Report of Prof. Beth Evans on Cuny-Shanghai Normal University Libraries Faculty Exchange Program

APPENDIX E: REPORT OF PROF. BETH EVANS ON CUNY- SHANGHAI NORMAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES FACULTY EXCHANGE PROGRAM Annual Report 2011-2012 CUNY-Shanghai Library Faculty Exchange Fall 2011 Shanghai Normal University Residency Report Beth Evans, Brooklyn College Library Brooklyn College of the City University of New York December 30, 2011 Submitted to: Kenneth Schlesinger, Chief Librarian, Leonard Lief Library, Lehman College, City University of New York Acknowledgments The author wishes to thank Kenneth Schlesinger, Chief Librarian of the Leonard Lief Library of Lehman College, for his continued vision of the need to build strong international relations between the academic and research libraries of the world, for seeing the importance of making the City University of New York (CUNY) Libraries a part of such endeavors, and for proposing and seeing through to its realization and growth the idea of a CUNY-Shanghai Library Faculty Exchange Program. The author also wishes to thank Curtis Kendrick, CUNY University Librarian, for his unwavering support and advocacy for the CUNY-Shanghai Library Faculty Exchange Program. Thanks, too, to the commitment of the Library Association of the City University of New York International Relations Roundtable for helping the program take shape as a robust and inclusive opportunity for the many library faculty of the CUNY libraries. Additionally, thanks are extended to the library faculty of the Brooklyn College Library including Chief Librarian Stephanie Walker, Jane Cramer and all the others who continued in the demanding work of running the Brooklyn College Library during a semester of notably reduced staffing in order to allow a colleague the invaluable opportunity to take part in the exchange. A very special thanks and place is reserved in the author’s heart for the hosting librarians at the Shanghai Normal University Library including Chief Librarian Chen, Deputy Chief Librarian Hu, Assistant to the Chief Librarian Ma, Head of Information Processing and exchange coordinator Lei Shunli, interpreters and companions Xiaoxia Liu, Cheng Tang and Ye Cai. Added thanks to all of the others who welcomed the author and her son into their work and lives in order to make their stay in China comfortable and productive. Lastly, the author extends eternal thanks to her family for supporting her on the trip and standing by her, both near and from afar, as she participated in building a new and important program for the libraries of the City University of New York. Annual Report 2011-2012 Introduction The fall 2011 CUNY-Shanghai Library Faculty Exchange was significant in that it marked the final residency of two City University of New York (CUNY) library faculty at the campuses of Shanghai University (SU) and Shanghai Normal University (SHNU). These final residencies were informed and enriched by the residencies of the earlier visits of other CUNY library faculty and can serve to point the way towards future exchanges involving the libraries and library faculty of the CUNY colleges and universities in Shanghai and other cities in China. What follows is the report of the experience of Beth Evans who was resident at Shanghai Normal University October 8 - November 5, 2011. CUNY librarians Subash Gandi of Queens College, Jennifer King of Lehman College and Ryan Phillips of Baruch College have previously described the Shanghai Normal University campuses and library facilities (Gandi, 3; Phillips, 2-4; 6-7), history of the university (Gandi, 2; Phillips, 2), accommodations afforded the CUNY faculty (Gandi, 5; King, 3-4), itinerary followed by the visitors (Gandi, 8-10; King, 4-5; 7-9; Phillips, 9-12)), resources offered by the libraries (Gandi, 10-11), and tips for getting around Shanghai (Gandi, 8; King, 3). Additionally, Phillips has done a thorough job of outlining the organizational structure of SHNU (4-7) as well as describing the use of technology at SHNU (8). 1 The author will make a brief reference to some of the information previously shared and will elaborate on the areas of discussion that have not been covered in depth or that were excluded from the earlier discussions. She will also look more deeply at the job experiences of individual librarians in China and discuss how the training and current position of librarians at SHNU and the structure of the library itself may suit a continued exchange/sister library relationship with the CUNY libraries. Shanghai Normal University Overview SHNU has existed since 1954 and in its current form reflects a number of mergers of educational institutions. The original focus, as the name “Normal” implies, was on teaching. Although 30% of graduating students still become teachers, the University has expanded into other disciplines. SHNU Divided Campuses/Divided Libraries SHNU has two campuses, Xuhui and Fengxian. Xuhui is the original campus and is located in central Shanghai. As the universities of Shanghai have grown, the demand for more space has led to construction of newer campuses in the suburbs. This has been true for both Shanghai Normal University and Shanghai University. The CUNY librarians at Shanghai Normal University have spent the majority of their time at the inner-city campus, whereas CUNY faculty at Shanghai University lived and worked at the Baoshan suburban campus of their university. 