Looking back...

Thing 5 and the chance to reflect on what I've learnt so far. It's also another much needed breather after the exertions of the last few days!

On the 7.35am Amtrak train from Michigan into Chicago yesterday, I was thinking about sleep mainly but also had some time to contemplate what I've taken away from my time in Grand Rapids! I started to make a list of some of the things which GVSU's Library Service offers which differ from what we do back at Kingston University:

1. Peer-to-peer learning: Encouraging student engagement was a key theme emanating from the discussions I had with staff and students at GVSU. This involves taking a very much hands-off approach to management of the learning environment; leaving students and the student workers staffing the helpdesks to it to a large extent (and within reasonable limits) so that they get a sense of ownership. It has been a very deliberate development which stems from research which library staff have conducted into the ways in which students learn. Student engagement will be stressed even further when the Mary Idema Pew building opens next year, with students strongly encouraged to use the building how they see fit. Students will also be on hand to offer research support and to help with offer academic skills training to other students in the Knowledge Market area which is regarded as "the heartbeat" of the new building. The LRCs do have involvement in peer-to-peer learning at Kingston University too but not nearly to the extent than is starting to happen at GVSU.

2. Patron Driven Acquisitions (PDA): A large proportion of e-books made available to GVSU patrons through the Summon library catalogue will never be used. The library pays a lease for those items which are used, with a proportion of each item’s cost incurred when the item is downloaded. If the item is used over a certain number of times then it will be purchased. The overall higher cost for each item purchased (the cost of leasing these items a number of times on top of the purchase cost) is negated by the fact that each item purchased will definitely have some use value. (This is something which is currently being piloted on a smaller scale at KU but has not been engrained into procedures in the same way as at GVSU). In document delivery terms, there are set parameters whereby if a requested book has been published recently enough and is not too expensive then it will be purchased by the library. I noted with interest that other libraries in the Michigan area and elsewhere in the States are now offering a Print on Demand service, similar to one I saw in a local independent bookstore in the downtown area:

A Print on Demand machine at Schuler's Books

3. Virtual chat and text messaging services: GVSU has had many years of experience with Virtual Chat services, beginning in the late 1990s with Question Point (through OCLC) being used to field chat enquires received from various providers (AOL, Yahoo, ICQ and so on). Meebo was eventually chosen as the preferred service as the number of enquiries received from other services declined. This is now embedded in the ‘Contact Us’ option on the GVSU Libraries website but is still only really used for the more straightforward enquiries. Staff at GVSU spoke with me about other ways in which it might be feasible to try to use chat for more in depth enquiries in future and to get feedback on these enquiries. Many retail companies in the States are apparently now very good at providing online assistance through chat. An 'Ask a Librarian' web chat service is something which we are looking to implement at Kingston in the near future.

4. Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS): I was interested to hear how these can save millions in building costs because of the reduction in shelving space required. The Steelcase Library, for example would have had to be three storey’s higher to accommodate all the items stored in its ASRS at the Pew Campus! As only the 3^rd library to have installed an ASRS in the States and the very 1^st to use it for a circulating collection, GVSU remain experts in this new technology and have had a lot to teach other libraries, including the University of Chicago’s Mansueto Library which I will look forward to visiting on Friday.

5. Evidence-Based Practice: I attended a Summer School event in Stuttgart back in 2008 on the theoretical side of EBP in libraries but have not seen it used in reality until I came to GVSU. Observational studies on how students use the building or go about searching for research materials using the catalogue are common practise. These resulted in the use of a single search box, for instance and were key in feeding into the design of the Mary Idema Pew Library. Reference (or Subject) Librarians will also track all of their enquiries via a free piece of software called LibStats. This gives them key data on what areas they should focus upon and also builds up a useful database which they and other librarians can call upon to answer future questions.

