CPR and the Library: Resuscitating
the Heart of The University

(Copyright 1995 by Isaac Hunter Dunlap)

[Twelve Pages]

The notion of the library being the "heart of the university" dates to the 1870's when Harvard's Charles William Eliot first coined the phrase. The idea was readily adopted by the academic library community and it soon became one of the major tenets of library mythology. In recent years, however, the notion of the academic library's central position in university life has been seriously challenged.

A number of factors have contributed to the library's loss of stature including budget shortfalls, new information technologies and the decline of the traditional disciplines in the arts and sciences. Along with these issues, there is a general sense of crisis in higher education as a whole. Many institutions have seemingly lost their identity and sense of vision for their purpose and role in society. Many questions are currently being asked such as: Are universities supposed to be centers of research or centers of education? Should universities continue to be the means by which the values of western civilization are promulgated? Should other cultural norms and values be given equal weight? Should there be a core curriculum, and if so, who should decide what it is? Should universities be in the business of providing a broad-based liberal arts education or a professional education which will give students marketable skills they can use in the "real world?"

Questions such as these are indicative of the confusing nature of higher education in this era. This sense of ambiguity in the university has complicated the mission of the academic library as well. When the major institutions of higher education are unsure of their own purpose it is not surprising that the library, the very "heart of the university," would find itself in a similar state of uncertainty.

The academic library is now forced to ask questions of its own. Where, exactly, does the library fit in the university community? Should the library simply stay the course and muddle its way through or should it be a proactive force on campus? Should the library simply support the curriculum or should it provide a new vision for the university? Can the library reclaim its symbolic central position in the university and provide true educational leadership? Can the library make a difference in the life of college students? Finally, can the academic library resuscitate itself and become an indispensable organ which exudes energy and vitality while providing a unifying force for the university community?

This paper will explore some of the ways the academic library can successfully answer many of these questions. Despite the challenges of the day, there are many opportunities for the resourceful academic library to gradually change the face of higher education. In many cases the library does not have to seek answers from outside its walls, but currently has the power to make great strides if it will creatively tap into the latent strengths it already possesses.

One of the first tasks for the academic library is to reassert its role as a center of education in the university community. This role was well accepted in the nineteenth century when:

        Governing boards, presidents, deans, professors, 
        librarians, and alumni worked together in the accumulation
        of books.  In their efforts to increase the resources and 
        usefulness of the library, they emphasized constantly its
        importance to the university.  With almost no exception 
        these spokesmen agreed that the library should become the 
        focal point of the institution's intellectual life.(1)        

Lip service is still paid to the library as the intellectual center, but in practice this is no longer the case. The faculty tend to view the classroom as their primary teaching domain and the place where "real" education takes place. The library is often seen as little more than a warehouse for books. University administrators tend to see the library as little more than a black hole which perpetually draws university revenues into its dark void. Students, meanwhile, are left with the impression that the main purpose of the library is to provide a quiet place for study.

Despite these stereotypes and unfortunate misunderstandings librarians must muster up their courage and begin believing in, and promoting, a new vision for the library. Libraries need to make themselves an indispensable part of the educational process. This new role should go beyond supporting the general curriculum, although this traditional service cannot be neglected. By intelligently weaving itself into the educational process (of which it is already a critical part), the library can become to be seen as an institution which alumni, faculty and even administrators will want to support rather than "keep on a leash." Perhaps one of the reasons budget cutters target the library is because the library does not appear to "do" anything particularly significant on campus besides spend money.

This lack of productivity was noted (even by librarians) in the 1950's. In 1951 Louis Round Wilson stated, "Although colleges spend a considerable portion of their education budgets for library materials and services, the contribution that libraries make to furthering the educational program is less than it should be."(2) Blame for this problem can be laid on the shoulders of many, but some rightly place the "burden squarely on librarians."(3) Librarians have often failed to reach out to the faculty and have not encouraged them to take full advantage of library resources. Faculty members have traditionally been comfortable relying on textbooks, the classroom lecture, and reserve readings as their educational tools.

