1. Name of Library:
Easter Library
Clearwater Christian College
3400 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd.
Clearwater, FL 33759
2. Name of Librarian: Elizabeth Werner
3. Background of Librarian: Mrs. Werner attended Mills College in Oakland, CA. She holds a Master’s degree in Spanish from Indiana University and a Masters in Library Science from the University of Maryland at College Park. She taught Spanish for four years at Western Maryland College. She also taught French and Spanish for Clearwater Christian College for nine years, but when the college became accredited, she did not have the number of graduate level coursework necessary to teach French. She felt becoming the library director was a good way to be an educator, and would be a better match of her abilities and time. She chose this type of library after the experience of setting up a library at her church. She has been here since 1975, and says that there were 142 students when she arrived, and now there are approximately 600 total (540 full-time). She is a member of the Florida Library Association, an active member of the Association of Christian Librarians, and has previously been a member of the American Library Association, but found it more geared toward public librarians. Her community service includes her church choir and being an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, helping with projects and fundraising for the chapter. Her continuing education has included quite a few online courses through the Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC), refresher webinars, conferences and workshops of the Association of Christian Librarians, workshops at the University of South Florida (USF), and reading professional journals and articles.
4. Library: The Easter Library, on the campus of Clearwater Christian College, is appealingly set back from the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Clearwater, Florida. It is a quiet campus, especially between semesters as it was on the day of this visit (May 25, 2011). The campus has five main buildings: Easter Library, Dambach Hall, Steele Hall, a music building, and a gym. The library has an inviting veranda with tables and chairs, as well as outdoor ceiling fans. Upon entering, the front of the facility is arranged with comfortable tables and chairs, a grandfather clock, and magazine racks. There is a study room with study carols for students and a reading machine for visually impaired patrons. Additionally, there is a conference room for class meetings and so forth. The archives room contains old books and college history. Vertical files hold maps, bibliographies, and teachers’ resources. A bookshelf is devoted to graduate school information for the career/guidance counselor and interested parties. Built in 1970, it was expanded in ’89 with gracious gifts from Dr. and Mrs. Lowell Easter and others. The college archives were provided in part by a gift from Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Murray. It is recognized for its outstanding holdings in creationism, Biblical studies, Native Americans, official American Civil War records, and American presidents and wives. It is open to the public as well as the campus population, with its holdings accessible onsite as well as online. The Easter library is a member of three professional networks: the Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC), the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), and the Association of Christian Libraries (ACL), which expands the available resources to over 194 million records from libraries in 112 countries and territories.
a. What type of library is it? Academic
b. What type of community does it serve? What special information needs do they have? It serves a Liberal Arts College consisting mainly of undergraduate degree seeking students. It mainly serves these students’ course needs, but also some public members, mainly those pursuing a seminary degree or doing online seminary coursework. It also serves some women’s Bible studies groups, and some professors working on their doctorate dissertations and research.
c. Is the library open to the public? If so, on what basis? Yes, it is open to the public the same operating hours as it is available to the campus population. A library card for community patrons is $35.
d. How many patrons are eligible for service? How many patrons are served? It serves approximately 700 patrons, consisting of students, alumni, faculty, and the public.
e. To which governing body or to which official does the head of the library report? Mrs. Werner reports to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Mary Draper, with whom she meets with approximately once a week during the academic year. There is also a library committee, which performs an advisory role.
f. What special services are offered to the patrons? Help with assignments, administration of test make-ups for missed classes, laminating services, bibliographies (example: books on Native Americans), die cuts, photocopy services, Interlibrary Loan (ILL), computers for student use, curriculum books, electronic resources on the internet (the two major ones are EBSCO Host and ProQuest), and library instruction, including tours, presentations in classrooms, and orientations. In addition, the Easter library has over 2,000 LPs, and turntables for utilizing them. Other services include AV equipment booking for classrooms, conference room reservations, and an electric typewriter.
g. What hours is the library open? Summer hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. During the school year, the hours are Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on Sunday.
