Athens State University (ASU) operates a modern library facility with an adequate number of qualified and experienced staff. The Library’s physical holdings, when supplemented by network agreements and electronically accessible materials, provide adequate to excellent support for the undergraduate programs of the institution. The ASU Library mission reflects the institutional goal of providing and maintaining appropriate learning resources which support student learning, quality teaching, scholarly research, diversity, and technological proficiency. The ASU Library also strives to provide services that support the University’s mission to prepare students for professional careers, graduate school, lifelong learning, and which provide for personal and public enrichment.

The Library facility was completed in 1996. The facility encompasses a total of 32,000 square feet, including office and work space, stacks area, open seating for approximately 280 patrons, group study rooms, a classroom, and 16 computer stations for student use. The campus wireless Internet connection also allows students to connect and work from personal laptop computers in the Library as well as other campus buildings. Student computers are equipped with Microsoft Office and provide Internet access to platforms such as Blackboard, Tegrity, Wimba, and LiveText, all of which support both distance education and traditional classroom learning. A high speed printer and a copier are also available for student use.

In addition, the Library houses an Archives collection focusing on University and area history.

Collection Analysis

The ASU Library supports the University’s educational mission by housing and providing access to a collection of approximately 119,000 print volumes, over 62,000 electronic books, more than 18,800 current electronic periodical titles, and subscriptions to over 220 current periodicals and newspapers in print. Through the Library’s webpage, ASU students, faculty, and staff can access 38 paid subscription databases and over 200 free websites selected for their appropriateness to the University’s degree programs. Full-text electronic journals and e-books by discipline are also available. In addition, 38 full-text databases and seven citation-only databases are available through the Alabama Virtual Library.

The composition of the Library collection closely reflects the variety of degree programs offered at ASU. Approximately 86% of the print materials directly support the current degree programs. The largest collections are in history, English, education, and religion; strong collections also exist in political science, management, and sociology. The Library also houses a sizable collection of juvenile books and K-12 textbooks to support programs offered by the College of Education. The University Archives are housed in the Library and provide access to a unique collection of materials focusing on the history of Athens State University and the local area. Over 99.5% of the Library collection is in the English language. More than 55% of the print volumes and approximately 95% of the electronic books were published within the last 20 years. However, several areas of the print collection, especially in the sciences, are dated, with a large proportion of materials over 30 years old. This is somewhat alleviated by the currency of the electronic book collection, which includes over 2,000 books in the sciences and technology and over 2,500 in computer science.

The ASU Library uses two primary methods to ensure that its collection adequately supports the needs of students and faculty. First, librarians work directly with faculty to determine the adequacy of the collection and to build the collection to fill current and projected needs. One librarian is assigned to each College as a library liaison. These liaisons maintain contact with the faculty to insure faculty input in building the Library’s collection to support research and instruction. Choice book reviews are circulated by the library liaisons to the academic departments for faculty review and recommendation, and the liaisons regularly contact teaching faculty with information about new publications that might be of interest. A member of the Library faculty serves on the University’s Curriculum Committee and keeps the Library apprised of new courses which may need additional Library support. The Library also collects course syllabi on a regular basis to review both class assignments and reading lists. In addition, during the new faculty orientation each fall, new faculty members are invited by the Library director to complete a form outlining their teaching and research areas and noting any collection areas in which they perceive weaknesses. Information from all these sources is used to determine areas of need and to enhance the collection.

Second, the formal Library assessment plan utilizes results from three instruments: a survey developed by the Association of Research Libraries, LibQUAL+; focus groups with equal representation from campus, university center, and distance education populations; and an internally-developed survey that is distributed proportionately to the various campus populations. These instruments are used in sequence over a three-year rotation cycle. The LibQUAL+ survey includes questions dealing with the appropriateness and currency of the collection and its ease of use. Results are consistently positive. Responses to the 2007 LibQUAL+ assessment questions regarding the collection were well above the minimum. This most recent comparison rated the Athens State University Library among the top 10% in all categories when compared to similar libraries. Comments from recent focus group sessions identifying any weaknesses of the collection are investigated and taken into consideration when acquisition decisions are made. Responses from internal surveys are generally favorable and these results are also considered in acquisition decisions.

The Library’s collections are evaluated and weeded on an ongoing basis. The Library’s online subscription to the Resources for College Libraries (RCL) service provides for comparison of local holdings against those recommended by RCL. .

