Consultants gave Gelman Library a stinging critique this week, calling it a subpar research library with sparse resources and staff as part of a months-long University review.
Administrators declined to release details of the report, conducted by top librarians from University of Virginia and Columbia University. But David McAleavey, an English professor and chair of the Faculty Senate libraries committee, said their findings were harsh.
“Apparently to objective outside observers, Gelman is in really, very bad shape and is in need of attention for funds for collections, as well as for staff, and so on,” McAleavey said at a Faculty Senate committee meeting this month.
He later said in an email that he was speaking with “hyperbole” at the senate meeting.
Professors and administrators have in the past lamented the decision to hold flat the library’s about $4 million budget for books, staff and databases for the past decade, despite efforts to raise GW’s research prominence.
The consultants’ findings, based on two days of discussions with staff, faculty and students in February, will help shape a final report by the 20-member library strategic review committee, assembled by Provost Steven Lerman last year.
Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Stephen Ehrmann, who is heading the review committee, downplayed the consultants’ report.
“This was, I think, a much smaller and more informal study than you imagine,” Ehrmann said.
Ehrmann and McAleavey declined to sit for an interview.
Lerman said the University also considers GW’s proximity to the Library of Congress and other D.C. libraries when determining how to invest in Gelman collections.
“I do think we have to ask ourselves what specifically resources do we need to create for our students and faculty that where possible leverage other resources?” Lerman said.
Administrators will survey professors and graduate students starting this week to gauge how to best use teaching and research resources. The strategic review committee, made up of faculty, librarians, administrators and students, will send a report to the provost’s office later this year.
McAleavey said he expects the report to include a timetable and list of priorities for the aging library, potentially including some cost estimates.
"It would then ultimately be up to the administration to follow through," he said.
The knock also comes as GW pours $16 million into a facelift for the library's lower two floors. Renovations will relocate the library’s entrance to Kogan Plaza with an elaborate staircase, rather than the lower-level H Street entrance that University President Steven Knapp has called “cave-like.”
Construction will end in 2014 and also carve out more study space, an investment administrators made two years ago after intense advocacy from student groups.
The University is also close to finding its next librarian after longserving head Jack Siggins retired this summer. The final four candidates came to campus last month.
Whether or not the University increases Gelman funding, the next librarian will need to work around financial constraints, Executive Vice President and Treasurer Lou Katz said. The University’s endowment per student lags behind most of its competitor schools like New York University and Tulane University.
“I’m not saying there aren’t needs in Gelman,” Katz said. “But one of the things I always say is we are competing against institutions that have far more resources than we have on a per student basis.”
The University also has libraries in the medical and law schools and on the Virginia and Mount Vernon campuses. Some have earned prestige as some of the top research libraries over the past two decades.
The Association of Research Libraries placed GW among schools with top research libraries in 1998 for exceeding a $40 million endowment. Julia Blixrud, assistant executive director of scholarly communication, said that once a library has been accepted into the ARL, it is not re-evaluated.
The GW library system ranked No. 47 in the country, spending $27.5 million on staff salaries, books and databases two years ago, the latest data available.
It is likely that Gelman will make a transition to becoming mostly digital, said Simon Berkovich, a professor on the Faculty Senate libraries committee. Some faculty on the committee questioned how much Gelman itself is used at the Faculty Senate meeting because so many resources are already available digitally.
Librarians said that the turnstile trackers at Gelman's entrance show that about 8,000 to 9,000 people enter the building each day.
Interim librarian Andrea Stewart declined a meeting to discuss both the report and Gelman’s current funding situation.
Gelman is a piece of shit.
And a library is supposed to be the academic hallmark of a university – so what does that say about GW?
Also, why are we running a $100 million capital campaign for a science and engineering building when we can hardly scrounge up pennies off the floor for our library that ALL students use and need on a daily basis???????
The facility IS shit. The people are not. The services are not. The way they assist everyone in the community is not.
But you are right. And you know who is to blame? Lou Katz. Ok he’s probably not solely to blame, but he is the ringleader. What a shit comment he made. They should turn the SEAS building into the new library! Let’s demand it!
Take to the streets! We will not put up with this nonsense anymore!
