The value of specialised libraries for students

I think academic libraries are fantastic. Specifically, I believe that the library systems in place in Oxbridge are part of what makes these universities brilliant. I may well have a biased perspective on this: I’m a Cambridge English graduate, and I’ve just started my first job as a trainee librarian at Oxford. But one of the reasons I want to become an academic librarian is because I really believe in the value of libraries for students.

For the last three years, during my undergraduate studies, I have had access to an outstanding library system. My college library at Selwyn, my faculty library and the University Library combined have provided excellent support for my research and study, and have ensured I have consistently been able to access the materials necessary for my degree.

Talking with my college librarian about the uniqueness and importance of this system, I learnt that there are major changes occurring in the way that the libraries of Cambridge are run and organised, some of which are part of a general trend. Many of the arts faculties are being subsumed under the University Library, with control becoming more centralised (something which has already happened at Oxford). This would seem to lead to homogenisation of the services provided, and potentially less funding for each individual library. Additionally, there is increasing pressure for justification of the purchase of print materials, with calls for more electronic resources. If all print were replaced with ebooks and electronic journals, would we need all of these libraries? Is the idea of the library as a place for physical books, with specialised information professionals, still relevant?

To both these questions, my answer is: yes. Absolutely yes. I’ve hardly begun learning how to be a librarian, so I’m going to come to this issue from the viewpoint of a student: surely quite an important one, being as though academic libraries primarily cater to the needs of students. Undergrads are the foundation of the university. While the research of postgrads and academics is a major part of a university’s reputation, undergrad study forms another significant part. It is also preparation for beginning original research, and at Oxbridge it is second to none.

Ebooks and electronic journals are undoubtedly very useful. For my subject, the weekly essay demands critical background to the texts being studied, and since directly relevant information is often to be found in a small portion of a book or article, it can be helpful to navigate electronic texts using searches for keywords if pushed for time. Additionally, when stuck for critical material at the last minute, electronic resources can be accessed quickly and without a trip to the library (and libraries do tend to be closed at 3 a.m. when such a situation often occurs). Ebooks also help with the problem of several different people all wanting access to the same materials at once.

Notice that these uses of ebooks are mostly in response to problems. Ideally, we would all be prepared and have time to organise the resources we need, read through the entirety of a useful critical text, and not have to fight our fellow students for access. In this situation, I would much prefer to read print, and I believe I am in a significant proportion of students. Print is, in my opinion, still the best way of delivering information. Reading on a screen is not ideal. I own a Kindle, but have not used it at all for academic purposes: it is too difficult to navigate quickly and easily to find quotations. Flicking through a book remains a very effective way of relocating the right section, and has no decent equivalent in electronic reading. Placing markers in pages is difficult without an actual e-reading device, something many students do not have. For all these reasons, I believe that retaining a mixture of media in libraries is important, for both print and electronic resources have their advantages.

The next question is: why all these libraries? Most universities have one central library, or a small number of libraries covering wide areas of study. Cambridge, according to Wikipedia (yes, reliability of sources isn’t my strong point), has 114 libraries. Why do students need college libraries, faculty libraries, and the main university library?

The answer, I believe, also holds the key to the value of libraries and librarians. In a word: specialisation. The librarians of each library tailor their service to the particular needs of their base of students. Of course, very generally, having more libraries means more books, and having more books ensures that each student is more likely to be able to gain access to all the books they need. But more books isn’t the only benefit to more libraries – consolidating all books into one central library, and focusing all funding into one place would achieve this effect, but would not be nearly as effective in my view (of course, in practical terms I imagine it would be difficult to find a site big enough, and to run a library of this size).

This is because each library provides a unique service. To return to my own university education for illustration, I used the three libraries I had access to for different purposes, and I expected different things from each. My college library was the most easily accessible, with very long opening hours and borrowing periods, so if I needed a copy of a core text in a hurry, or for a long period – a major novel, or a central philosophical text, for example – I could usually get it, even at midnight. It was a good place to study within the place I lived, and in addition to academic resources it also supplied DVDs and popular fiction for recreational reading. My subject library, the English Faculty Library, was useful for more specialised English material, such as more obscure texts and a wide range of literary criticism. The librarians there focused their efforts on exactly what English students needed, which included online period-specific and topic-specific material produced to course specifications, and workshops for learning dissertation skills. They also ran Tea at Three sessions, with cake, tea, jigsaw puzzles and Lego, to give students study breaks. Finally, the University Library, being a legal deposit library, had one copy of nearly every book I could ever need, which meant that while it wasn’t so good for popular primary texts, which were often reference-only or already on loan, it was very useful for things like print-only journal articles and esoteric criticism.

I really want to be a part of a body of librarians who are constantly working to improve their service, and make it fit the group of students they cater for. In an increasingly electronic world of information, libraries and librarians are not redundant: rather, they are more needed than ever. They are vital for procuring the right materials, in whichever form is wanted, and for organising a sea of information into an easily-comprehensible system. Finding what you need doesn’t become easier the more information there is. It requires people who are information specialists; people who are dedicated to customising what they offer, and finding out exactly what their readers like and are struggling with. And if readers are grouped into smaller subsections, such as by subject and by college, the chances of their needs being met are much higher, which is extremely important in achieving the best results.

Very rarely was I unable to find the information I needed during my degree. And that’s a system I’m excited about, and want to preserve and develop from the other side of things.