Library Committee Handbook

Executive Committee

Division Activities

EC discussion with Administrative Council on June 20, 2011:

Activities of Library Divisions

 

 

Core Activities—activities divisions do that must be done

Provide representative to committees:

                Collection Development Committee—purpose is to allow the representative to voice divisional concerns and to learn about collections issues, such as budget setting, fiscal year spending, etc.
                Faculty Review Committee—to evaluate faculty annual reviews and tenure cases

Provide names and bios of reviewers for tenure cases

Approve sabbatical applications—divisions serve as first level of vetting requests for sabbaticals

 

Other activities—activities that divisions CHOOSE to do

Communicate with departments, particularly outside the traditional liaison relationships (medieval studies, environmental sciences are examples)

 

Provides coverage for unit libraries in times of need

 

Work on projects together

 

Benefits

Sense of community

Bring people with similar collections together so common issues can be discussed and everyone can be aware of what is happening with related collections

Librarians feel that their division represents their interests and that they would lose this “voice” under a different structure

 

There is a sense of community in the divisions, particularly for the untenured.  It gives them a chance to talk informally with their tenured colleagues

 

Divisions can solve problems more nimbly than the library as a whole (for example, the staffing crisis in ESSL)