Reader’s Question Answered

Recently, Vishma Bhattarai submitted the following question to Librarian to Librarian:

“How do you think about the significance/value/importance or anything else of SR Ranganathan’s five laws of library science during these days?”

Source: Pinterest.com

Brodart’s Scott Piepenburg, who wrote an article about the five laws, responded: “As a cataloger, I still use these principles when I teach. As of late, there have been many efforts to ‘update’ the five laws to say ‘resource’ rather than ‘book’ and reflect other more modern trends, but when it comes to access and the philosophy of collection development, they are still good, solid, valid, relevant rules. They speak to the very basic, important things that we do as librarians; the technology and resources may have changed, but the goals are the same.”

As for whether the pandemic and extended library closures have impacted his view of Ranganathan’s laws, Scott said, “In my opinion, no. In fact, I think the laws have become more relevant and even more notable in the light of the pandemic. The library still strives to get every reader their book and every book their reader, but more important, libraries have had to change their delivery and resource model, highlighting the fact that ‘the library is a growing organism’ so it can adapt and change with the needs of its users.”

Brodart Selector Suzanne Hawley added, “Isn’t it fascinating and remarkable that the five laws were formulated in 1924 — almost 100 years ago — and they are still invaluable for the library of today? I think the creative ways librarians have been able to serve their patrons and care for their resources during the pandemic shows that, indeed, the library has proven to be a growing organism.”

Brodart Selector Stephanie Campbell concurs that while the laws are still valid, changing circumstances, such as demographics and the rise of social media, are forcing libraries to adapt and develop creative strategies to serve patrons. She says:

“Top of mind thoughts for me regarding the first three laws (Books are for use; Every reader his or her book; Every book its reader) revolve around diversity in collections. Yes, books are for use and we hope that people will read them, but materials are often acquired simply because of their value as works of literature or their importance to society. Now more than ever, you can’t let demographics dictate what you select and you can’t take circulation figures at face value. Marginalized populations NEED to be represented. In a more frivolous example, I’ve often heard, ‘nobody here reads science fiction.’ OK, is that because there aren’t any people here who like that genre or because our collection is awful? Sometimes it’s not obvious who the audience will be or if there will be an audience at all, but you need those materials, anyway.

Laws four and five (Save the time of the reader; A library is a growing organism) make me think about how crucial convenience services are now, how much more our mission has transcended physical walls. This is all wonderful, but will create even more marketing challenges as people have gotten out of the habit of spending time in our buildings. We often relied on ‘preaching to the choir,’ with flyers and posters that catered to in-house customers, or we hoped that regular DVD borrowers might someday venture into the book section. Websites and social media presence are going to be more important than ever to maintain existing users and attract new ones.”

Thank you, Vishma, for submitting your question! We’d love to hear from other readers who have additional questions or comments related to libraries or librarianship.

What Was Your Most Rewarding Experience as a Librarian?

As librarians, we all know on a base level that we’re making a difference, that our work is important. But too often, we lose sight of the key moments that fill us with joy, each true connection quickly overshadowed by the next project on our list.

Our librarians are excited to share the personal memories they turn to for that extra boost of inspiration.

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Julie O’Connor: “Cutting the Ribbon”

It’s difficult to pinpoint the most rewarding experience I’ve had as a librarian since my job is to help libraries with their collection development needs on a daily basis. It’s gratifying to help solve collection development conundrums, whether they be large or small. But if pressed, I think back to one of my first experiences as a project librarian. It was 2005 and Camden County, New Jersey, received funding to build a much-needed library. Their excitement was contagious because the residents and leaders had waited so long for this building. I know everyone is over the moon when a new library opens or is renovated, but experiencing that for the first time was something that will always stay with me.

Fern Hallman: “Seeing is Believing”

I was doing an ongoing vendor selection project and the librarians in that system were not thrilled that I was selecting their books. The library administrators who had decided to hire Brodart to do it that way held a meeting where the local library staff could ask me questions about my process. One of the librarians said she decided to put all of my recent selections on a book cart to really take a hard look at them and discovered that they were all checked out.

Scott Piepenburg: “Blazing a Trail”

My most rewarding experience as a librarian was when I was put in charge of the district automation program for Dallas Independent School District, then the eighth largest school district in the nation. We took 225 schools from only five with any type of automation to full automation in 18 months. This included purchasing and installing computers, creating a district-wide network (none existed at the time), and undertaking a complete retrospective conversion of the shelf lists.

