Indiana Univ. To Close Map Library?

Proposal to close University branch libraries generate criticism, controversy

The Indiana Daily Student recently reported that budget concerns have caused them to evaluate closure of Indiana University’s specialized branch libraries. At risk are four such libraries, including the Map and Geography Library. The administration kept tabs on certain statistics that were believed to monitor use, such as gate count, circulation, and computer use.

Quoted by the IDS, Linda Steele, Ruth Lilly Interim Dean of Student Libraries, said “It was clear which libraries had lower activity. You want to get as much return for your investment as possible, so you’ve got to start someplace. Our goal is to serve in the most economically feasible way.”

Heiko Muehr, branch coordinator of of the library, spoke of the resource as being important to not just the University, but the surrounding community as well, saying “It is the IU library closest to downtown Bloomington and we get more use from Indiana residents than other IU libraries do,” Muehr said. “(We get) farmers looking for plat books, genealogists, historic preservation professionals using our historic Sanborn maps, fishermen looking at Indiana lake maps, you name it.”

The IDS also cited Geography graduate student Todd Lindley as pointing out that if the branch’s statistics don’t reflect the actual popularity of the library, it’s because the library is actually used in a different manner than others; most students do worth with the materials within the library and they do not circulate, and delivers convenience to the nearby users as a distribution point for ordered materials from other branches.

“As a graduate student in the geography department, I make use of the geography library nearly every single day,” Lindley was quoted as saying. “Removing the map library — and hence, the maps — will eradicate a very valuable teaching resource from our department and campus. For geographers, removing the map library from the building is like removing a projector from an electronic classroom.”

The other libraries being evaluated for closure are the School of Library and Information Sciences (SLIS) Library, the Journalism Library, and African American Culture Center (AACC) Library, where students also staged a sit-in to protest that particular library’s closing.

Reference: “Four Libraries Facing Closures”, Indiana Daily Student, http://www.idsnews.c...s/story.php?id=35831