College and Research Libraries


B y B A R C U S T I C H E N O R 

Teaching Materials Service 

Miss Tichenor is librarian, Ball State 

Teachers College, Muncie, Ind. 

TH E T E A C H I N G M A T E R I A L S SERVICE a t B a l l State T e a c h e r s C o l l e g e is a de-
partment of the library. I t is the campus 

center for the collection, preparation, and 

circulation of visual and auditory teach-

ing aids. T h e problems involved in its 

administration and the problems of library 

administration are so similar that the 

affiliation between the t w o is a logical one. 

T h e field of visual and auditory aids is a 

limitless one on which w e have as yet 

scarcely scratched the surface although w e 

have done enough to see distinct results. 

M a n y of you may have accomplished far 

more in this line than w e have done. If 

so, you appreciate the urge to extend which 

w e feel. 

What is teaching materials service? 

First of all, it is a highly organized col-

lection of materials, other than printed 

books, which may be used to illustrate any 

phase of teaching. T h e collection includes 

a w i d e range of objects among which are 

samples of textiles, swatches of fabrics, 

charts, maps, pieces of wood carving, 

replicas, specimens of various kinds of 

glass and china, costume dolls, furniture 

in miniature, mounted birds and animals, 

pictures, slides, films, and p r o j e c t o r s — i n 

fact, anything that could be used to ad-

vantage in giving a child a clear concep-

tion of an object or an idea. 

In the second place, the teaching mate-

rials service is a workshop. T h e workshop 

is available to individuals or to groups of 

students. T h e staff members give aid and 

advice and furnish materials to persons 

w h o are w i l l i n g to donate to the depart-

ment any w o r t h - w h i l e project prepared 

there. T h i s project may be any of a 

variety of pieces of w o r k ranging from the 

mounting of an o w l or an opossum to the 

creation of a puppet theatre or the prepara-

tion of a film. 

What are the objectives of this depart-

ment? T h e objectives which it strives to 

attain are of t w o kinds. O n e of them is 

campus economy. M a k i n g the collection 

and the services available to the w h o l e 

campus cuts down drastically on the need 

for separate departmental duplications in 

equipment and material as w e l l as in fac-

ulty requests for film loans from off the 

campus. A l s o , it is the center for the up-

keep and repair of equipment. F u r t h e r -

more, it gives a unity and permanence to 

all of the materials of a visual and audi-

tory nature and it lends speed and easy 

availability to their use. 

In the second place, it has a fine edu-

cational objective. T h i s is neither the 

time nor the place for a presentation of 

the value of visual aids in teaching nor am 

I the person to present it. H o w e v e r , 

through the wise use of these materials the 

instructors are able to make the emotional 

appeal in teaching which turns classroom 

presentations into deep and lasting ex-

periences. F o r this reason the collection 

constitutes a tremendous source of inspira-

tion to faculty members and also to pro-

76 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



spective teachers. Its location in j u x t a -

position to the book collection is a distinct 

advantage. 

How was the service started? T h a t 

was a difficult problem because both the 

clientele and collection had to be devel-

oped. Previous to the organization of this 

department quite a large amount of mate-

rial had been collected here and there on 

the campus but each article w a s thought 

of as the possession of a specific department 

and its existence w a s scarcely known in 

the other departments. A t the time the 

arts area, which is very active here, seemed 

to be the logical one to approach first. It 

grasped the opportunity eagerly and con-

sequently many of the early holdings cen-

tered around the presentation of various 

phases of art. T h e home economics de-

partment too was an early user of these 

services. T h e idea of having a center for 

information about films and for borrowing 

them took hold readily. L a s t year in addi-

tion to the repeated use of films belonging 

to our small film library, the department 

borrowed 846 reels from other sources for 

the use of various instructors. A t present 

the student-teachers as w e l l as all the 

departments on the campus are making 

active use of the services of teaching mate-

rials service. 

Publicity 

What methods of publicity are used? 

In the first place, the director of teaching 

materials service makes as many personal 

contacts w i t h faculty members as possible. 

O n e faculty meeting, held in the depart-

ment, w a s devoted to an explanation of 

the services and to an examination of the 

holdings of the department. College 

classes and classes in the campus laboratory 

school are encouraged to come in groups 

to investigate methods of supplementing 

their reading. A l s o the department ar-

ranges many exhibits which have real value 

for students. Some of them are elaborate, 

as for example, an extensive one on graphic 

arts, and some of them are more simple, 

involving materials which might easily be 

available in the ordinary classroom. Each 

week the director posts on strategic bulle-

tin boards on the campus typed lists of 

the films which she is borrowing for cer-

tain days, so that they may serve as many 

different groups as possible. 