If the library has other resources to offer, it is up to librarians to take responsibility for making sure that faculty members are kept up to speed. It should come as no surprise that faculty and librarians do not cooperate and communicate effectively when librarians create "a nearly insuperable barrier by their reluctance to confront the faculty."(4)

It is critical for librarians to reach out to faculty members if the library is to make its claim as "the heart of the university" a reality. Perhaps one of the reasons librarians do not excel in this area is because of a misplaced sense of insecurity. Professional librarians (whether they have faculty status or not) must learn to see themselves as educators in the fullest sense of the word.

       Everybody on campus is a teacher, and unless you 
       understand that you . . . don't understand a campus.
       I think everybody, the dean of students, the police officer, 
       everybody is a teacher . . . [The] campus is a teaching
       center because everybody there has taken on the peculiar 
       responsibility of mentoring young people through this 
       particular stage in their lives.(5) 

Put another way:

        The vital point here is that librarians must think like
        teachers not out of envy or "status seeking," but in order 
        to be good librarians . . . [Many] of us have yet to realize
        that our teacher role is not a faculty-status gimmick . . . 
        but a challenging, even threatening, professional imperative.(6) 

This overarching sense of educational responsibility which librarians possess means they must "go the extra mile" with faculty, administrators--anyone who has a role in the educational process. If librarians are to gain the respect of their university colleagues, they must earn it. Librarians must know what they are talking about and must communicate to their colleagues in the educational enterprise that they have genuine contributions to make. Librarians must build relationships with the various constituencies on campus and commit themselves to this task.

        [Many librarians] see our educational system as having a   
        responsibility to at least open the doors and to provide
        the stimulus that quite often leads to higher levels of
        contribution to society and to themselves . . . Perhaps
        [the teaching faculty] have been so involved in reaching
        their own narrow parameters that they have had little time
        to think about how they can awaken the same kind of 
        intellectual curiosity in others.  As a result, many library 
        programs must be geared to enlisting sympathetic faculty
        who want to find a way to improve their own effectiveness.(7) 

Since librarians are educators, they are the teachers of any individual on campus who is willing to learn. They must establish trust and work diligently to become real partners in the educational enterprise. Unless this groundwork is laid the library will never be the "heart" of the university. It will not have developed the strong arteries and networks necessary to pump life and important nutrients through the campus educational system.

The building of relationships with the faculty and others may be the most difficult part of the process. It is also quite possibly the most important. As this critical work is done, the library must be simultaneously moving to the next level and preparing to make good use of the emerging relationships which are being fostered. William H. Harvey, a biology professor at Earlham College, has discussed the positive relationship which he and his colleagues have experienced while working closely with the library:

       We are a faculty enthusiastic about the value of the library
       as a focus in our courses and are committed to the needs
       of students in library usage.  Enthusiasm is a highly contagious
       disease and it appears that our enthusiasm has paid off; for our
       students are not only motivated to use our libraries . . . but they 
       do so with enthusiasm and skills that I certainly never acquired
       at the same educational level.(8)

It is clear from this statement that faculty members can become extremely supportive of the library if relationships are built and if educational programming is carried out effectively. Students can become excited about libraries as well. It is at this level that the library can make its most profound and lasting educational impact. The library, perhaps as much as any other place on the university campus, has the unique opportunity to open new horizons to students and provide them with the enthusiasm to embrace the spirit of intellectual discourse and inquiry.

The classroom has traditionally been thought of as the place where the "magic" of education takes place as the scholar lectures the student. Unfortunately, librarians have often accepted this as a given and have neglected to take full advantage of the significant opportunities they have to educate and provide a forum for education. The academic library can truly become the intellectual center on campus if librarians will work to make the library a classroom in its own right. Instead of allowing all the "magic" to happen elsewhere, the library should become a significant catalyst for education on campus. Common sense argues that the library should be the place where education reigns supreme. The library is the place where most of the knowledge which has ever been assimilated is housed. It is the very place on campus where all the disciplines on campus are merged in one forum. Indeed, the library is the only place on campus where the "universe" of knowledge comes together in a unified, ordered, systematic fashion. It only makes sense for education to happen at the place where this amazing confluence of knowledge occurs.

