WiLS December 2015 Member Interview: John Pollitz

One of our greatest joys at WiLS is hearing our members tell the stories of the big and important work they are doing – interesting new projects or initiatives, or even interesting and new approaches to old projects.  And, in addition to hearing about it, it makes us even happier when we can share those stories with other members.   Each month, WiLS is proud to feature an interview with one of our library members.  This month, we are very happy to share the insights of John Pollitz, Director of Libraries at UW-Eau Claire and current WLA President.

Why did you, personally, choose to work in libraries?

My wife told me. She had always worked in libraries from her days as an undergraduate. I was driving a semi-truck across the Midwest and had never worked in a library but I had an MA in Latin American History. She knew that was a plus for an academic librarian. I quit my job and started library school at the University of Iowa. It was the perfect career for me and it took my wife to convince me of it.

What is unique about the culture of your library? How do you influence it?

Our library culture is extremely student focused. We try achieve a comfortable atmosphere where students can “get into the zone.” We temper this mission with an entrepreneurial spirit where we try new ideas. We have sponsored many social activities in the library. We have service dog visits during midterms and finals. Students will sit and pet the dogs like they were their own pets. We have a game night on the first day of fall semester that brings in over 1,000 students. Most recently we made pancakes for students during finals. Our Chancellor came in to flip flapjacks. None of these events are original creations from our library. I encourage everyone on staff to be aware of innovations that others are doing. When we see something great we adapt it to our situation. My role is to create a work environment that fosters creative thinking and risk taking. Further, it is my responsibility to find the resources to bring ideas to realization.

What do you think is important to know about the patrons or community you work with? What helps you understand those needs?

Five years ago we began actively evaluating how our students use our physical space. We established a space planning committee that began a use mapping project. Every other year we scheduled a week where staff went around the library with maps documenting where students sat and what they did. We used what we learned to rearrange furniture and plan for new space configurations. We have also begun aggregating our circulation data, computer logins, student reference interactions, and attendance in library instruction classes and library events. We are working with our institutional research office to correlate library use with grades, retention and time to graduation. We hope to learn more about how the library promotes retention and facilitates student learning.

What big ideas are being worked on at your library? What problems are being solved?

Our library is continually evolving as a space. As we moved from physical journals and microfilm to electronic format we have opened space for new purpose. The first project was to create a space for tutoring and collaboration. That allowed the Center for Writing Excellence to move into the library. We built on that model by creating a space for the University Honors Program.

As a result of a one-time funding windfall we have entirely redesigned our first floor learning commons. Our lines of computer workstations were showing their wear and we were realizing that they were very cramped with no space for student backpacks and books. Because tours of potential students regularly come into the library entrance where our student guides talk about all of the library services we wanted to make our library look as welcoming as possible.

Library staff early on involved students with the planning of our new space. I think that we came up with a design that will successfully address student study and research patterns for now and the future.

We are also very involved with assessing library use with an eye towards validating the library’s impact on student learning and retention. We were accepted into the first cohort of the Association of College and Research Library Assessment in Action program. Librarian Robin Miller was the lead on this project that assessed our instruction program with our BluGold Seminar, a writing class that all first year students complete. Two years ago we began a data collection program to evaluate library use on grade point average, retention and years to graduation. Our project, which is based on research done at the University of Minnesota, collects data on library computer log-ins, reference questions, attendance at our After Dark game night, interlibrary loan, and circulation. This is a long term project that will student users with their university record information. We protect student records remain anonymous and the data is managed by our Institutional Research Department. So far we have seen that library users’ grade point average is .07 higher than students who don’t use the library. Early indications is that retention rates are better among students who use our services. We still need more data to be able to filter out other things that may impact these results.