Who administers this activity? It is 

in charge of a person w h o combines the 

fine background of wide teaching expe-

rience w i t h excellent training as a museum 

w o r k e r . T o our regret, w e must admit 

that she does not have adequate assistance. 

If she kept abreast of the w o r k which 

awaits her attention she w o u l d need a 

staff consisting at least of a cataloger, a 

reference worker, a carpenter, a seam-

stress, and several artists, not to mention 

scientists and a corps of boys for showing 

projections. In reality she manages to do 

an immense amount of good w i t h only a 

very small part of that group. O n e of 

the regular library catalogers has helped 

her w i t h her cataloging. F r o m time to 

time she has had the services of a seam-

stress and a carpenter furnished by 

W . P . A . She has had also a y o u n g but 

able artist ( w i t h only high school train-

ing, h o w e v e r ) and has had a great deal 

of student help. A m o n g the qualifications 

for selecting student help are artistic and 

mechanical ability, an interest in elemen-

tary education, a quick and resourceful 

mind, a pleasant personality, a rather w i d e 

knowledge of some one or t w o subject 

fields, an interest in motion pictures, and, 

last but important, a capacity for carrying 

heavy projectors from one end of the 

campus to the other. 

DECEMBER, 1942 77 



Services Given 

What services does teaching materials 

service give? First of all, f r o m time to 

time the director teaches a four-quarter-

hour course entitled, " A u d i o - V i s u a l E d u -

cation." She selects and orders the new 

acquisitions. In addition, she directs all 

of the other activities of her department, a 

partial list of w h i c h includes workshop 

service; reference and loan w o r k on the 

floor; a search through many film catalogs 

for appropriate films to meet the great 

number of faculty requests for loans f r o m 

off -campus sources; training and schedul-

ing student machine operators; training 

and directing students w h o w o r k in the 

d e p a r t m e n t ; directing the preparation, 

upon request, of posters, charts, graphs, 

e t c . ; directing the preparation of materials 

for circulation including map mounting, 

picture framing, and dozens of other pre-

paratory activities; w o r k on the organi-

zation of a campus m u s e u m ; making of a 

record of campus holdings of a similar 

nature in other departments, etc. N e e d -

less to say, only a f e w of these projects 

are being carried on at any one time. T h e 

director finds that one of the most time-

consuming activities in her day is taking 

care of visitors w h o come to study the 

w o r k of the department and to profit by 

methods and activities in use there. 

What groups are served by it? U n -

fortunately, at present, only the faculty 

and the students actually on the campus. 

W h e n the collection and the staff have 

g r o w n to a point w h i c h makes a more 

extensive service feasible, it w i l l be of-

fered. T h e public elementary schools and 

high schools of M u n c i e are given fairly 

adequate service because our students do 

their student teaching in them. 

Typical requests. It might be of in-

terest to repeat here a f e w requests w h i c h 

are typical of the vast number presented 

in the department during the course of 

several days or a w e e k , ( i ) A textile 

designed by T o n y S a r g or D o r o t h y T r o u t 

or R u t h Reeves. ( 2 ) A piece of blown 

glass and a piece of molded glass. ( 3 ) A 

replica w h i c h w i l l show h o w a medieval 

knight's armor actually looks. ( 4 ) A 

piece of hand-carved w o o d . ( 5 ) A doll 

clothed in the costume of a Swedish child. 

( 6 ) A collection of fabrics arranged for 

use in teaching small children the dif-

ference between velvet and satin, linen and 

cotton, etc. ( 7 ) A collection of posters 

portraying graphically etiquette and man-

ners for the adolescent. ( 8 ) A meteorite. 

( 9 ) A framed picture to decorate the 

w a l l s of a student's room. ( 1 0 ) A film or 

film strip w h i c h presents aviation. 

Is the service worthwhile? How do we 

know? T h e answers to these questions 

are intangible and difficult. W e k n o w 

that it is w o r t h w h i l e because of the volume 

which has developed and because of the 

expressions of appreciation which faculty 

members, students, and visitors make. 

78 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES