2008 Woodie Awards
Library seeks to communicate with faculty
Everton Bailey, News Editor
Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: News
After a miscommunication over a decision to reduce St. Augustine's book collection led to angry professors, library officials have since tried to clear up the miscue.
Faculty members from many St. John's academic departments were upset when they discovered the library's plan to remove a portion of books from the collection in preparation for St. Augustine's summer renovations.
According to Dr. James Benson, dean of University Information Resources and Libraries, an e-mail was sent to out to faculty last December.
Many professors, however, claim they received little to no notice of these developments, a reason some believe is because the message was not sent out by a high library official. Benson attributed the mistake to a breakdown in communication.
"I can't say that everyone realized the depth of the situation at the time," he said. "I can't say that everyone opened their messages."
He added, "It is possible that [due to time constraints] some people may have been missed."
University Librarian Theresa Maylone also said that the notices may have been inopportune.
"I think the timing of it wasn't necessarily the best, as attention is not always focused just before the Christmas holiday," she said. "There are lots of e-mails and lots of reasons why people wouldn't pay particular attention to them."
Since acknowledging the breakdown in communication with faculty members, library officials seem to have put the effort forward to get everyone on the same page.
Dr. Stephen Sicari, chair of the English Department, discussed his recent interactions with Maylone and Benson.
"We had a nice conversation about what their mandate was, how they approached the situation, and they fielded questions from the different department chairs. So it was a good meeting in that way," Sicari said.
He went on to mention that a few days later, he was sent an e-mail requesting to consult with the English department on which periodicals the library should save.
Faculty members from many St. John's academic departments were upset when they discovered the library's plan to remove a portion of books from the collection in preparation for St. Augustine's summer renovations.
According to Dr. James Benson, dean of University Information Resources and Libraries, an e-mail was sent to out to faculty last December.
Many professors, however, claim they received little to no notice of these developments, a reason some believe is because the message was not sent out by a high library official. Benson attributed the mistake to a breakdown in communication.
"I can't say that everyone realized the depth of the situation at the time," he said. "I can't say that everyone opened their messages."
He added, "It is possible that [due to time constraints] some people may have been missed."
University Librarian Theresa Maylone also said that the notices may have been inopportune.
"I think the timing of it wasn't necessarily the best, as attention is not always focused just before the Christmas holiday," she said. "There are lots of e-mails and lots of reasons why people wouldn't pay particular attention to them."
Since acknowledging the breakdown in communication with faculty members, library officials seem to have put the effort forward to get everyone on the same page.
Dr. Stephen Sicari, chair of the English Department, discussed his recent interactions with Maylone and Benson.
"We had a nice conversation about what their mandate was, how they approached the situation, and they fielded questions from the different department chairs. So it was a good meeting in that way," Sicari said.
He went on to mention that a few days later, he was sent an e-mail requesting to consult with the English department on which periodicals the library should save.
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