ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries O ctober 1986 / 575 Recruitm ent: A role for the academ ic library? By Ronelle K.H. Thompson and Glenda T. Rhodes Director, Mikkelsen Library Public Services Librarian Augustana College Augustana College Creating a good impression fo r visiting high school students. A ca d e m ic libraries that allow access by the gen­ eral public are used extensively by high school students—often as their primary library and regu­ larly as a supplementary resource. Public services librarians committed to excellent library service to all patrons have difficult decisions to make regard­ ing this user group. Many high school students need assistance in making the transition to academic libraries.1 D i­ vided card catalogs, Library of Congress call num­ bers, multi-floor facilities, and varieties of infor­ m ation form ats all serve as b arriers to the uninitiated. Secondary school patrons are often un­ willing to seek assistance, and they leave the library and the campus without needed, and easily avail­ able, resources. Nor are high school students who visit libraries with their classes guaranteed a positive experience. High school classes present themselves— frequently unannounced— at an academic library to do re­ search. Awed by the size and scope of an academic library and often unsure as to how to proceed, the students do not necessarily make productive use of their time. Unless accompanying teachers are par­ ticularly knowledgeable, or reference staff inter­ 1Juanita W. Buddy, “Orientation to the Univer­ sity Library: The Missing Link,” NASSP Bulletin 66 (1982): 99– 102. cede, high school students can leave with a nega­ tive impression of the library and, possibly, of the college. Clearly, public service librarians realize that high school users need bibliographic instruction and reference assistance, but providing these ser­ vices is generally not a top priority. Changes in the academic environment are creating opportunities for making library service to high school users a pri­ ority. The decrease in high school graduates has re­ sulted in a dramatic increase in competition among colleges. As academic librarians, we are as con­ scious as our faculty or administrative colleagues of the impact of a decreasing student population. The large number of community residents who visit the library, including teachers, businessmen, and high school students, are all potential sources of new stu­ dents for an academic institution. This is particu­ larly true if these visitors’ exposure to the institution through the library creates a favorable impression. A positive library experience can reinforce posi­ tive opinions about the entire institution, as sug­ gested by the authors of guidebooks and articles about selecting a college. “Take a good look at the library,” advises Changing Times.2 “Is it doing a brisk business, or is it nearly deserted? The library 2“Good Colleges That Cost Less,” Changing Times 36 (1982):75–77. 576 / C & R L News won’t be much help to you unless what’s in it is ap­ propriate for your studies and in sufficient supply.” In our library a reciprocal borrowing arrange­ ment between the academic and public libraries has resulted in heavy use of our resources by high school students. Realizing that high school students cannot be easily distinguished from undergradu- Students get a $1 discount coupon fo r their visit. ates in appearance, we have focused special atten­ tion on area high school classes that visit our li­ brary. In the past two years we have developed a struc­ tured approach to such visits. Teachers are re­ quested to call ahead and make arrangements with the public services librarian for class visits. The as­ signment the students will research and the re­ source materials they will need are discussed, and a half-hour bibliographic instruction session with a librarian is arranged. At the library, a librarian reviews with the stu­ dents the resources and strategies needed to com­ plete their assignments. The presentation is fol­ lowed by a brief tour designed to help students locate the resources that have been discussed. The reference staff use the tour portion as an opportu­ nity to talk with the students informally and to re­ inforce the idea that friendly, informed staff are available to help. The students are encouraged to ask for the person conducting the tour if they return to the library with further questions. Thinking of library instruction as a recruiting opportunity, as well as a library service activity, has resulted in some changes in our program. Guides to the library and handouts about specific research tools are now distributed to each student in an attractive packet with general information about the college, supplied by the admissions of­ fice. The session ends with the distribution of a “Thank You for Visiting the Library” discount cou­ pon. Support from a campus idea fund resulted in funding to distribute these coupons to each high school student participating in a class visit to our college library. The coupon is worth a one dollar discount on a purchase in either the campus food service or the campus bookstore. To use the cou­ pon, the student must provide his name, address, high school, and class status. Admissions staff then follow up with letters encouraging the students to consider Augustana when selecting a college. While these embellishments may not be essen­ tial, it is exactly this kind of extra attention that seems to make a difference in selecting a college. Sara Heckscher addresses this point in her review of the factors that influence prospective students: “The small touches make a difference—the cor­ dial receptionist, the cheerful atmosphere of the of­ fice, the welcoming attention to parents, the