At the time, it was the most extensive automation project in the nation and resulted in the largest school automation project in the United States; we did this while also creating and implementing centralized receiving and cataloging, doing almost 5,000 titles per week. Having no model to follow, as the system administrator, I was quite excited with the project, and pleased how well it turned out.

Stephanie Campbell: “The Stay-Behind”

When I was just starting out as a librarian, I worked in older adult outreach services and was charged with creating engaging programs for residents at nursing homes and assisted living apartments. The divergent mental and physical health issues found in institutional settings, coupled with different backgrounds and experiences, make these seniors a particularly challenging group to entertain. Playful activities such as bingo, crafts, and sing-alongs were the most prevalent among the in-house recreational offerings at that time.

I took a more educational approach, with book talks and brief documentaries on particular topics to encourage conversation. Residents often dozed off during my programs. Others left the room when they got bored. Some stayed just to be polite, then thanked me, and bolted out the door the minute it was over. I performed these programs monthly at multiple facilities and it was wonderful when the topic and the audience were a good match. But even if I could reach just one person, it made it all worthwhile.

I remember one female resident in particular who attended every program I did at that nursing home. One day, as she lingered after the presentation, she told me how much she valued my visits and the material I chose to present, because it made her feel like an adult again, not treated as a child. It was both heartbreaking and gratifying to hear that. I ended up personally delivering books to her outside of work for a while. The power of human connection really hit me, and I began to realize how much I could make a difference in someone’s life.

Suzanne Hawley: “Nothing Beats a ‘Black Tie’ Auction with a Vanna White Lookalike”

In order to get my fifth-graders to read more and write about what they read, I decided to hold a dress-up auction near the end of the school year. The kids read like crazy and wrote about what they’d read. The biggest hurdle for me was to read all the letters…there were at least 90 students writing letters most years! I gave them points, which would be used as dollars to bid with. On the day of the “black tie” auction, we gave each student a paper black bow tie with the number of dollars they had earned. We had an auctioneer and a Vanna White lookalike. Everyone—teachers, students, parents, administrators—were dressed to the nines. I used a book called “Celebrity Addresses” and sent letters to everyone in there I thought the kids would like an autograph or trinket from. It was exciting to watch the items roll in. We received, among other things, an autographed picture from Michael Jordan, a pound (!) of Wrigley bubblegum, an FBI cap, many gift certificates, tapes from popular singers, many coupons for restaurants, and so much more.

Parents manned tables where the kids would go with their ties when they won an item. They’d receive their winnings and the parent would subtract the amount it cost from their balance. I held these auctions in three schools for 20 years. Once a community realized how much fun it was, they began contributing items. We even got bicycles and TVs. Fifth grade was the highest grade in all these schools. Teachers from other grades were invited to bring their classes in to watch for half an hour and in the last schools we could stream it on the TV. The end result was a huge increase enthusiasm for reading in every grade. The kids couldn’t wait to get to fifth grade so they could participate in the auction.

Kat Kan: “A Zoom Surprise and a Virtual Hug”

There have been so many over the several decades that I’ve worked as a librarian. Here is one of the most recent.

A couple of weeks before this writing, as we were leaving our church after the service, I heard someone shouting, “Mrs. Kan! Mrs. Kan!” I turned, and a tall boy came running down the path from the building. He was one of my former students when I was a school librarian. I hadn’t seen him since May 2019. He was one of the quiet ones, always drawing, borrowing books, not saying much. I always looked out for him, to make sure he was feeling comfortable and that he was always welcome in the library. That Sunday he told me how much he missed me, and the library. Then he proudly told me, “I can drive now!”

He has a younger brother, who was not the best student, but did enjoy coming to the school library and always borrowed books to read for fun. This past Sunday, I spoke to their mother; she’s been attending services at our church for about a month now. She told me that her younger son has connected with some of his classmates and former classmates, and they have their own Zoom book club! She told me “It’s all because of you. You helped them to love reading.” She’s clearly proud of her sons, but gave me credit for them becoming readers. I nearly cried.

