Paradise Lost

Milton isn't someone I've actually read, alas, but I may just have discovered how Adam and Eve felt when booted out of Eden. Only my Eden was an American academic library, specifically, K-State Libraries.

Normally a librarian at K-State, I currently have to make do with the services and collections offered by the library at the University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig, Germany. In nearly every interaction with the library thus far, I've had one of those "oh, I see" moments and come to realize that my days of frolicking in the garden have come to an abrupt end.

Libraries in Germany are very different beasts, and many US scholars return from their sojourns thither somewhat scarred by the experience. Some examples from my current locale:

• I arrived during a vacation period, and the library had short hours. I though, oh, once things pick up the library will expand its hours. Ha. We have a total of 37 hours weekly. Monday to Wednesday, 9 to 5. Thursday 9 to 7. Friday 9 to noon. No kidding.
• K-State Libraries no longer requires one to recall a book that's checked out. They'll get you a copy ASAP via interlibrary loan. Not so here. Once a book is recalled, the user has three weeks to return it.
• Requesting articles from other libraries costs nothing at K-State in 99.9% of instances. Here we pay 1.50 Euro per article, regardless of length. With the current exchange rate, I think that's $86 and climbing (well, not quite). Oh, and getting articles as scanned PDFs? Forget it. I get paper, and have to go pick it up!
• Don't even get me started on their call numbering system. You think LC is complicated? I'm a librarian and I can't find a book here to save my life. It's idiosyncratic, locally-developed, and completely obscure.
• Oh, no link resolver (aka GET IT), no public scanners, no reference desk worthy of the name, and if there are bathrooms, I haven't found them. They must be there. One last thing: finding the door to the main library requires a GPS and a bit of imagination and fortitude. Seriously.

I knew I needed to lower my expectations here based on past experiences, but woefully underestimated just how low I'd have to go. A colleague here keeps telling me that I need to write an article about this for the university paper (sure to win me many friends from the library), since they all feel the same way and want someone from outside to weigh in. Mind you, I'm in a department that teaches, among other things, library science, but the library here refuses to have anything to do with the department.

My point: K-State has pretty fabulous library services. Even as a modestly endowed state university the services at the disposal of every member of the K-State community are infinitely better than at any European library I've ever used. Sure, there are better collections elsewhere, but as technology improves, that advantage means less and less, and unless your thing is medieval manuscripts, K-State is pretty solid in that area, too.

Normally a librarian at K-State, I currently have to make do with the services and collections offered by the library at the University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig, Germany. In nearly every interaction with the library thus far, I've had one of those "oh, I see" moments and come to realize that my days of frolicking in the garden have come to an abrupt end.

Libraries in Germany are very different beasts, and many US scholars return from their sojourns thither somewhat scarred by the experience. Some examples from my current locale:

• I arrived during a vacation period, and the library had short hours. I though, oh, once things pick up the library will expand its hours. Ha. We have a total of 37 hours weekly. Monday to Wednesday, 9 to 5. Thursday 9 to 7. Friday 9 to noon. No kidding.
• K-State Libraries no longer requires one to recall a book that's checked out. They'll get you a copy ASAP via interlibrary loan. Not so here. Once a book is recalled, the user has three weeks to return it.
• Requesting articles from other libraries costs nothing at K-State in 99.9% of instances. Here we pay 1.50 Euro per article, regardless of length. With the current exchange rate, I think that's $86 and climbing (well, not quite). Oh, and getting articles as scanned PDFs? Forget it. I get paper, and have to go pick it up!
• Don't even get me started on their call numbering system. You think LC is complicated? I'm a librarian and I can't find a book here to save my life. It's idiosyncratic, locally-developed, and completely obscure.
• Oh, no link resolver (aka GET IT), no public scanners, no reference desk worthy of the name, and if there are bathrooms, I haven't found them. They must be there. One last thing: finding the door to the main library requires a GPS and a bit of imagination and fortitude. Seriously.

I knew I needed to lower my expectations here based on past experiences, but woefully underestimated just how low I'd have to go. A colleague here keeps telling me that I need to write an article about this for the university paper (sure to win me many friends from the library), since they all feel the same way and want someone from outside to weigh in. Mind you, I'm in a department that teaches, among other things, library science, but the library here refuses to have anything to do with the department.

My point: K-State has pretty fabulous library services. Even as a modestly endowed state university the services at the disposal of every member of the K-State community are infinitely better than at any European library I've ever used. Sure, there are better collections elsewhere, but as technology improves, that advantage means less and less, and unless your thing is medieval manuscripts, K-State is pretty solid in that area, too.