h. Describe the size and scope of the collection, including circulation statistics. It contains over 112,000 volumes, over 16,000 regularly received paper and electronic periodical titles, thousands of music scores and multimedia materials, collections of children’s literature, curriculum materials, and pamphlets. There is a media center within the library, holding Elementary and Secondary textbooks for grades k-12. The largest circulation is in Bible related materials in the BR-BX field with 3,610 items borrowed to date in the 2010-2011college fiscal year (College Fiscal Year=July 1-June 30). These statistics were pulled on May 25, 2011 and included statistics through April 2011. The following is a breakdown of remaining collection statistics:
Collection Statistics, 2010-2011
Class | Total | Class | Total |
A-BQ | 583 | L-N | 408 |
BR-BX | 3610 | P-PZ | 763 |
C-D | 468 | Q-Z | 600 |
E-G | 565 | Audiocassettes | 12 |
H-K | 735 | CD’s | 93 |
Curriculum k-12 | 337 | CD-ROM | 4 |
DVD | 132 | Games | 0 |
Indexes | 0 | Children’s/YA | 948 |
Kits | 1 | LPs | 1 |
Reference | 18 | Hourly Reserve | 370 |
Overnight Reserves | 257 | Scores | 554 |
Make-Up Tests | 2075 | Video | 104 |
Unknown | 18 | ILL | 470 |
AV Equip. | 119 | RARF | 2 |
Total: 13,247
i. What is the size of the staff? Number of professional and support staff? What staff did you observe? What impression did you get of the staff? Were they businesslike, courteous, and friendly? There are four staff members. Mrs. Martin is the Library Technical Assistant, Mrs. Lyons is the Associate Librarian, Mrs. Olson is the Library Technician, and Mrs. Werner is the director. I observed Mrs. Olson and Mrs. Werner on my visit, and both were very courteous and businesslike, offering me assistance. Mrs. Werner gave me approximately 90 minutes of her time, and hand wrote out the category titles on the statistics printout for me, as I was unfamiliar with the abbreviations (for example, “FYBAC”=Audiocassettes and “FYBT”=Make-up Tests, et cetera). They both appeared happy to help me with my inquiries.
j. What technology is used? The library has a black & white printer, color printer, color copier, black & white copier, scanner, laminator, and classroom equipment including Elmos and Smartboards.
k. What type and level of visibility in social media (Facebook, Flickr, etc.) does the library have? Mrs. Werner would like to get the library on Facebook, but has not yet found time to do so. A lot of departments on campus, she pointed out, are on Facebook, as is she personally. The library is most visible via its website.
l. Do you think you would like to work here? Itemize the plusses and minuses. I believe I would like to work here. Mrs. Werner stated that her favorite part of her job was “working with college students” and she enjoys the variety of her role, as she does everything from acquisitions to cataloging. Her least favorite part was when she has to get students to pay their bills. Also, as a director, she said you have to make unpopular decisions, such as with the budget—what gets cut? Additionally, she cited the “grunt” work, saying “We do everything—the shelving, the books, et cetera.” Mrs. Werner mentioned that there are also unlimited calls from vendors trying to sell products that the budget simply cannot afford. I believe the plusses outweigh the minuses, as these drawbacks appear to be prevalent in all types of libraries.
5. What did you leave with? I liked this library. I was impressed that it is recognized for outstanding holdings in several areas, especially creationism and Biblical studies. I was intrigued by it’s over 2,000 LPs, and found myself wanting to browse them and perhaps give a few a spin on the turntable. I would love to lounge with a book outside on its veranda, under a fan.
6. Reflections: I now see Academic libraries as a possible avenue for me, whereas I had been totally opposed to the idea before this visit. I believe part of my opposition had been that I perceived them as too anonymous, too impersonal, in the sense that I didn’t that librarians would come to know the students on a personal basis, as they would in a school library. I seek a professional home where I can relate to and know my clientele, and I now see an academic library at a small college as a definite possibility for me.
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