In January, Scottie Cochrane retired as Denison’s director of libraries. When we caught up with her to reflect on her ten years on campus, she had just returned to her new row house on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., after attending a lecture at the Library of Congress. (You can take the librarian out of the library, but…)
What was it like when you first arrived at Doane Library?
I came for my interview in early March, and Granville was showing off with daffodils in blossom (which I learned was not typical). The staff was impressive, in contrast to a facility that was overcrowded and a bit run-down. I knew Ohio placed a strong value on libraries, so I knew this was a good place to come to.
Between technology and students in general, what has changed more in your years as a librarian?
At Denison specifically, the academic quality of students has continued to increase dramatically, and you can tell in their library usage. Technology, though, is reflected in an equally dramatic decrease in attention spans.
What’s your response to the oft-whispered legends that students do, on occasion, graduate without ever having been inside the library?
Actually, that would be easier now than it was ten years ago, because many library resources are available any- where. On the other hand, students who go on to do grad work are sometimes surprised to learn, even at very well-known institutions, that resources they took for granted as open to them online at Denison are not available everywhere.
Tell us about a serendipitous incident you’ve experienced looking for one thing and finding another.
It happened so often I can’t narrow it down. Whether on-line or on shelves, it’s part of the work, and you have to be careful not to let it distract you.
Do you ever hear the books talking to each other after closing time?
No, but my husband does. It might just be Borges whispering to him about “The Library of Babel.”
What is your favorite new technology in libraries?
It isn’t a device, or a machine: it’s databases, especially government databases. A legislative history is much easier to study today. It’s also easier to use citation indexes. We’re a long way from that tiny type and the need to flip back and forth between heavy volumes.
You’ve done academic work on U.S. presidential libraries, from Garfield’s here in Ohio to the new Bush Library in Texas. What do presidential libraries have to tell us about libraries in general, or college libraries in particular?
Well, first, they really aren’t libraries–they are archives and museums. They’ve led the way in digitization and partnerships and access.
A favorite book in the Denison collections?
That’s like choosing your favorite child. I won’t do it, and if I did, it would only be my favorite that day. And in your own library? What I could name, right now, is a favorite author: M.F.K. Fisher. A food writer, to be sure, but so much more.
What’s the future for libraries, now that we can put a whole library into our pocket on a thumbdrive or smart phone?
The mission is no different than it’s ever been. Universities need librarians to find and purchase information resources in all formats. Librarians teach students (and, sometimes, faculty) how to appropriately and ethically use those resources. We do what we’ve always done: organize and preserve information for future retrieval and teach users how to access and incorporate it. And, if we could once and for all, get rid of those cartoon stereotypes about libraries and librarians, that would be best of all.