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 Vince Mussehl, Library Services Specialist at Chippewa Valley Technical College. Vince and his library are also hosting one of WiLS’ regional meetings on October 3rd and you can join us as well! Register here to attend.
If you have questions about this interview or want to suggest someone for us to interview, contact Andrea Coffin at acoffin@wils.org.
Why did you, personally, choose to work in libraries? I originally went to school to be a high school History/Social Sciences teacher. I loved the subject and wanted to spread it to others. Unfortunately after my first student teaching experience I realized that many of my students didn’t really care about History and that I was often just talking to myself. So I stopped the teaching track but still pursued my history studies. As an undergraduate, I had some pretty awful experiences in the library – especially the huge academic libraries that I had visited. The library was bigger and held more people at one time then my town’s total population. I think if my experiences using the library would have been a bit better I would have been less anxious about the library and about college in general. Eventually I decided that I wanted to help “ease” the students who a.) didn’t really want to be at school in the first place and b.) especially didn’t want to be at the library at all.
What is unique about the culture of your library? How do you influence it? Every college student has a story. CVTC students have life stories. Many are very focused and career-oriented, others need significantly more guidance. One moment you’re helping a student that has three children, another moment you’re helping someone that is just becoming drug and alcohol free, and other times the student just got back from serving our country overseas. They tend to have real struggles or problems, besides those of the more traditional college student.
What do you think is important to know about the patrons or community you work with? What helps you understand those needs? As with most libraries, the students and community like things to be simple. Life is hard. School is difficult. Using the library should be neither. When the logistics of using library services becomes difficult or overly complicated, we’ve lost them. When you type in a title in the catalog it should show up as a result. When you click “print” on the printer it should just print. If our patrons have to put in more work into the library logistics then they will benefit from they will probably not come back. It’s our job to make sure things go smoothly for them.
What big ideas are being worked on at your library? What problems are being solved? CVTC Library went through a long period without any leadership, several years in fact. Over the course of this time things in the library world have significantly changed. We are planning on completely redesigning our web page and web user interface, making finding sources and using library resources much easier. The library is finally integrating our ILS with the college’s student information system. This is a huge win for our students and staff; now if they want to check out a pair of headphones it’s not a five minute process. We are also significantly increasing our technology checkout program. We will be adding iPads to our collection, more laptops, and computers to our study rooms. We added convenience items like graphing calculators and flash drives, as well as fun items like Google Chromecasts. We’re also in the midst of building our fiction collection, including children’s books and young adult materials. Also beginning this semester we’ve launched the library textbook program which basically allows to students to checkout a textbook for a couple hours while they are waiting for financial aid to cover the expense or for a business like Amazon to ship the items. We are also starting a popular DVD collection featuring new releases as well as classics. Probably the most important change is the library’s genera attitude – we will strive to provide excellent customer service to all our patrons.