User Access and Privileges

All ASU students, faculty, and staff have full access and user privileges to the physical collections, facilities, and services of the Library. To serve Athens State University’s student population, full and part-time faculty, staff, and community users, the Library is open seven days a week for a total of 75 hours per week during each semester. Professional librarians staff the reference desk 70 hours per week.

The Library places special emphasis on providing adequate access to holdings by students who are enrolled in distance education courses. All electronic resources are available off campus to students and faculty through proxy server authentication. Records for over 18,800 electronic journals accessible through the Library’s subscription databases have been loaded into the Library’s catalog, providing direct links to the content of these periodicals. The full text of more than 60,000 electronic books can be accessed through the online catalog as well. Membership in The Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL) consortium has allowed the Library to subscribe to many research and scholarly databases at a reduced cost. Other databases focusing on academic, school, and personal research needs are provided at no cost to the institution through the Alabama Virtual Library (AVL), a service funded by the state legislature. ASU students and faculty may also obtain an AVL card free at the Library circulation desk.

Reciprocal borrowing agreements with ten local and regional colleges and universities allow faculty and students to identify and acquire materials from libraries that may be closer to home or have more specialized collections. Participating institutions include Alabama A & M University, Calhoun Community College, Faulkner University, Northeast Community College, Northwest Community College, Snead State Community College, University of Alabama Huntsville, University of North Alabama, and Wallace State Community College.

The ASU Library also provides Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service for faculty and students, enabling the Library to acquire needed materials that cannot be accessed or acquired locally. Through membership in NAAL, a courier service is available to transport requested materials between libraries across the state. Items not available from NAAL libraries are acquired through the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) interlibrary loan service. Students who live more than 30 miles from Athens and have no scheduled main campus classes can request that materials physically held at the ASU Library, as well as items requested through ILL, be mailed to their homes or delivered by courier to the closest University Center. This delivery service allows the Library to guarantee access to necessary research materials for distance education students.

The Library maintains an active library instruction program for ASU students and faculty. Reference service is provided during all hours of Library operation. Reference assistance is available face-to-face, by telephone, or through email. Library instruction components have been integrated into required classes in the College of Business and the College of Education, and one-credit-hour elective classes in library research skills are offered in both the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Business. The University Curriculum Committee recently approved a one-hour course to provide a required library instruction course for students in the College of Arts and Sciences, beginning in the fall semester of 2010. Librarians regularly present instructional programs to face-to-face classes both on-site and off-campus. Instructional materials, including a Library Tutorial, are provided through the Library’s webpage. Subject-specific instructional handouts, Power Point presentations, and Tegrity videos on library services and resources are made available to many classes at the request of faculty. The electronically embedded librarian program brings librarians into distance education classes as teaching assistants, providing direct communication and assignment-specific instruction to students through Blackboard.

Other Learning Resources

The University also operates three specialized laboratories to supplement instruction related to selected skills in undergraduate coursework. These labs are: 1) the Writing Center, 2) the Accounting Lab, and 3) the Math Lab.

The Writing Center operates under the direction of a Faculty Director from the English Department. The Center is staffed by knowledgeable English majors who are selected by the Faculty Director. The staff provides personal tutorial assistance to students who voluntarily seek the services. Assistance to students may be rendered in person, via email, or by telephone. The Writing Center operates approximately 30 hours per week, generally during regular business hours.

The Accounting Lab operates under the supervision of a faculty member from the Accounting Department. The lab is staffed by students identified as knowledgeable accounting majors by the faculty supervisor. The student staff provides personal tutorial assistance to students in person and through email, fax, or telephone. The scheduled hours of operation for the Accounting Lab total about 25 hours per week.

The Math Lab provides a supportive learning environment that is designed to meet the mathematics learning needs of all students enrolled in ASU mathematics courses. The lab is staffed by knowledgeable mathematics majors selected by a Faculty Director from the Mathematics Department. The Math Lab tutors assist students during hours of operation by offering individual or small-group tutorials, providing access to computers with specific mathematical software, providing access to DVD’s or other audio-video methods of supplemental instruction, and providing access to reference materials. Tutors can be reached by telephone to clarify simple concepts or to make an appointment for one-on-one assistance. Hours of operation vary depending on the schedules of the tutors. In recent semesters the Lab has operated Monday through Thursday for a combined 37 hours per week.