Resources and Education Resources

Housed on the second floor of Middleton Library, Music Resources is staffed by one library faculty member assisted by two library associates, two graduate assistants, and 5-8 student workers.  On Feb. 28, 2013, upon the retirement of the Dean of Libraries, the Assistant Dean of Libraries became Interim Dean and the Music Librarian became the Interim Assistant Dean of Libraries [13].  The Music Librarian serves as liaison to the College of Music and Dramatic Arts.  Adjacent to Music Resources, Education Resources houses specialized materials to support the School of Education.  It is staffed by one library faculty member and one library associate, usually assisted by a graduate assistant and student workers.  The Education Resources Librarian position is currently vacant due to retirement.

Collection Development, Collection Management, and Cataloging

Collection development is carried out by the subject specialists noted above, with supervision from the collection development coordinator, who is one of two senior library faculty members who are the primary negotiators for e-resources.  Three library associates provide support for acquisitions of print materials by purchase and gift. 

Collection management is staffed by eleven library associates, who handle catalog maintenance, updating serial and monographic records, loading third-party records from aggregators, and physically processing materials that are added to Middleton Library.  They also assist with processing Louisiana state documents and large gift collections for Special Collections.

Cataloging includes three library faculty and two support staff, who handle original cataloging, contribute Louisiana names for the national Name Authority Cooperative Program of the Library of Congress, and provide library-wide training to keep staff current with changes in cataloging, such as the implementation of Resource Description Access (RDA) [14].

Circulation and Interlibrary Loan

Circulation Services is staffed by nine library associates and one FTE graduate assistant, supplemented by 19 FTE student workers.  Circulation staff manage stacks, carrels, circulation of materials, and course reserves, in addition to opening and closing the building, which is open 89.75 hours per week during regular session, with extended hours during midterms, concentrated study week, and finals [15].

Interlibrary Loan is staffed by 4.5 FTE library associates, assisted by one graduate assistant (0.5 FTE) and 4.5 FTE student workers. They carry out all interlibrary borrowing and lending activities and provide electronic document delivery for faculty.

Special Collections

Special Collections is staffed by 11.25 FTE faculty librarians, 4 professional/administrative staff members, 9.5 FTE support staff members, 1.5 to 2.5 FTE graduate assistants, and approximately 20 student assistants.  One library faculty member and two library associates manage public services operation, scheduling public service shifts, handling the bulk of research correspondence and interlibrary lending, and training student workers who page and shelve materials and assist with other stacks management tasks and clerical work.  All Special Collections staff members contribute in some way to public services activities, serving regularly scheduled shifts on the reading room and information/security desks during the 53 hours that the library building is open when classes are in session.  Reference service is provided in the reading room by library faculty and senior staff members who have extensive knowledge of the collections.

The head of Special Collections provides overall leadership, particularly focusing on outreach, development, and grants.  In conjunction with the head of Special Collections, a curator of manuscripts and an assistant curator of books acquire materials for the collections by purchase and working with donors.  They also teach individual (“one-shot”) classes as requested by teaching faculty in a variety of disciplines, provide orientation to using Special Collections to students in LIS 1001, and provide in-depth individual assistance to researchers.   Five library faculty and five library associates handle technical services/cataloging and manuscripts processing for Special Collections materials.  Three professional/administrative staff provide facility management, exhibitions, and oral history collection development for the division.  Two librarians (one grant-funded), one computer analyst, and three library associates handle digitization, digital collections, and microfilming.  Two library associates process university archives [16].

Staff Qualifications

The qualifications of the professional library and support staff are provided in Table 1.

* [x] designates the link to a CV of Library professionals with administrative or upper-level positions.

For a complete list of qualifications of the professional library and support staff  see Table 2 [31].

Administrative Support: Dean’s Office, Administrative Services, Library Systems

The central administration includes the dean, assistant dean, the personnel coordinator and an administrative coordinator.  Upon the retirement of Dean Jennifer Cargill, Assistant Dean Elaine Smyth began serving as interim dean, and Music Librarian Lois Kuyper-Rushing became interim assistant dean.

Administrative Services includes the business manager, who supervises three coordinators. Together, they manage the libraries’ budget, including accounts payable and receivable, Middleton facilities, purchasing, and student worker records (appointments, separations, and payroll). 

Library Systems includes four computer analysts who handle server management and personal computing support for library employees. The Systems Librarian liaises with LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network, the statewide consortium housed within LSU’s Information Technology Services that provides an integrated library system (ILS), a digital library, interlibrary loan, electronic scholarly resources, consulting, authentication, training, communication, and operational support [17]. One librarian, who is also a member of Research and Instruction, serves as electronic services and Web development coordinator.

Faculty and Staff Development

The LSU Libraries provides numerous onsite professional development opportunities in addition to providing professional leave and some financial support for faculty and staff to attend professional conferences, workshops, and webinars.  Research and Instruction schedules weekly training and informational sessions during each semester.   As special needs arise for staff training, additional sessions are scheduled.  For example, to coordinate the implementation of the new RDA cataloging code, from 2010 to 2013, cataloging personnel participated in more than 20 webinars sponsored by professional organizations, participated in formal RDA NACO training provided by the Library of Congress, and presented 15 training sessions to faculty and staff on utilizing RDA and RDA records.  Special collections staff normally hold at least two training sessions per semester to increase staff knowledge of resources and tools.

LOUIS staff have recently inaugurated “Learning with LOUIS” webinars, the first of which was given by the LSU Libraries’ Systems Librarian.  Faculty and staff regularly attend free webinars offered by Lyrasis and ASERL.

Faculty and staff have been active professionally on campus, within the state, and at the national level. For a detailed list of professional growth and engagement see Table 3 [32].

Evaluation of Services

The LSU Libraries carried out a full LibQUAL assessment in FY2003 [33] [34]. No overall assessment has been done since that time.  Additionally, a study of the effectiveness of LIS1001 in improving student retention and graduation outcomes is in development.