Jana here again,

Within the gov't,  most agency libraries were decommissioned in the Reagan
Era.  After that is when my Library began in the late 70s or early 80s.
Since I began, I've advocated for libraries at HUD, HRSA, and AOA (which is
now ACL) and am happy to report that all three now have library services,
but it has taken literally 9 years for some of them to come back on board.

It amazes me what is happening to our libraries.

Jana


On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 10:06 AM, Kraft, Michelle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> What happens to the hospital and the hospital staff when the librarian is
> eliminated?  I have been asking this question for several years.  I have
> wondered if there is a correlation with top hospitals and library services.
> Do more top hospitals have librarians than those that aren't top hospitals?
>  Asking what happens to hospitals that eliminate the librarian is kind of
> the flip side of the question.
>
> There have been hospitals within our system that no longer have librarians
> and we have had to work through various challenges as a result.  Just from
> my observations from personal and others' situations I can say that the
> hospital staff suffer and the hospital doesn't realize any savings.  Often
> the hospital will buy a product (one that was previously negotiated by
> librarians) and they sometimes end up paying more for the subscription,
> fail to leverage it correctly (add off campus access, connect to other full
> text resources, etc), and fail to adequately promote it or educate users on
> it.  Not only might they pay more for the subscription but their ROI is
> miserable because people don't use it.
>
> I think we need a study to see what actually happens when the librarian is
> gone.  We have enough anecdotal evidence to choke a horse, what we need is
> the hard stats, financial implications, etc.  That is more difficult to get
> because the librarians are no longer at the hospital to get this
> information.  But if we could get both information and marry it together
> and if it creates a compelling picture then it needs to be presented in
> mediums that aren't dedicated to medical libraries.  With all due respect
> to our library journals, our doctors, administration, etc. don't read them.
>
> I would also be curious to know if there are library vendors that are
> interested in this problem because ultimately they are impacted as well.
>  As the librarian leaves, the resources are eventually cut.  Even if the
> hospital keeps or returns to a product, the hospital leveraging the product
> poorly will still impact the vendor because they may cut it due to poor
> usage.  I know one hospital (with a library!!!) that paid GOBS of money to
> a vendor for a nursing product.  Unfortunately nursing administration did
> not seek the library's input, nursing did it all on their own.  The product
> was poorly used and was later dumped for another nursing product.  I don't
> know if the new product is suffering the same usage problems but if it is
> being leveraged the same way as the previous one, what makes anyone think
> it won't suffer the same fate?
>
> Unfortunately, research is not my strong point.  Additionally, I think we
> need information from across the United States to make an impact and I
> personally don't have that kind of information.   I have no idea where to
> start with such a large scope project.  I just think it is something that
> we need to consider.
>
> Just my .02 cents as I type to warm up my frozen fingers on a cold snowy
> day.
> Michelle
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Medical Libraries Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Aspri, Jo-Anne
> Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2014 9:28 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: library closing - thanks
>
> Interesting, and congratulations on being held in such high esteem by your
> colleague to the point that she voiced it! I suppose I was fantasizing that
> this might be one potential outcome, to re-hire a librarian LOL. I heard
> privately from one person and this is what she had to say, in part:
>
>         My position was eliminated last July...<snip>   By October, the
> entire collection - all the books and journals - had been moved to the
> dumpster !  The room is now used as temporary office space while another
> area of  the hospital is renovated.   The electronic subscriptions expired
> and since no one knew how to use them or what to do, that was the end of
> that.  So, all they have now is UpToDate.
>
> So much for my fantasy. This is the harsh reality.
>
> Jo-Anne Aspri, MLS | LIBRARY | Kent Hospital | 455 Toll Gate Road |
> Warwick, RI 02886  | 401.737.7010 x31309 | jaspri AT kentri.org
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Medical Libraries Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Sharon Hrabina
> Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2014 9:07 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: library closing - thanks
