Abstract
We know that unaffiliated users access books, reference services, and databases at our libraries, but how do they experience this access? The library science literature reveals a range of ethical c...
Highlights
Our Library at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, balances a core focus on campus research and teaching with a broader public service mission, reflected in its strategic plan to “better serve the public as an academic and cultural heritage institution by providing the community with a rich array of opportunities for learning, research and enrichment.”1 We fulfill this mission through providing public access to our libraries and galleries, events and exhibits, special collections, and freely accessible online repositories of academic articles and digital archival materials
How do users from our community experience this access to an academic library? As subject liaisons we wanted to understand how people who are not current students, faculty, or staff use our libraries in a way that goes deeper than a survey
As we listened to unaffiliated users of our campus libraries, we gained a deeper appreciation for their experiences and our gaps in service to them
Summary
Our Library at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, balances a core focus on campus research and teaching with a broader public service mission, reflected in its strategic plan to “better serve the public as an academic and cultural heritage institution by providing the community with a rich array of opportunities for learning, research and enrichment.” We fulfill this mission through providing public access to our libraries and galleries, events and exhibits, special collections, and freely accessible online repositories of academic articles and digital archival materials.Yet how do users from our community experience this access to an academic library? As subject liaisons we wanted to understand how people who are not current students, faculty, or staff use our libraries in a way that goes deeper than a survey. University alumni as well as any California resident with a state ID may purchase a community library card for US$100 a year. This community library card allows unaffiliated users to enter the large underground stacks in the Main library and borrow books, but does not permit off-campus access to databases or ebooks. Unaffiliated users who are not aware of, or who choose not to purchase a card, can still browse and use most databases and e-books at public use computers in most subject specialty libraries, but need a day pass from a reference librarian to enter and browse the Main Library collection and cannot access the undergraduate library which is for the campus community only.
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