I work in a public library now, and my department answers our county’s Citizen Information Line to help people with questions about getting tested for COVID-19, registering for vaccinations, and so on. Here, people must register and make appointments for the free COVID-19 tests at the county’s contracted clinic; the website is clunky and rather difficult for most people to navigate. There is no direct way to contact the clinic or the company that designed the website, so we get those calls. Sometimes callers reach us after trying for hours to find information. When I answer the line, I try to be as helpful and comforting as I can be.

Today, I helped a woman who called our line three times (I helped her twice). I stayed on the line with her as she negotiated the website and finally succeeded in setting up appointments for herself and her husband. At the end of the third call, she said, “I don’t know your name, but if I could, I’d give you the biggest hug! You people (meaning my department) are the only ones giving us good information and help! Thank you, we appreciate you so much!” So, helping connect people to books, and helping people get the information they need to help themselves in this pandemic are two aspects of being a librarian. In both cases, just knowing I helped in any small way makes me feel as though I’m doing my part to help the world be a better place.

Gwen Vanderhage: “Cultural Exchange”

One of my most rewarding experiences as a public librarian was helping a population of Eritrean refugees who frequented my branch. The children were voracious readers and consumers of American pop culture. It was fun to help them find books and videos — they always had very specific opinions about what icons they were searching for and authors they were reading, but not always the ones we had on the shelf that day. The parents wanted help navigating and printing forms from government websites and getting matched up with computer tutors. They helped us keep our foreign film collection up to date. These families truly emulated why the library is a hub in every community and we were happy to get to know them each evening.

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Everyone needs encouragement. Hopefully our librarians have helped you feel better about your own work on the frontlines. If we’ve inspired you in any way, we encourage you to share your story.

What’s one of your most-affirming experiences as a librarian? Tell us all about it in the comments below.

The Five Laws of Library Science

By Scott Piepenburg, MLIS

Every profession has some basic philosophies or guidelines that they follow. For doctors, the Hippocratic Oath is perhaps the most well-known. Police officers often adopt the concept of “to protect and serve,” while firefighters often use the phrase “Everyone comes back alive.” Librarians, too, have such a concept of service. This service guide should not be confused with a code of ethics or a code of conduct. It is not a code, but rather a concept, or philosophy, that the profession has used as a guide for what we do.

The most frequently used foundations of philosophy for librarians are often called the five laws of library science or Ranganathan’s Code. They were developed in 1931 by Indian librarian S. R. Ranganathan. While they have been modified and attempts have been made to update them, we will consider them in their original, basic form, as that form has been the most enduring.

For reference, the laws are:

1. Books are for use.
2. Every person his or her book.
3. Every book its reader.
4. Save the time of the reader.
5. The library is a growing organism.

They are very simple, yet together constitute a basic, and evolutionary, path. Let’s briefly walk through the laws and their progression.

1. Books are for use.

This is the foundation of what we as librarians do. We believe that books are to be used. For many centuries, books were inaccessible to users. Because of their value, they were frequently chained down, and only select individuals were allowed access to them. Then, when they became more plentiful, they were still kept locked away because it was felt that the average person should not have free access to them. If you wanted a book, you would write down its location derived from a catalog and “call” for the book at the circulation desk (yes, this is where the phrase call number comes from).

In America, Benjamin Franklin and the founding fathers adopted a more egalitarian philosophy. Books would be readily accessible to users via an “open” collection. This is where the terms closed stacks and open stacks come from. It was believed that in a democracy, the population at large should have access to books, a concept Thomas Jefferson strongly believed in.

2. Every person his or her book.

This second law expands on the first by taking the assumption that books are for use to the next level. It states that each person has a desire, or need, for a book. It is important to note that not every person will want the same book at the same time; on the contrary, it presumes that people will want different books at different times. Even people who are very similar may want different types of books at any given time. Here we accept that all people want, and have a right to, the book they want when they want it. This concept leads us to our next point.

3. Every book its reader.

Having assumed in the first two laws that books are an inherent good and that every person should have access to them, this law looks at the other side: it presumes that every book has a reader. Some books, like those in the “Harry Potter” series, achieve widespread sales and readership. Others, particularly technical or research books, have a much more limited audience. That being said, this law assumes that if a book exits, then somewhere, sometime, there is a reader for that book. This law states that there is a reader for every particular book. It may not be today, and it may not be widespread, but there is a reason for the existence of that book.