The library, at the heart of the university, has the opportunity to make an incredible impact on the lives of individuals and to play a major role in the mission of the university. The library should be the "heart of the university" not only because it is a storehouse of knowledge, but because the values of the library can provide meaning and purpose for those engaged in the intellectual journey of discovery. It is the library which supports the "culture of the book" and is a defender of academic freedom. It is the library which values open access to all types of information and encourages free intellectual inquiry. The skillful librarian can teach students how to employ critical thinking as they go about the process of searching for reliable information. It is in the library where students can be encouraged to understand the presuppositions and bias of an author and to delve into sources which voice minority opinions and offer outlooks which may conflict with the status quo. Librarians must claim the role of educator for themselves.

        The libraries of our colleges and universities are central
        to the educational process that can and must produce the
        reservoir of national leadership to take us safely through
        the decades ahead . . . The academic library's function 
        goes well beyond mere support for the teaching program.
        It has the potential to sharpen a student's intellectual
        curiosities to the point where they will demand satisfaction 
        all his life.  It must use that potential and apply its resources
        to make itself the full partner in the education of the student.(9)

Once the library and individual librarians have built relationships with various groups on campus and have understood their own importance in the educational process, its then time for the real work at the heart of the university to begin.

Classroom space should be available in the library so that professors can be encouraged to hold classes in the heart of the university. The library should encourage such arrangements because (at a minimum) it brings students through the doors and lets them know that faculty and librarians are working together to strengthen their educational experiences. One college president has asked,

        What other service is more valuable than linking together
        scholars without regard to time or distance, bringing
        together today's student with yesterday's teacher, bringing
        together today's scientists with their counterparts halfway
        around the world, bringing the leading authority to those 
        with the greatest need to learn?(10)

Regular educational programming should take place in the library which reflects the intellectual diversity of the greater campus community. There should be panel discussions, author visits, satellite link-ups, lectures on events of the day, dramatic readings, student debates and presentations on social concerns. In some ways these events would take on the character of the nineteenth century student literary societies whose library collections were sometimes stronger than the main university library on campus.

What better place to host such events than the library, the intellectual center of the campus. It makes far more sense to hold such events in the library than in an ordinary classroom which has no particular character or reason for being. The library should make itself the intellectual showcase of the campus. It should be the first place people think of when they think about where the exchange of ideas occurs. Programming of this sort could often be produced rather inexpensively but would have a profound impact on how the library is perceived and experienced.

Presentations of this type can encourage individuals to take greater advantage of the resources the library offers. Students who are intrigued by certain ideas might actually be interested in "digging through the stacks" or surfing the Internet or a CD-ROM database. Technologically competent librarians who have the experience to navigate these resources successfully should assist students in their intellectual queries and pursuits. It is becoming increasingly clear that libraries must continue to embrace new technologies if they are to be the heart of the university in the next century. Academic computing centers and other information providers will threaten the library's standing if it does not take steps to be a major player in the technological revolution currently underway.

As technology continues to transform the classroom and campus environment, librarians must be trained to deal with new problems and questions. Growing databases, the increased digitization of information and the growing capabilities of computer systems means that librarians must be able to competently manipulate information and present it through various media while teaching others to do likewise.

