Business practices have changed dramatically since “Manners in Business” was published in 1936 and some women know more about cars than men do today, but a 1976 book, “What Every Woman Should Know About Her Car,” was written with a totally different assumption. However, until earlier this summer, these books were on the shelves of the Camden Fairview High School Library collecting dust alongside other similarly outdated materials. But thanks to a Leadership and Professionalism graduate class from Southern Arkansas University, the library is now free of materials no longer useful to students in 2009.
The result of what the students accomplished in four days was nothing short of amazing according to Kathy Bowles, who has been a librarian in the school district since 1984, and librarian at the high school for the past year. What stuck with Bowles long after the 41 students had tidied their last shelf, gone through their last book and put the finishing touches on the more welcoming reading area in the library, was the enthusiasm they brought with them to tackle what to one person is an enormous job. That is because with each student working 16 hours each at the library, 656 “man-hours” were provided, something that makes it impossible for one person to accomplish. Students also spent that amount time planning the project.
“I have never been around a group like this, so willing to work and they were so happy about it,” Bowles said. “They were not afraid of anything and they all worked in their own directions. There was not anyone sitting there idly. I don’t know if I will ever experience anything like this again.”
Bowles said the students were no doubt influenced by their enthusiastic instructor, Peggy Walters, who teaches the course and comes with her own special brand of expertise. She is the former director of the Magale library at SAU. Also assisting the students was Del Duke, a public services/instruction librarian at SAU, who provided his expertise in designing computer labs and configuring library space.
Walters said it is important to understand that there are rules to what is known in libraries as “weeding” books. Students follow established criteria for libraries as well as check if the book has been checked out within three years or not. Books that were “weeded” from the library are going on to other, more appropriate homes, where they will be more appreciated such as nursing homes and community agencies that serve various populations. The extra space left by the unneeded books allows the library to grow when additional materials are available. In addition, the rearranged library is now compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.
A week before school started, Bowles stood admiring her improved library with a look of satisfaction. The newly arranged computers now look more inviting, thanks to the SAU graduate students, and she thought the colorful silk kites they hung from the ceiling give the library a more interesting look. What’s more, both Bowles and Walters hope the more organized library will encourage students to branch out when it comes to their own reading habits and hope this will in turn make their education more well rounded.
“Fiction is the most widely read section in the library now, but our hope is if they read enough fiction, they will go over to the non-fiction shelves,” Walters said. “You just have to find ways to get them in there.”