Gelman is terrible, but the science students have had it far worse for decades. GW can’t be taken seriously if its science facilities are from the 1970s. I think science and engineering students have waited long enough for a change, particularly when you consider the fact that business and political science students are spoiled with top notch facilities.
The business school has top-notch facilities, but apparently shitty student assistance.
Seems like the money an effort is going to the wrong sections.
I agree with you that Gelman is shit, but as a SEAS student, Tompkins (then engineering building) is also in very bad shape. The building is so bad that engineering classes are given from random buildings on campus ranging to 1776 G t 2020K. There needs to be a better engineering building that can fit SEAS classes.
I understand why you are mad that they are not investing money in gelman. I think with our tuition, GW has the funds to invest in both.
” GW’s proximity to the Library of Congress and other D.C. libraries” was the same excuse the administration used when I was a student in the 1950s. And again when I was a professor.
Gelman is still a good library, but GW deserves a VERY good library. And more staff.
Yes!
Well said.
Absolutely
Wait!?? Gelman is in very bad shape?? Thanks for this breaking news report. I had no idea.
Take over the Athletic Director’s space.
With the job he is doing, he does not need the space anyway
GW is one of the most expensive schools in the nation. If other schools have more resources on a per-student basis, it’s because they’re not run by bureaucratic idiots who make life difficult for students. I proudly and consistently donate to my undergrad school; GW won’t see another penny from me when I graduate.
Exactly!!
yep
GW has been “run by bureaucratic idiots who make life difficult for students” since at least the mid 1980s.
And it’s people like you why facilities aren’t improving at a faster speed. Why did you even come here?
Seriously? People like to bitch and moan about the university’s tuition, we are in DOWNTOWN DC, like do we not know anything about real estate?
Alumna, I don’t get your point.
We own the buildings we inhabit, and GWU makes a lot of its money through the handling of DC real estate. Were you talking about taxes?
So if they are so expensive tuition-wise, and they still make most of their money through real estate, what exactly do you think that is saying?
Property taxes are where the 58K per kid are going?
Not counting the renovation–which is much needed– Gelman has received and courted $$ for high profile, high vanity special collections and technology projects that have less to do with Gelman or even GW’s core competencies and operations, and more to do with accelerating the careers of several library administrators. With its greedy short-sightedness and odd inferiority-complex, GW is particularly vulnerable to ed-tech gimmickry and the confusion between rainmakers and leaders.The last director, though well-meaning, was too out-of-touch and out-the-door to see through the charlatans. In the end, Gelman’s attempts at donor-baiting and bleeding-edge innovations prove hollow, since they come from, and appeal to, managers who are more about rhetoric than knowledge, more interested in building their résumé than building a strong collection, and more interested in pursuing “gee whiz” tech over meeting the needs of actual faculty and students. The gap between talk and action is large at Gelman. Most staff know it, but this outside report makes plain the hypocrasy and absurdity of GW’s managerial outlook.
Perfect example: Teamsters’ Union’s left-wing labor area. I wonder if GW would accept a donation from the Tea Party to establish a section on capitalism. Not holding my breath.
We have an entire business school.
David McAleavey is a joke. He actually told me that my English poetry portfolio was garbage and I deserved to fail, simply because we had creative differences. Admitted, I was a snotty kid who liked to write sarcastic observations on life, but still I got an A- in the class.
For writing, Faye Moskowitz was the best. Had her fiction workshop for two semesters.
Yes, and 15 years ago, Gelman sucked, and the only thing I used there was the toilet, the photocopier, and the computer lab if I wanted to get online between classes.
For someone that dislikes the university SO SO SO much you really spend a ridiculous amount of time commenting on here.
Alumna, that’s really a pathetic statement to make.
He was a student here. He has as much right to comment as you do.
Implying that people shouldn’t speak here unless they like the university is retarded. In all meanings of the word.
DC’s property tax is really low, so that isn’t a reason.
What does this have to do with anything related to the article?
Please complain about your old personal problems elsewhere. Thanks.
Great story, Mel!
Gelman is old, and it will probably never meet students’ demand.
One report doesn’t give students the excuse of not utilizing resources provided by GW. There are students who go to Gelman everyday and have a 3.7+ GPA.
Stop whining and vote today for the SA candidate whom you think will represent your interests the best.