       The world has embarked upon a new era, one that will be
       dominated by information . . . Indeed, information will exert
       such a tremendous force on society that the ability to access,
       extract and otherwise manipulate information will not remain
       the exclusive domain of the information professional . . . [The] 
       librarian will equip the student to navigate the labyrinths of the
       information maze and, in the process, will unlatch the door to
       knowledge.(11)  

A number of ideas about ways to make the academic library an innovative intellectual focal point on campus have been circulating in library literature for some time. One of the most intriguing suggestions is to create an "information amphitheater" which can showcase a number of important information research tools and provide a forum for discussions and presentations. A well designed amphitheater might include computer terminals, video screens, electronic presentation tools and interesting displays.(12)

A variety of themes could be interwoven in the decor of the facility. One of the themes of the amphitheater could be the historical development of technology from papyrii, to Gutenberg, to the laptop. Another could be the history of the library and of the university where it is located. Students (and professors) who are knowledgeable about the history of their institution are in a better position to derive meaning from their efforts and to gain a greater sense of connectedness with the past. It can also teach them to appreciate the incredible resources and services which a modern university library offers.

As the intellectual center of the university, the library also has some responsibility to be socially conscious and to provide forums for helping the university community grapple with the moral, ethical, and societal problems which concern the nation. In Beyond the Ivory Tower: Social Responsibilities of the Modern University, Derek Bok has noted:

       If universities wish to address the many wrongs and injustices
       of society, they might begin by seeking ways to help their
       students become more thoughtful and perceptive about these
       problems . . . [There] is every reason for educational institutions
       to consider how they might use their strategic position to
       encourage students to think more deeply about ethical issues
       and strengthen their powers of moral reasoning.(13)

It makes a great deal of sense for such endeavors to occur in the library. The library contains a wealth of information about the factors which contribute to poverty, homelessness, disease, and other social problems. The academic library has meaningful resources which can help teach students some of the ways their efforts can make a difference in helping alleviate some of the world's suffering and oppression. Speakers and forums can be held which explain the issues and encourage students to learn and responsibly act on their insights. It is not enough for libraries to store the world's knowledge. The library bears some burden for encouraging individuals to make use of this knowledge and to give something back to the larger society. It is the larger society, after all, which supports the educational mission of universities and provides them (and libraries) with the resources which undergird them.

The library which seeks to be the heart of the university has much to do. In addition to performing many of the services mentioned above, all of the services which the academic library has traditionally provided must continue to be in place. The organization must continue to run smoothly as it collects, preserves, organizes, and disseminates information throughout the university community. Librarians who see themselves as educators and at the heart of the educational enterprise, however, will have adopted an attitude which transcends the traditional services approach. They will have bought into the idea that the library of the 21st century is much more than it has ever been before. The academic library is a storehouse of knowledge, a technological information center, a setting for education and a place where ideas can be freely exchanged and debated so that new truth can emerge.

The academic library can definitely reclaim its mantle as the "heart of the university," except this time it will mean something quite different than it did in the nineteenth century. The library of the 21st century will have to be innovative, creative, technologically astute and must cooperate with many entities in order to be successful. It must continue to cherish and emphasize the values which gave it "heart" in the first place. It must always be an institution which is committed to free intellectual inquiry, a storehouse of competing worldviews and an institution which encourages discourse, reflection and new understanding.

A number of questions relating to the aims and objectives of academic libraries were posed at the beginning of this paper. Before attempting to answer these questions a fundamental concern needs to be addressed. Namely, libraries must carefully weigh the consequences of not seeking to be the "heart of the university." It will take an incredible amount of work and initiative to make this symbolic phrase a reality. It may seem a lot easier to forget about trying to live up to some nineteenth century ideal which may have never been true and is an impossible dream anyway. And yet, what will happen to the academic library if it does not cling to such a weighty dream? It is quite possible the library will slowly die if it does not find a means of resuscitating itself.

Computer technology is advancing at such a torrid pace that university administrators may decide the traditional library is not even needed anymore. Even if the printed book does not go the way of the dinosaur, academic libraries are facing a great deal of competition as other information providers are meeting the needs of the university community. Many faculty members, particularly in the sciences, hardly use the campus library at all since the Internet, on-line databases, electronic journals and personal or departmental subscriptions adequately meet their needs. One library director has described the tumultuous state of the library in the following way:

       Academic libraries are at a crossroads.  Technology,
       finances and the changing academy are forcing the library
       profession to reevaluate virtually every feature and function
       of librarianship.  Decisions being made during this turbulent
       time will produce permanent impacts on the academic library
       as we know it.(14)

The academic library cannot afford to take stop-gap measures at this critical juncture in history. Nor is it a time to be reactive or to take a "let's wait and see approach." The academic library must seize the opportunity to take a leadership role and make itself an indispensable part of the university.