1 Gandi, S. CUNY-Shanghai University Libraries Faculty Exchange Program – A Report by Subash Gandhi. Unpublished Manuscript; King, J. A. Shanghai CUNY Library Faculty Exchange Program Residency Report. Unpublished Manuscript; Phillips, R. CUNY – Shanghai Library Faculty Exchange: Spring 2011 Residency Report. Unpublished Manuscript. Annual Report 2011-2012 The large suburban campuses offer dramatic, spacious, airy and light library buildings with equally impressive collections. In contrast, the older campuses closer to the city center suffer from the same space limitation problems of any institution that has long since outgrown its facilities. And as may happen wherever space is at a premium, the final configuration of the physical plant may not be ideal. On the Xuhui campus, for example, the library occupies space in three separate buildings and can claim no single building as its own (see Fig. 1). Fig. 1 SHNU Xuhui Campus: The East Campus library (left) occupies several lower floors of a tall administrative building and includes several of the subject-focused reading rooms. The West Campus library includes other subject-focused reading rooms and the ancient books collection. It is divided across two attached buildings connected by a roof-top walkway (center). Yet another building on the West Campus is undergoing an expansion, nearly complete, that will double its size and include storage for audio visual materials and older periodicals (right). CUNY libraries have undergone numerous building projects over the decades of their existence. Many CUNY library faculty have experienced the challenges of working in a physical environment in transition. For example, when the Brooklyn College Library was undergoing a renovation and expansion in the late 1990’s, staff were divided over two campus buildings, circulating books were housed in an on- campus, non-ADA-compliant facility and were available only by paging, and a portion of the collection was sent to off-campus storage. Faculty, staff and students put up with a less-than-ideal situation knowing that it was temporary. When asked how staff felt about working in the divided spaces of the Xuhui SHNU campus Library, none complained about what has become the normal way of conducting business. It was difficult to elicit student opinion about what could be a confusing arrangement, but it did appear that students came to know the set-up quickly and find their favorite places to study. Perhaps the scattering of library spaces across the Xuhui campus is not seen as an inconvenience when compared to the chore of journeying to or living at the Fengxian campus of SHNU. Fengxian was opened in 2003 bringing the total campus land occupied to over 40,000 square meters. Freshmen and Sophmores attend classes at the Fengxian campus. Juniors, seniors and graduate students take their classes on the Xuhui campus. Plans are eventually to have all of the undergraduates moved to the Fengxian campus. The Fengxian campus Library occupies a single building. Annual Report 2011-2012 Fig. 2 Scenes from the SHNU Fengxian Campus include a view across the man-made lake of the clock tower building adjacent to the Library building, one of the ubiquitous campus bicycle parking lots outside the Library building and a view from the sixth floor of the Library building. Buses to the Fengxian campus for faculty and staff depart at 6:45, 8:00, 9:15am, 12:00, 12:30, 1:30, 3:30 and 5:15pm. Buses depart from Xuhui for Fengxian at 6:40, 9:45 am, 12:30, 3:30, 4:00, and 4:45pm. Typically one bus runs at a time, except during the busiest times early and late in the day when as many as six to seven buses make the run. The trip takes 50 minutes of mostly highway driving. Students traveling on public transportation between campuses would need about an hour and a half to make the trip. As of this writing, the Fengxian campus is not accessible by subway. The suburban Shanghai University campus, in contrast, is on a recently-built train line. SHNU Library Organizational Structure One of the challenges for SHNU as an academic library is that the Chief Librarian reports to the top management of the University rather than to the chief academic officer as library directors in CUNY do. The reporting structure suggests that the Library is not valued as an academic arm of the institution. Consequently, many efforts are being made to make better connections with the academic departments. The organizational structure of the SHNU library from the Chief down is not very different from that of many academic American libraries.

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