Above all, looking back I have been extremely lucky to have been able to participate this staff exchange and am especially grateful to the staff over in Michigan for their amazing hospitality. They really took the time out to make me feel welcome and to help me with my research project. Many staff expressed an interest in conducting a visit to Kingston University during the Meet & Greet the other day and I would certainly look forward to welcoming them to the UK.

Saturday I was entrusted with piloting a motorboat (would you believe?!) which I drive out onto Lake Michigan for a picnic - just one of many fun excursions which GVSU’s library staff have treated me to over here.  Later I headed downtown to see the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS(!!) in what was frontman Anthony Kiedus’s homecoming gig! And pretty awesome it was too. Sunday was a more sedate affair, with a trip down to Tabor Hill Winery near Kalamazoo:

Give it away now! The Chili Peppers at Grand Rapids

Even the chocolates are works of art in Michigan! (Pictured at Tabor Hill Winery)

Whirlwind tour...

I've now had my first taste of libraries in the American Midwest. I've also tried something called a "Javalanche", some "Crack Fries" and Founders "Double Trouble" IPA!

It has been impressive to see that even this relatively small town (which was essentially mere corn fields until around 150 years ago) has put so much into its libraries. The main public library of the eight branch Grand Rapids Public Libaries (GVPL) system is a grand building. Dating back to 1904, it took the Victoria and Albert Museum as its inspiration, with a small entrance opening out into a vast, ornate foyer for added "wow" factor. This is flanked by dual marble staircases, leading up to elegant reading rooms (pictured): 

The Main Library (one of eight public library branches in Grand Rapids)

owes some of its architecture to the Victoria & Albert Museum (below)

(Photo by Lara300 on Photobucket)

One of GRPL's reading rooms, complete with working fireplace

I had the privilege of a behind the scenes tour, where I found yet more art and sculpture (it's becoming something of a recurring theme). I was also shown around the library's furniture archive, with volumes in both English and French interspersed here with examples of the furniture itself, more of which are dotted around the building. Furniture is a big industry in Grand Rapids and has played a massive part in the growth of the town. Philanthropy is also a huge deal in the States, with almost every building having the name of some wealthy benefactor or other in front of it. 

The building was renovated in 2001 when it also had a new extension added to it. This is a bright and modern part of the building but a great deal of work has gone into ensuring this is in keeping with the rest of the building. The new area hosts some great ideas, including Book Discussion Kits, a Small Business Resources Center and a book display in the shape of a fire truck. Kids are encouraged to create their own displays too:

Toy Story display put together by children who visited the library



The new part of the buiding houses some interesting and funky artwork



Book Discussion Kits: several copies of the book can be borrwed at once.
These are stored in rucksacks which include notes all about the books..

Many of the donors who have supported libraries in Grand Rapids are related to the Steelcase company in some way. Steelcase is the seventh largest company in Grand Rapids and also sponsors the main University library at the Pew Campus, located downtown. In the year 2000, this was only the 3rd library in the USA to install an Automated Retrieval System (ARS).. which soon became an Automated Storage Retrieval System (ASRS) due to the slight acronym issue, although library staff simply call it SPOT, after the dog ("because it fetches things"). I was lucky enough to see the innards of the system which rather cleverly will retrieve a crate based upon the barcode of any requested book. The book can then be removed from the crate, borrowed and then allocated to any one of several hundred crates when it returns. 250,000 items are stored in this way at the Steelcase:

Inside the ASRS: A robot selects and retrieves crates

The Steelcase Library's main reading room includes more smart furniture

 

Eiona Van Gent's "Cabinet of Wonder" sits at
the very end of the Steelcase reading room

My trip has been mainly work-based so far but I did get a couple of hours to look around downtown Grand Rapids yesterday evening. My impression is of a town which is very much developing all the time. It centres around the Grand River (shown here) with a growing range of art and cultural centres on its banks, as well as historical buildings like the Gerald Ford Museum where the ex-President and his wife are buried.

Overlooking the Grand River in Downtown Grand Rapids