There are also people who refuse to go to Gelman because it’s terrible–not conducive to studying, always too hot, etc.–and have a 3.7+ GPA. I doubt there is as much correlation as you think.
I went to GW, had a 3.7 GPA, and rarely studied in Gelman.
The staff is very helpful at Gelman, though. The few times I did go to Gelman I went to get in-person help at the reference desk!
Many GW professors crib library ID numbers from colleagues at other institutions which have serious, well-funded research libraries. How humiliating for those professors. GW also counts on its faculty using the overburdened Library of Congress for basic research. I guess GW’s idea of being a “good neighbor” translates into making other institutions foot the bill for GW faculty and students. Nice.
That is horrible
Maybe GW should take the $200k they are planning to pay Maroon 5 for next year’s parents weekend and put that $ towards the library.
Relax everyone. GW is still the most elite unranked school in the entire nation. Sure, the library is mediocre, but the GW students can still pretend to be equal to NYU, Duke, WashU, or even AU students.
lol AU
Just another example of how the university cares little about its students. A textile museum is more important than a library…?
Because a textile museum is so much more applicable to a successful time in college. I have never not for one day on this campus felt that the administration had any care whether or not I was satisfied, & I have never felt like an actual student. How can we when 75% of the campus is under construction ALL THE TIME, most of it for projects unrelated to student life. Its great we have this report, but nothing is going to change, guaranteed.
Agreed. We aren’t really a sports school, we definitely aren’t a business school, so let’s be an academic school!
Every school has the same complaints.
Some GW students think they’re so special, throwing out words about “a terrible bureaucracy” just so they can complain and feel special, when in fact my friends at many different schools ALL complain about their schools in the same ways. Colleges will be colleges. Stop sounding like spoiled brats and enjoy the fact you go to such a great University.
Exactly, I wish more people thought like you
This reads like an Onion article. Do any of the findings really surprise anyone?
Excuse me, but I’ll be making my karmic donation to the Gelman Library. Voluntarily, not like when they tacked it on without notifying you about it 15 years ago. I may even return the book I kept even though I paid for it so I could hang up my diploma. The Textile, Science Building, etc., are funded by specific dollars allocated to be used for a specific purpose. Hence those projects. What say ye to smaller libraries accessable to all students, in each of the new facilities, on top of the underground lair at Kogan Plaza? That would be pretty fly. Yes. It IS about real estate. Capitalizing capital.
Since when are students who demand a library befitting a research institution whiners? We can all agree that we need a financed project to go forward, like, YESTERDAY. Last I heard, we still have a strong endowment. I would guess that all of our donor money will be diverted to building state of the art facilities for GW in China or GW in Brazil. Globalization takes money, folks. How about GW in DC? How about money for that? Sheesh.
“Lerman said the University also considers GW’s proximity to the Library of Congress and other D.C. libraries when determining how to invest in Gelman collections.
“I do think we have to ask ourselves what specifically resources do we need to create for our students and faculty that where possible leverage other resources?” Lerman said.”
Besides the point, but Lerman really isn’t that well-spoken when he’s making excuses is he? :-)
More to the point, using his logic, why would the library collect anything, since LOC has everything? Oh wait, because it’s a huge pain to patronize LOC and because students expect their tuition money to support a top-notch research library.
How many administrators and staff will be terminated and replaced as a result of this report?
Prediction: 0
Who would/should be fired?
To all those students, and even a few professor, take a walk inside tompkins hall. Then walk to 1776 G street, 2020 K, Staughton Hall, Philips Hall 6 and 7 and then to the virginia campus. Currently these are all places that you will find the different disciplines and resources for engineers. Let’s not even mention that there is 1 classroom space in Tompkins. Everything else is for labs or classes of 15 students.
GW will be ranked next year. GW is the best at political science and even international affairs. Granted there are only 9 undergraduate schools of international affairs and being across the street from the state department, GW better be amongst the best. GW is already great at these things, and that won’t change, but if you want to improve our rankings, and thus your degree, the sciences and engineering need to be improved.
This can only help your own degree so I don’t understand why you are complaining. The building is set to be complete in spring 2015, which means most students currently at GW won’t even use it themselves. stop hatin.