City's New Chief Librarian

n mid-August the City College welcomed its new Chief Librarian, Pamela Gillespie. She succeeds Professor Ruth Henderson who served four years as Acting Chief Librarian. Professor Gillespie most recently served as Hunter College's Associate Librarian for Systems and Technical Services. She has a background in computer systems, cataloging, NOTIS management (the CUNY libraries' online system), electronic publishing, and collection development in Computer Science and Hebrew and Jewish Social Studies.

Raised in Texas, Professor Gillespie earned a B.A. in Journalism from Trinity University, San Antonio, an MS Ed. from Baruch, and an M.S. in Library Service from Columbia. Recently Circumspice's editor and Professor Gillespie discussed academic librarianship today and her specific plans for the City College Library.

Ed. How will academic libraries best serve their constituencies today?
P.G. I think of public higher education in NYC as serving a clientele different from academia as a whole. Look at the user population. It's not upper-middle class. The finding that 54% of CUNY students have computers in the home is skewed; it's not that high here. We're providing information access and resources to a clientele that does not have such information at its fingertips. The library is their link to the information universe - printed as well as Internet access. We are the gateway to the printed word, to resource access in-house and globally.

Ed. Are librarians' roles changing?
P.G. Absolutely. The librarian is less a keeper of materials and more of an information resource expert. The librarian should be a facilitator for access to research materials and information wherever they reside. The role of the information professional is to guide the access in an appropriate way for whatever level of information, whether she pulls a book off the shelf, sends the student to the stacks, or finds an obscure resource now on the Web. Librarians will be less experts and more facilitators. They have a unique breadth of knowledge and expertise to get to a question's substance and guide the questioner to appropriate resources to answer it. They have the critical thinking skills that make this exchange work. I see the librarian as the 21st century equivalent of a Renaissance man/woman.

Ed. What is a Chief Librarian's role in the continuing education of the staff?
P.G. My role is to encourage and assist in any way I can, not solely financial because that's difficult, but to find opportunities for professional development and to make sure that people to whom they apply are aware and are given the opportunity to take advantage of those opportunities.

Ed. Do you see changes in the roles of the support staff?
P.G. There's a professionalization of this support - a lot of the standardized processes, e.g. materials processing, acquisitions, are now being managed by professional support staff, many of whom have college degrees. This is appropriate because they have the specialized training which allows them to be effective and comfortable in these roles and to provide a high caliber of service. I wish we could reward this service more.

Ed. What's been your first order of business?
P.G. Expanding library hours - opening Sundays during the semester in the Cohen and Sci/Eng Libraries. I did this because of two impressions. The first was the number of City's students who used Hunter's library on Sunday. There was a need. I also saw the tremendous number of students in our libraries during the week - it seemed possible that we'd have a good turnout on Sunday as well. Also, it's a different place from Hunter. There, many students run in, photocopy, and leave. Here, students stake out their space and stay for a significantly longer time.

Ed. What do you hope to change or introduce your first year?
P.G. I'll expand the library's instructional program - more classes within departments, expanding the teaching role of librarians. We'll do more subject specialization instruction geared to students' research interests. We're upgrading the technical infrastructure and streamlining some of our services such as Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery.

Ed. Is it important to increase the library's visibility?
P.G. I don't think you can ever do too much PR. It's important to point out to people what's different as time goes by. In every forum I've been to, I've mentioned that hours have expanded. I'd like to make sure that when I introduce a new service or facility, it's well publicized. People shouldn't find out about things serendipitously, especially in terms of services.

Ed. What about budgetary constraints?
P.G. I don't see dramatic budget improvement until enrollment figures improve, and even then it will be a small increase. We must be more aggressive in looking for alternate financing - get off the campus and start pitching where other institutions are looking for funds. It's very competitive out there, but with properly structured, realistic proposals, we can get alternate funding. We'll focus too on maximizing on-campus funding sources. Another funding avenue to scrupulously cultivate is the Friends of the Library. I hope to increase its activities, membership, and visibility. We all gain in having an active Friends group.

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