Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
There is convincing evidence that academic libraries are used less frequently for research than in the past, due to the advent of the Internet. This begs the question: what role does the current library have for students? It can be argued that we simply need to convince students and faculty of library viability, or, another route would be to give students what they are asking for. And textbooks, via course reserves, are what they request most at Grossmont College. Collection development policies typically contain some verbiage that equates to “the library does not collect textbooks, unless they are donated by faculty.” Grossmont College Library, however, recently reexamined its philosophical approach to reserves and refined its collection development policy and reserves policies and procedures as a result. The end product was a much more user-friendly, viable, and timely reserves collection that included onthe- spot service. Getting to that result was not without its challenges, however. Many policies and procedures had to be rethought and revised in tandem with these changes.