Public Users in the Academic Library

For my term paper in LS 531, I have decided to pursue the topic of the extent to which the general public is served and/or welcomed in the academic library, and the arguments both for and against allowing public, or unaffiliated users access to resources within college and university libraries. A surprisingly substantial number of academic libraries have policies allowing public patrons to borrow books and some also permit them to access databases and online resources. The debate began several decades ago in the middle of the twentieth century when some universities decided that it was in their best interest to open the doors of their libraries to the public. It was the opinion of some librarians that the academic library, whose primary responsibility was the students of its university, also had an obligation to assist other patrons as well.

A survey of college and university libraries conducted in 2001 indicated that a majority of libraries allow access into the library building. However, not as many libraries allowed those users to borrow books. (1) There is a different story with access to online resources. In the same survey, it was determined that about 70 percent of the libraries had canceled their print subscriptions to journals, newspapers, etc. and that they were only available online. (2) It is assumed that authentication is required to access the online journals. The survey also addressed whether the missions of the academic libraries included serving unaffiliated patrons. The majority of the libraries stated that was part of their mission, for various reasons, but about 5 percent stated that it was not part of the mission.(3)

Nova Southeastern University has taken a unique approach to this debate by joining forces with a local public library to create a joint-use facility, that is, one which is open to students, faculty and the general public. Nova Southeastern University is a private university with approximately 19,000 students located in Broward County, Florida. Donald Riggs, the librarian at NSU, first proposed a joint-use library to county officials in 1997. There was a positive response to his idea and eventually a facility was opened to the public in December of 2001. According to Lubans, there are myriad benefits to having a joint-use library. The building is very high-tech, with state of the art computer equipment and wireless connectivity; the library benefits both county residents and NSU students by having materials geared to both groups; the community service mission of the university is fulfilled. "Overall, there's a great pride in the library among the community--students, staff, and the general public. NSU's president, Ray Ferro, Jr. says the library is the soul of the university."(4) The experience of NSU's library project demonstrates how this type of collaboration can positively affect the community around a university.

1. Courtney, Nancy. "Unaffiliated Users' Access to Academic Libraries: A Survey" The Journal of Academic Librarianship 29, no. 1 (January 2003), 4

(2) Ibid., 6

(3) Ibid.

(4) Lubans, John Jr. "A Portrait of Collaborative Leadership: Donald E. Riggs and Nova Southeastern University's Joint-Use Library" Library Administration & Management 16 no. 4 (Fall 2002) 177