SCC Library, 5-Year Program Review: 2014-2019

Libraries provide sufficient number and quality of personnel to ensure excellence and to function successfully in an environment of continuous change.

Discussion

The SCC Library is open 61.75 hours a week during the regular academic year. Both the library Check Out Desk and the Reference Desk are manned by personnel during all hours that the library is open.

Classified staff manage the circulation and processing of books, periodicals, equipment (including heavily circulated laptops and hotspots), items from the Library of Things, and reserve materials. They also manage the scheduling of several library rooms using 25Live, provide computer lab technical assistance needed by students and other patrons, and serve students who need to add money to their print quota.

Faculty librarians at the Reference Desk teach students information literacy skills at their point of need through face-to-face, phone, and email consultations, and provide research and collection services for all patrons including college faculty, guest patrons, and others.

Performance Indicator 8.1 
Library personnel are sufficient in quantity to meet the diverse teaching and research needs of faculty and students.

High turnover, decisions not to fill vacated positions, and the dissolution of staff positions has left the SCC library with an insufficient number of staff to properly provide circulation services. The circulation supervisor is the single, permanent, full-time staff position which is currently filled. This Library & Archives Paraprofessional (LAPP 4) staff person manages all Spokane campus circulation functions, supervises 7-9 work-study students, and manages much of the library space. Beginning July 2019, she will also be responsible for supervising all library circulation staff at the main Spokane campus.

While the recent hiring of a second full-time staff person (LAPP 2) will restore bare-bones service coverage during daytime hours, a third staff person is needed to provide coverage to accommodate staff professional development, shared governance, committee participation, and to ensure services at times when staff are on leave.

Current part-time staff are sufficient to cover the Check Out Desk during evenings and Saturdays.

Staff, Cataloger

The library's cataloger staff position has been vacant for some time. This staff person performed cataloging and other duties for both the SCC and SFCC Libraries and maintained online catalog records. When this full-time position was vacated, the cataloger's duties were taken up by the LAPP5 circulation supervisor who is based at SFCC. After the library reorganization takes effect on July 1, 2019, SCC will have no one in place to perform duties which are crucial for library operations including ordering and processing of print and electronic resources, interlibrary loan, maintenance of records in the library ILS (integrated library system), and upkeep of the functioning and accessibility of the library's discovery system. The current library dean and college administration are aware of the need to address this issue and are working with library staff and faculty to find a solution.

Faculty

SCC Library faculty are sufficient in quantity to meet the diverse teaching and research needs of the college's students, faculty, administrators, and non-SCC patrons. There are four full-time librarians; three are tenured, and one is on an annualized contract. As noted in Principle 5, there is a need to convert the annualized librarian to tenure-track and assign collection management and development responsibilities to that position.

The Library also employs one part-time adjunct librarian for 150 hrs/quarter. This position is important as it enables us to offer research help at the Reference Desk during all library open hours. Without the adjunct librarian position, full-time librarians would not have the time to adequately develop library instruction, hold liaison and research consultations with students and faculty, perform committee work at the college, and fulfill collection and other responsibilities. Having the adjunct librarian is also important for providing uninterrupted service when others are attending meetings, engaging in professional development, or during times when faculty are on leave.