I’ve been busy preparing for my upcoming presentation at the 27th International Conference on the First Year Experience to be held in Dublin, Ireland. I’ll be presenting with Professor Laurence Shine, and former Learning Community student, Wendy Hilleran, on the subject of liberal arts and libraries in a digitized world. In part, our presentation is what sparked the idea for this blog…presenting the library as a community-forming force in the “machinery of night” (AKA: Higher Education). We’ll be discussing the important role of learning communities (and libraries) in today’s liberal arts education. Here’s a little bit from our introduction:

Undergraduate education in the United States is often referred to as a commodity—a branding of “mass general education” not unlike the production lines of Henry Ford. Students are offered a menu of largely unrelated lecture courses which accommodate many students but provide little sense of community. Ideally, the Liberal Arts should help students understand their relationship to the world at large—but instead many students are encouraged to get their liberal arts course work “out of the way.” The college becomes a “teaching machine”—more concerned with pumping out credit hours than creating knowledge. In the process of this impersonalized approach to education, the academic library can serve as a stabilizing force—providing community, a place for scholarly discourse and showcasing of creativity, social networking, quality resources, new technologies, and personalized assistance from skilled librarians. Yet, many students and faculty appear apathetic to a liberal arts education—and the library– reflecting the apparent disconnect of the education system as a whole.

There are Colleges (and “colleges within the college” such as Learning Communities) with strong liberal arts emphasis. This emphasis includes intense interactions between students and faculty. The curriculum is challenging and integrated across courses, and includes the library as a key component to academic success. Extracurricular activities which relate to the curriculum are encouraged as critical elements to learning. Do these things really make a difference?

A 2005 Higher Education Report suggests that a strong liberal arts emphasis during the first year results in higher critical thinking abilities, and positive attitudes towards literacy and reading comprehension.

The overall disconnect of the system in regards to literacy is apparent in the 2006 study by the National Endowment for the Arts showing the percentage of 17 year old non-readers doubling over a 20 year period. While this age group spends approximately 7 minutes a day reading (online or print), they manage to watch about 2 ½ hours of TV per day. Freshmen spend more than an hour each day on both social networking sites and text messaging. As educators, should we worry? A 2007 study by Levine demonstrates a direct correlation between distractibility for academic tasks and time spent Instant Messaging. The same study shows that the amount of time spent reading books negatively related to academic distractibility.

With the popularity of social networking sites, “Google” based research, and availability of electronic journals and books, how can brick and mortar libraries remain relevant places for scholarly discourse?

Many libraries have reinvented themselves under a new model of service called “The Information Commons.” This model of service brings together a variety of services—including writing, research, advisement, and computer assistance. The Information Commons provides a “place” for social networking and showcasing of creative and scholarly achievements—oftentimes with focus on the liberal arts. Most importantly, the library provides opportunities for personalized assistance by skilled librarians. Librarians are often one of the few “constants” in the Undergraduate experience: present and readily available throughout the student’s entire academic career. In this sense, libraries, librarians, and the liberal arts serve as the Starry Dynamo – providing a sense of community within the dark and expansive “Machinery of Night.”

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We are hoping to generate some good discussion about the role of Learning Communities, Librarians, Libraries, and the Liberal Arts. I’ll report back when I return on June 28th! Cheers!

Wha

Conference Handout