UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library is Library of the Year

The Wisconsin Library Association announced that its 2012 state library of the year is the Cofrin Library at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay!

“UW-Green Bay’s founding chancellor Edward Weidner placed the Cofrin Library at the physical center of campus,” the WLA news release states, “and during the past three years, director Paula Ganyard and the library staff have worked hard to make sure it is the heart of the university, as well.”

Among the positives noted by the WLA selection committee:

• To improve the user experience, the UW-Green Bay library has waived the interlibrary loan fee for students and instituted text messaging and instant messenger reference services along with the ability to text a call number to a smart phone. The library has also added an embedded librarian program, a virtual shelf browsing function, library instruction via Skype and a publicservices department to provide faculty, staff and students with more support for their research and learning.
• Cofrin Library’s improved marketing efforts have paid off with higher gate counts, a 230% increase in ILL usage and a 25% increase in reference transactions during the past three years.  The library partnered with on-campus entities to host freshmen orientation events, leadership programs, a “Bash in the Stacks” open house, and reached beyond campus to partner on the Regional National History Day competition and community reading projects with the Brown County Public Library and others.
• Staff members have worked to improve collections and the physical facilities and increase their participation inprofessional development. Fundraising has also stepped up, in particular, and in collaboration with University Advancement, the library was able to secure a generous donation to start the Robert L. Ganyard Library Endowment and triple it in the first year.

Concluded the news release, “David A. Cofrin Library has much of which to be proud and is a great example of a Library of the Year.”

Library Director Paula Ganyard indicates that, along with recognition at the WLA conference this fall in La Crosse, a campus celebration of the honor is likely at a later date, to be announced.