       In order to change institutional perception and to again give
       validity to the idea that the library is at the heart of the
       university, the library must consciously increase its visibility,
       connect the library and its staff more completely with the
       teaching, research, and governance structure, and raise the
       library's standing in the university's academic priorities.(15)  

The library should do this not so it can merely save itself. It should do this because there is a historical basis for the library occupying a central role in the life of the university and because it actually has something to contribute. The library is quite possibly the most underutilized resource on the campus.(16) The educational contributions which the library can make are enormous. Although technology threatens the library on some levels, it can also be one of the means by which the library can gain greater prestige. The library can become the "hub" of the campus information network and teach students how to effectively utilize new technologies.

The library must strive to be the heart of the university or it may not have any role at all. Even if the library does not ever become the true heart of the university, at least its leadership and educational efforts will put it in a much stronger position than it would have been in if it had tried to stay the course.

Once an academic library decides it is willing to make the sacrifices which come with leadership, the questions which were posed earlier are easily answered. The library can definitely make a difference in the lives of students. The library can be a proactive force which makes important educational contributions and reaches out to the faculty and administrators in an effort to achieve academic excellence. Innovative leadership can elevate the role and purpose of the library so that it becomes the intellectual center, and a unifying force, for the campus.

The academic library can indeed resuscitate itself and establish itself as the heart of the university. It has the historical precedent, the experience, the expertise, and most importantly, a reason to live.

NOTES

(2)Larry Hardesty, Faculty and the Library (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1991), 2.

(3)Ibid., 7.

(4)Ibid.

(5)Frank Newman, "Academic Libraries and the American Resurgence." In Libraries and the Search for Academic Excellence, ed. Patricia Senn Breivik and Robert Wedgeworth (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988), 178-179.

(6)David Peele, "Librarians as Teachers," Journal of Academic Librarianship 10 (November 1984): 270.

(7)A.P. Marshall, "This Teaching/Learning Thing: Librarians as Educators." In Academic Libraries by the Year 2000, ed. Herbert Poole (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1977), 60-61.

(8)E. Gordon Gee and Patricia Senn Breivik, "Libraries and Learning." In Libraries and the Search for Academic Excellence, ed. Patricia Senn Breivik and Robert Wedgeworth (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988), 37.

(9)Council on Library Resources, 14th Annual Report (Washington, DC: 1970); quoted in A.P. Marshall, "This Teaching/Learning Thing: Librarians as Educators." In Academic Libraries by the Year 2000, ed. Herbert Poole (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1977), 61.

(10)Robert A. Plane, "Books, Libraries, Scholarship, and the Future." In Priorities for Academic Libraries, ed. Thomas J. Galvin and Beverly P. Lynch (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1982), 94.

(11)James A. Hefner and Lelia G. Rhodes, "Excellence in Education: Libraries Facilitating Learning for Minority Students." In Libraries and the Search for Academic Excellence, ed. Patricia Senn Breivik and Robert Wedgeworth (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988), 69-70.

(12)Major R. Owens, "The Academic Library and Education for Leadership." In Libraries and the Search for Academic Excellence, ed. Patricia Senn Breivik and Robert Wedgeworth (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988), 16-19.

(13)Derek Bok, Beyond the Ivory Tower: Social Responsibilities of the Modern University (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1982), 116.

(14)Jacquelyn McCoy, "Re-engineering Academic and Research Libraries," College and Research Libraries News (June 1993): 333.

(15)Peggy Johnson, "Libraries: The Heart of the University OR?" Technicalities 9 (November 1989): 7.

(16)Larry Hardesty, Faculty and the Library (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1991), 2-5.

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