{"id":1790,"date":"2017-10-19T14:02:47","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T14:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/?p=1790"},"modified":"2020-04-08T21:26:08","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T21:26:08","slug":"how-oclc-transformed-a-libraryand-one-students-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/how-oclc-transformed-a-libraryand-one-students-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How OCLC transformed a library \u2026 and one student\u2019s life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2017-10-16-How-OCLC-Transformed-A-Library\"<\/h2>\n

Throw down the gauntlet<\/h2>\n

At the beginning of the 1992\u20131993 school year, I issued a challenge to teachers, students, administrators, and community members around the Ovid-Elsie Area Schools in Michigan. Our small, rural library, which supported two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school, had recently joined OCLC and for the first time had access to libraries worldwide through WorldCat. Even though our materials budget was tiny, I stood up in the first district staff meeting of the year and promised them all I would get any book that anyone needed for any reason.<\/p>\nAccess to the world\u2019s knowledge transforms lives. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

The teachers whispered and even snickered. Our library had never been very relevant to them. We weren\u2019t included in their lesson plans, and they rarely sent students to find resources. After a couple weeks, I got my first request: a 17-book bibliography. And that changed everything.<\/p>\n

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Make the library relevant<\/h2>\n

Through WorldCat, I was able to supply all 17 books with interlibrary loan, to that teacher\u2019s great surprise. And she told everyone. Pretty soon, we were getting all sorts of requests. I was borrowing and supplying books for student research papers, of course, but also to support hobbies, leisure reading, and even the graduate work that some teachers and other community members were doing. Through OCLC, I had access to the collections of major research universities, which we\u2019d never imagined before. This was before the internet, of course.<\/p>\n

Once I showed what the library was capable of, attitudes about it were transformed. Teachers invited me to their classrooms to talk about databases and research skills\u2014and I could tell that they were learning along with the students. And since they recognized the library\u2019s value, they started sticking up for the library budget. We went from a materials budget of $4,000 in 1992 to more than $100,000 in a few years. I didn\u2019t have to fight for it\u2014others saw how important the library was, and they fought for me.<\/p>\n

Impact one life<\/h2>\n

Although it was great to see the library gain such credibility throughout the region, I\u2019ll always remember the personal effect it had on one student. This young man went to the Assistant Principal\u2019s office to tell him that he was quitting school. The Assistant Principal asked him, \u201cWhat could we do to keep you in school?\u201d<\/p>\n

The young man thought for a bit, and then answered, \u201cI\u2019ll stay in school if I can build a kayak.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, the Assistant Principal took him down to see the shop teacher. Although happy to help, the shop teacher didn\u2019t have any plans for building a kayak. So then, they headed to the library.<\/p>\n

I opened WorldCat on the computer\u2014it was the old black screen with the green text, and this young man was fascinated by it. We looked together and found some books on building kayaks, which I requested through interlibrary loan. When they arrived, he started building his kayak in shop and finished the rest of his classes. Honestly, I\u2019m not sure he would have a high school diploma today if it wasn\u2019t for those books we got though WorldCat, which transformed his future.
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