Library Notes

For the FY20 operating budget, which is in the process of being finalized, the MSU Libraries is facing a shortfall of up to $330,000, depending on several variables.  This is approximately 5% of our annual operating budget of $6.5 million. Multiple causes have contributed to this budget shortfall, including: Serials and E-Resource Inflation: Annual fees to provide access to the many e-journals and e-resources subscribed to by the MSU Libraries have been rising between 5 and 6 percent for many…

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Last week, during Spring Break, new whiteboards were installed in the small group study rooms in Duane G. Meyer Library on the Springfield campus of Missouri State University. This project was made possible through the generous support of the MSU Student Government Association. Workers from Grooms Office Environments, pictured here, did the actual installations. Thanks, Grooms and SGA!

In this second post in an ongoing series about the organizational changes coming to the MSU Libraries, we focus on two areas: Timeframe: Because the annual work plans for both library faculty and staff members follow the calendar year, the target date for implementing the team-based approach has been pushed back to January 1, 2020. This revised target implementation date will provide us all more time to establish the various teams to which most employees will belong, to undertake initial…

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At last week’s Missouri Conference on History in Kansas City, Tracie Gieselman-Holthaus spoke on how seemingly unrelated collections can be used to understand and interpret historical events. Using materials from the Ozarks Jewish Archives (OJA) and the Ozarks Lesbian and Gay Archives (OLGA), Tracie discussed the Interfaith AIDS Network, a community-wide faith-based organization. This group provided support to the AIDS Project Springfield (now AIDS Project of the Ozarks) during a tumultuous time in Springfield’s history. The Interfaith AIDS Network came…

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The MSU Office of Assessment awarded Rachel Besara on behalf of the MSU Libraries a $500 assessment grant to enable a team of 5 employees, 2 of which were student workers, to attend a Workshop on Using Student-Led Focus Groups to Gather and Make Sense of Assessment Evidence. The library trainees will focus on how to use student-researchers to better understand aspects of undergraduates’ library behaviors and use. Congratulations, and we look forward to the report from Lindsey Taggart, Paige…

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On Tuesday, March 26, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time, the Innovative Educators group will offer a webinar focusing on “First-Year Students and Libraries: Assessing the Impact of Information Literacy.” The MSU Center for Academic Success and Transition (CAST) and the MSU Libraries have partnered to make this webinar available to MSU faculty and staff. More details and specific instructions for accessing the webinar will be coming soon. Overview of the Webinar Both community college and four year…

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The MSU Libraries has begun the process of undergoing some organizational changes. We are moving away from a unit-based organization to one that is team-based. Each team will focus on one of the 42 principal activities of the MSU Libraries. Nearly all full-time employees — faculty and staff — will belong to several teams. The target date to begin implementing this new organizational structure is July 1, 2019. All employees will receive training and support for the principal activities with…

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Since being introduced into Duane G. Meyer Library several years ago, diner booths have proven to be very popular with library users, especially students. We currently have clusters of diner booths in the Main Lobby, on the Lower Level near the compact shelving, and on the Second Level under the skylight. An area on the west side of the Second Level is being prepared to accommodate six more diner booths. No installation date has been set, but the work should…

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Anne Baker, head of Special Collections and a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Library Science at Missouri State University, recently was elected to the Board of the Route 66 Association of Missouri. Anne’s interest in the Association is both personal and professional.  She has been a member of the Association for over fifteen years, plus Special Collections has worked with the Association to preserve the oral histories collected by their members. Anne is looking forward to being part of the Association’s efforts to…

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