>
> Your question is actually timely.  Last week I spoke with a former
> colleague who relocated to another state and job.  They had recently closed
> the library there (before she got the job) because of budget cuts.  She
> then told me that she is so frustrated because she would like to get some
> education programs moving (her job) but she doesn't have access to all the
> great resources that you (meaning me) provided.  "I don't know where to go
> to find these things. The internet doesn't provide what I need or if it
> does it takes hours to sift through in order to find the quality of what is
> provided by the library." (Her words)
>
> I said well what are they doing with the library space?  Nothing it is
> just sitting there.  I said well it seems to me the logical thing to do is
> call a meeting and say, "Hey we could hire a librarian!"  I'm not sure she
> will do it but who knows.
>
> So there is your answer that there are some people who have realized no
> librarian means information frustration.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Medical Libraries Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Aspri, Jo-Anne
> Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 5:04 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: library closing - thanks
>
> Yes, I agree; very eloquently stated.
>
> Re: Let's see how they will manage the library without a professional."
>  It got me thinking I wonder how we could discover how these librarian-less
> hospitals DO make out after the elimination of the professional? There must
> be gossip and a rumor-mill that local hospitals and librarians must hear
> about, no? (Maybe that's just a RI thing, LOL!). Nurses frequently work in
> more than one facility, or family members might be a way to learn what is
> going on inside...the health industry is pretty tight.
>
> Jo-Anne Aspri, MLS | LIBRARY | Kent Hospital | 455 Toll Gate Road |
> Warwick, RI 02886  | 401.737.7010 x31309 | jaspri AT kentri.org
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Medical Libraries Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Patti Reynolds
> Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 4:36 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: library closing - thanks
>
> I would like to second the words in this email. It is the people that we
> have taught and touched that will be our legacy. This is true of all
> professionals.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On Jan 22, 2014, at 1:44 PM, "Samuel Bello" <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >
> > Deb Lawless,
> > The attainment of a professional recognition has always been the
> > burden of a scholar. Good professional work speaks longer than the
> > opposite. You have made your positive impact that cannot be swept
> > under the carpet. Let's see how they will manage the library without a
> professional.
> > Samuel Akande Bello
> > Medical Librarian & Head
> > Outreach and Logistics
> > Medical Library
> > College of Medicine
> > University of Ibadan
> > Nigeria
> > +234 8038604108
> >
> >
> > On 22 January 2014 15:58, Lawless, Deborah J.
> > <[log in to unmask]
> >> wrote:
> >
> >> Thank you for all your best wishes and encouragement.  I have been
> >> the solo librarian in our health system for 17 years.  We have 3
> >> hospitals - the third a small one that opened in October.  We had
> >> several rifs and there were rumors floating around at the end of the
> >> year that another round was coming in January.  With 3 hospitals and
> >> family medicine, pharmacy and podiatry residencies I thought I was
> >> "safe."  But the powers that be checked with our pediatric residency
> >> program about library resources and found that only "access" was
> required.
> >>
> >> I was assured that this elimination was strictly budget and number
> >> crunching.  If it had been poor performance, I would have been gone
> >> long ago.  A general announcement will be emailed to associates and
> >> administration will send personal letters to some physicians that
> >> have been regular users explaining the cut and alternatives.
> >>
> >> We just renewed our print and electronic resources for the new year.
> >> Who will oversee these I don't know.  I will contact my Ovid and
> >> Ebsco reps to see if they can conduct some workshops on database
> >> searching for our associates.  But if people don't have time to get
> >> off the floor come to the library to sign out a CPR book, I don't
> >> know who will have time to sit through a class.
> >>
> >> I  am not restricting myself to medical libraries.  I have a BA in
> >> history, and have worked in a theological and an optometry library
> >> before coming to Jacksonville, so I can adapt.
> >>
> >> (Cranking up Gloria Gaynor and Barry Manilow  - right now riding the
> >> roller coaster of ups and downs.)
> >>
> >> Deb Lawless
> >>
> >>
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-- 
Jana C. Liebermann, MLS

ASPE Library

202-690-7297

202-690-8252 (fax)

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