University libraries face the same challenge as any other institute of learning: how to adapt and evolve in an increasingly technology-heavy world. 

The librarians and staff at Wichita State’s libraries have stepped out from behind the desk and taken on the roles of research tutor, technology guide and information resource. In an age where vast quantities of information are available with the flick of a finger, librarians try to teach a new generation of students how to find reliable and relevant information.

WSU Alumna Melissa Mallon graduated in 2004 and returned to WSU in 2010 as a coordinator of library instruction for the University Libraries. Mallon works with the challenges of a 21st century student body daily. 

“I interact with students every day whether it’s teaching a class on research methods or at the reference desk or students stopping by to ask questions,” Mallon said.

Mallon believes evaluation is key when judging information on the Internet.  “You can go to Google and find some great stuff, but you have to know how to identify the great stuff,” she said. “And we have some great information at the library that students don’t have to pay for.”

“We have a new workshop series starting this semester that focuses on digital skills,” Mallon said. “All of the things that [students] need to use in their classes and when they get out into the world.” 

“A lot of the groups that we struggle to bring into the library and to help are those students who are feeling overwhelmed and sometimes, they’re the ones that need the library most of all,” Mallon said. “We can help make research not such a stressful process.”

“We really work hard to embrace those students and help them, we’ve got a lot of different orientations that we offer for new students,” Mallon said. “In addition to helping students with classes, we have teaching goals as well to make them better researchers and to develop these skills and critical thinking that they can use in their classes and when they go out into the workforce.”

Senior Associate Dean of University Libraries, Kathy Downes, focuses on keeping everything running smoothly. She doesn’t interact with students as often as Mallon, but handles the daily behind-the-scenes challenges of operating a large university library. 

“Kathy makes it easier for us to do our jobs,” Mallon said.

“A lot of what I do is in the background, trying to make services work for the students,” Downes said. 

Last week during hurricane Sandy, Downes lost the connection for the library service that pulls book jackets into the online catalog. 

“That service was out of New York and they lost power. So we had to work with that so that this particular service did not have a bad impact on students looking through the catalog.”

A library veteran, Downes remembers how different the challenges were when she first started at WSU more than 30 years ago. 

“It has evolved,” she said. “When I first started working in the libraries the challenge for students was to find anything.” 

Now the challenge for students is to sift through 10,000 journal articles to find the one they need, she said. 

“We respond and react to the students differently, we help them differently now, Downes said. “Knowledge is increasing and techniques are changing.”

The university libraries have made a strong effort over the last several years to create a digital collection for students to access whenever they need. 

“We’re increasing the number of electronic books that we have, so if you are working on a paper at 3 a.m.—which I did all the time—it’s nice to be able to go online and say ‘there’s the source that I forgot to get,” Downes said.

Mallon and Downes agree the main goal of higher education and libraries is to create students who have the tools to continue learning. “Life-long learners: it’s a phrase that you hear a lot but it is so true,” Downes said.

“The students today have the goals that the students had when I first started,” Downes said. “They want an education, they want to have a career, they want to enrich their lives.”

One statewide repercussion the University Libraries are responding to are the significant funding cuts in middle and high schools over the past decade, often with libraries taking the brunt of the cut. 

“There are students that are coming in, where that particular function of the school was reduced—had reduced funding to the point of not having any staff,” Downes said.

Mallon and Downes are adamant about developing a rapport with the student body. While a large part of Mallon’s position is advancing the libraries teaching and research missions, it’s rewarding for her when she helps students discover what the libraries can do for them. 

“Students will say ‘I had no idea I could do this,’ it’s nice to get students to the ‘a-ha’ moment,” Mallon said. “It brings you joy.”