4. Save the time of the reader.

This is the first law that points to us as librarians. The first three looked at the source of our existence, both items (or “products”) and customers. Now we are looking at what our purpose is. There are many books, articles, and classes devoted to what we do for our users as librarians, both in public and technical services. But this rule states it very simply: our users’ time is valuable, and it is our obligation to save it. They could spend hours poring over catalogs, databases, finding aids, thesauri, etc., or we could intercede and help them—or disambiguate their search, if you will. We have specialized skills and training to help readers find what they are looking for as efficiently as possible. Our goal is to help every reader find their book, and to help the book find someone who desires the information it contains. These two concepts could be summed up as “reference/cataloging” and “reader’s advisor.”

5. The library is a growing organism.

This last rule reminds us that we are not a static venture. Our users grow and change, books change, and we need to change with them. Notice that the law says “the library” is a growing organism. It presumes that the library is a living, breathing entity. It means that it grows and changes over time. The books we purchase and house in our collections will change with the times and our audience. Libraries in a given location may notice a change in their demographics and devote changes in collection development to address that change. Our collections become dated, many items irrelevant, and like an overgrown garden, we weed our collections and remove those items that don’t have as many readers or readers in that specific location to make space for new books and new readers.

We are not going to go into all the issues of collection and staff development here, but suffice to say that our collections—along with the librarians who tend to them—change, morph, and adapt to evolving times and situations. As our users and resources grow and change, we also must change and grow so that we can be better stewards of those resources.

This is not a comprehensive look at the laws of library science. Indeed, many books and scholarly articles have been written about them. That said, in five short statements, we find the embodiment of what we do, why we do it, and how we can do it effectively. Each day we need to keep those concepts at the heart of our efforts and focus. It is why we are librarians.

Scott Piepenburg is currently the Cataloging Services Manager at Brodart and is the author of the popular Easy MARC series, as well as articles on the future of library automation, the history of disc-based recording technology, and the role of cataloging AV materials for school and public libraries. Click here for more.

 

A Closer Look at Authority Control in MARC Records

By Scott Piepenburg, MLIS

Accuracy of data in cataloging records is critical. A misplaced number or value can impact the ability to import a record into your system, or a misspelled word can render a title or subject lost or irretrievable by your system. There are even provisions in the MARC record to document “incorrect” information as well as its “corrected” form. This is common when an author or publisher will intentionally misspell or rearrange words in the title so the book stands out in the marketplace.

The cataloging community has long recognized the importance of consistency and accuracy in data, particularly in the areas of subjects and names. This has led to controlled vocabularies for subjects, the most notable of these being the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), as well as Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Sears List of Subject Headings (Sears). Through the use of these vocabularies, libraries strive to use consistent and constant terminology for ideas and subjects. This helps to ensure that as users move between public libraries in a geographic area, from school to college, or even online, they will find consistent and definable terms, thereby ensuring successful results.

This consistency extends to the names of people, organizations, and events. The most notable example in the United States is the Library of Congress Name Authority File (NAF). When catalogers enter the name for the author of a book (or a subject, in the case of biographies), they check the NAF to see if the Library of Congress has defined a name for this person. If so, the library will typically use this name to promote consistency in its catalog, as well as consistency with other libraries using this structure. This also ensures that records created locally will be consistent with those vendors and outside sources that also use this structure.

A classic example of this concept is Samuel Clemens, better known by his nom de plume, Mark Twain. The library will use the form of Mark Twain to ensure that all examples of his work are cataloged under the same, consistent form. The same applies to the names of corporations, governmental entities, and events, such as Olympic Games. The Library of Congress, or other trained and certified catalogers working under the auspices of the Library of Congress, contribute names to the NAF as they need them, oftentimes for works by new authors or events. In this way, the file grows and is maintained by a network of libraries, not just the Library of Congress. This enhances its usability and versatility.

The next time you are looking at a bibliographic record, it’s important to note the effort that has gone into making the headings in that record consistent and able to “play well” with other bibliographic records in your system—and with headings in many of your non-bibliographic resources, such as databases and electronic resources.

 

Scott

Scott Piepenburg is currently the Cataloging Services Manager at Brodart and is the author of the popular Easy MARC series, as well as articles on the future of library automation, the history of disc-based recording technology, and the role of cataloging AV materials for school and public libraries. Click here for more.