knowledge of a special student-interest, the will­ ingness to extend a hand and help with directions, the response of a faculty member to a prospective student in the classroom. These are small efforts that added together determine whether or not a student leaves campus eager to attend that institu­ tion or turned off to further consideration.”3 The results of this structured approach to hosting high school students in our library have been en­ couraging. The formal sessions give the librarians an opportunity to direct the classes to the resources that will be most useful as they do research in a col­ lege library. The packet provides students with general library information, as well as information about the college appropriate for prospective stu­ dents. The coupons serve as a catalyst to encourage the students to see more of the campus, specifically the college commons, for a different perspective of campus life, while providing our admissions staff with names for follow-up contacts. The experience addresses student needs. The op­ portunity for high school students to use an aca­ demic library with the benefit of a bibliographic instruction session has been shown to decrease the likelihood that they will be victims of “research shock” as entering freshmen, regardless of the insti­ tution they choose to attend.4 Heckscher found that high school students described the ideal recruiting effort as including “good information on which to base their judgments of good institutions. They seek honesty and genuine consideration. They want to be viewed and responded to in a familiar and personal way. They want a taste of the experi­ ence that awaits them.”5 Participating high school teachers and principals have been enthusiastic, corroborating Angie Le- Clercq’s study, which found that “more than 60 percent of all teachers feel a visit to an academic li­ brary for instruction would be useful.”6 Most grati­ fying, undergraduates remind us that they first vis­ ited our college when their college prep English class came to the library. We feel that library instruction programs for high school students have significant potential. From a recruiting perspective, they are another way for colleges to demonstrate competent, caring attention to students, one that may be especially of 3Sarah S. Heckscher, “To Market, To Market, Jo u r n a l o f C o lle g e A dm ission s, no. 106 (1985):26–28. 4Juanita W. Buddy, op.cit. 5Sarah S. Heckscher, op.cit. 6Angie LeClercq, “The Academic Library/High School Library Connection: Needs Assessment and Proposed Model,” Journal o f A cadem ic L ibrarian ship 12 (1986): 12– 18. ” ­ O ctober 1986 / 577 interest to good students. From a library service perspective, such programs can redirect the work­ load of the public services staff by reducing the amount of required individualized attention to young patrons. Additionally, the subtle recruiting effort provides a rationale for excellent library ser­ vice to high school users that all library employees can understand and justify to colleagues. But most important for our library, the willingness of librar­ ians to suggest and implement this program has demonstrated to our administration that we are in­ deed “team players” and concerned about the insti­ tution as a whole. Academic librarians need to be constantly seek­ ing connections between the goals of excellent li­ brary service and specific goals and objectives of the institution. Making these connections will re­ quire experimentation with programs and promo­ tion of the results. We have found that a role in re­ cruitment, however subtle, provides this kind of connection between our library and its institu­ tion. Library earns high m arks By Jon Eldredge C hief o f Collection and Information Resource Development M edical Center Library, University o f New Mexico Seton Hill College wins a John Cotton Dana Public Relations special award. A n academic library once again has demon­ strated that resourcefulness and creativity are the most essential ingredients in a successful public re­ lations program. This year the Reeves Memorial Library at Seton Hill College in Greensburg, Penn­ sylvania, has won a Special Award in ALA’s John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award Contest. This annual contest, sponsored jointly by the H. W. Wilson Company and the LAMA Public Relations Section, has offered recognition to li­ braries for their outstanding promotional pro­ grams since 1946. The contest features a John Cot­ ton Dana Award for a superb, comprehensive annual PR program and a Special Award for a dis­ crete aspect of an overall PR program. Seven strong entries from academic libraries competed for an award in the contest this year. The library at Seton Hill College won this award for its role in producing a series of sim ple, modestly-priced, yet attractive bookmarks. F i­ nancing the printing costs of these bookmarks rep­ resented the only significant expense involved in this project. The librarians at Seton Hill College wanted promotional materials for their user groups which would be more appropriate than those items produced commercially for other types of libraries. Many academic librarians share this concern for utilizing promotional materials that will be suit­ able for their users. Seton Hill College provides an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum to its 900 students. Greens­ burg is a small city located 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh in the rural foothills of the Allegheny Mountains. Like many undergraduates, the Seton Hill College students tend to possess an incomplete conception of what services a library might be able to supply. It was within this context the library wanted to promote its services. “Most of the pro­