One of our greatest joys at WiLS is hearing our members tell the stories of the big and important work they are doing – interesting new projects or initiatives, or even interesting and new approaches to old projects. And, in addition to hearing about it, it makes us even happier when we can share those stories with other members. Each month, WiLS is proud to feature an interview with one of our library members. This month, we interview Pete Gilbert, Director of the Seeley G. Mudd Library at Lawrence University in Appleton.
Why did you, personally, choose to work in libraries?
There are two stories: 1) We were living near La Crosse and I was spending all my free time hanging out with our older daughter Emily (age 3 at the time) in the La Crosse Public Library. Emily was teaching herself to read with big piles of library books. I was looking around, slightly bemused by the fact that people actually got paid to work in libraries. I thought, “How can I get in on that scam?” 2) I was 10 years out from college, underemployed, and thinking I wanted to go to grad school. I had a broad liberal arts education so I was interested in everything. What could I study that would allow me to be interested in everything? Hmmm, let’s think…
Both stories are true.
What is unique about the culture of your library system and membership? How do you influence it?
I don’t know how unique our culture is, but the Mudd is extraordinarily responsive to community needs. Collection decisions are driven by the (ever-changing) curriculum, services decisions are driven by the changing needs of the students and faculty, staffing configurations are driven by the changing curriculum and the changing needs of our community. If I were to describe the culture of our library in three words (and why not?), I’d say Engaged, Connected, and Fun.
I influence it by getting out of the way and letting a bunch of very engaged, connected, and fun people do their jobs.
What do you think is important to know about the patrons or community you work with? What helps you understand those needs?
From the outside, our community looks pretty much the same year to year: students, faculty, staff – all doing the teaching and learning thing. From the inside, however, it’s very different year to year. Each class of students has a different set of experiences so everything is always new. That makes it an ongoing adventure.
We try to stay in close touch with our community and their changing needs through surveys, formal and informal, and through regular conversations.
What big ideas are being worked on at your system or member libraries? What problems are being solved?
We’re working on lots of stuff; we haven’t solved anything. That’s part of the adventure.
We’ve created something called the Mudd User Experience Task Force (MUET), a small group of people who have as their charge making the library experience better for our users: students, faculty, and staff. They have a small budget but have been able to do several very interesting things.
We have a (relatively) new makerspace. It was initially grant-funded and so had a lot of interest and support – for the length of the grant. Now the project is to expand the user base and figure out how a “maker pedagogy” fits into the Library and into the curriculum.
We’re working on plans to bring the Center for Academic Success into the library building. They do academic support of all kinds and are currently in the basement of an academic building. We already have Technology Services in the building; with CAS on site, we’ll have one-stop shopping for students. That seems like a recipe for success.
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These interviews are part of a series of interviews with both WiLS library and vendor partners. Your feedback is appreciated. If you have any to offer on this article, or suggestions for upcoming interviews, contact Andrea Coffin at acoffin@wils.org.