I love what happens when you find a trail of crumbs that leads to an information cookie. While searching through online databases of library literature, I came across a great article, Dual Use Libraries: Guidelines for Success, by Ken Haycock, which discusses various issues pertaining to the planning of, research about, and success of combined school and public dual use libraries. Haycock describes the dual use library as, “a common physical facility from which library services are provided to two ostensibly different communities of borrowers” and can manifest itself in any of the following environments: school-housed public library, the joint use, combined, or community library, or co-located library (Haycock, 1, 2006). The ideas introduced and tips provided in his article, as well as the extensive two-page list of citations, make for valuable reading for the novice public librarian hoping to devote resources and energy to providing services to teachers. There is one specific point I will bring up here because I have not read it in any other articles used to prepare for this blog assignment. In a paragraph discussing the possible disadvantages of a joint library (school and public), Haycock states that adults may be less inclined to visit the location during school hours because of a “perceived intimidation by an overwhelming student/teen population and presence.” (2, 2006) This may sound abrasive to our student/teen loving senses, but it’s probably quite honest. This made me think that teachers may appreciate having the public library to prepare and research for classes; an environment where they are less likely to run into students and parents associated with their classroom. The teachers I see on Sundays at my public library Student Library shift are likely quite pleased that they can browse, uninterrupted, in a library where they are anonymous.
If you want to read the Haycock article mentioned above, you can find it in Library Trends 54 no4 488-500 Spr 2006.
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