Bossier Parish Community College is in compliance with this core requirement because the College provides and supports access to adequate library collections, services and other information resources sufficient to support its programs and degrees offered.

The BPCC Library

The BPCC Library occupies space on both the first and second floors of Building A on the campus. It is a vital part of the educational program of the College and provides a comprehensive range of services to students and faculty.

As of May 2006, the Library contains 36,190 items (34,431 titles) of books and bound periodicals that support the College's curricula. In addition, it has 2,686 items (2,296 titles) in its audiovisual collection and regularly receives 230 periodicals and six newspapers (Library Statistics). An open-shelf arrangement makes the collection easily accessible, and the Library maintains a closed-stack area for bound and some unbound issues of magazines.

The Library staff consists of the Dean of Learning Resources, four professional librarians, one library assistant, the manager of the Technology Resource Center, and four secretary/clerical positions. Student assistants help with the mechanical and clerical processes of the Library. Librarians act as liaisons to the academic divisions of the College to ensure teaching faculty participation in the selection process of Library holdings.

The Library is open adequate hours to accommodate the needs of the students and faculty. During the spring and fall semesters (when classes are in session and during final exams), it is open 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., on Friday; and 8:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Hours for the summer semester are the same with the exception of no weekend hours. Operating hours are posted outside the Library door and are listed on the Library's website and in the Academic Bulletin.

The Library is a member of LOUIS, The Louisiana Library Network. LOUIS combines the resources of Louisiana's public and private academic libraries, along with a centralized support staff located on the LSU-Baton Rouge campus, to produce a dynamic library consortium. Services to consortium members include library automation, a union catalog, a digital library, electronic resources, authentication, training, consulting, and hosting related listservs and websites. Established in 1992 by the Louisiana Board of Regents, LOUIS has 43 members and receives approximately $3.5 million annually in contracts and membership fees to support consortium members.

The Library is also a member of the Louisiana Academic Library Information and Network Consortium (LALINC), a consortium that fosters resource sharing among Louisiana libraries. LALINC allows current students, faculty and staff of Louisiana colleges and universities to borrow items from other academic libraries in Louisiana by presenting a LALINC card at that library.

The Library also provides Interlibrary Loans (ILL), the lending of materials between libraries. For library users, it equates to access to materials of other libraries without visiting those libraries. ILL is available for the College's faculty, staff and students. Requests may be filed by using the online request form and filing a form in the Library or by telephone. The Library staff will then locate the item at another library and obtain it for use by the requester.

General assistance, specific computer assistance and circulation of library materials to library users are made available by the Library staff. Reference assistance, library information, and literacy programs are provided by the librarians. Specific reference questions can be answered both in house and through e-mail. In addition, the Library offers online tutorials in the use of facilities and study guides to various academic areas. Librarians work with faculty to provide orientations of the Library and its resources for academic classes. Faculty are encouraged to make frequent material order requests to add to the Library's collection. College divisions also purchase materials with divisional funds. Upon request, the Library manages these materials. Two self-service copy machines are available to Library patrons.

In the fall semester, 2005, a total of 44,752 users took advantage of the Library's resources. This is an underestimate, however, because the gate counter was installed late. The number of class hours was 181.75, and 35 orientations were held. In-house circulating books totaled 4,764, and out-of-house, 1,911.

The Library encourages all students and faculty who use its services to complete a survey to rate the Library's resources and services. The information obtained from the surveys helps the Library faculty and staff create strategies to improve resources and services.

Student survey results from the past three semesters show that students are more than satisfied with library resources and services. Fall 2005 student survey results showed that 257 of 269 students surveyed (95.5 percent) rated the Library's overall performance as Excellent or Good. Spring 2006 student survey results found that 278 of 282 students (98.6 percent) rated overall performance as Excellent or Good. Fall 2006 student survey results showed that 106 of 111 students (95.4 percent) rated overall performance as Excellent or Good.

Faculty survey results from the past three years indicate that the College's faculty are more than satisfied with library resources and services. Spring 2004 faculty survey results showed that 97.9 percent rated the Library's performance as Excellent or Good. Spring 2005 faculty survey results indicated that 98.5 percent rated the Library's performance as Excellent or Good. Spring 2006 faculty survey results showed ratings at 97.5 percent for Excellent or Good performance.

An increasing number of students use computers for coursework and library research, and the BPCC Library has greatly improved computer access for students. Among the services offered is iLink, the Library's online catalog, available via the Internet 24 hours a day. This catalog provides students with quick and easy access to the Library's holdings. It also offers services such as placing holds, viewing reserve materials lists, and checking personal accounts of books and fees owed.

Many of the College's associate degrees, certificates, and technical competency programs are accredited by specialized accrediting agencies, and these agencies examine the adequacy of the Library and related learning resources as part of the accrediting process. The programs with specialized accreditation include the Associate of Applied Science in EMT Paramedic, the Associate of Applied Science in Medical Assistant, the Associate of Applied Science in Pharmacy Technician, the Technical Diploma in Pharmacy Technician, the Technical Competency Area in Pharmacy Technician, the Associate of Applied Science in Physical Therapist Assistant, the Associate of Science in Respiratory Therapy, the Certificate of Technical Studies in Respiratory Therapy, the Certificate of Technical Studies in Culinary Arts, the Certificate of Technical Studies in Phlebotomy, the Technical Diploma in Surgical Technology, and the Technical Diploma in Medical Office Specialist: Coding.

The Technology Resource Center

The Technology Resource Center (TRC), located on the second floor of the Library, provides students with access to the Internet. It contains 56 computers with access to printers. A TRC Manager and student assistants provide help with the use of the electronic resources. The computers have software installed to help students with math courses and also provide popular software such as Adobe Reader and Photoshop, Microsoft Office 2003, QuickBooks Pro 2005, Shockwave, and Visual Basic 6.0.

As a member of LOUIS, the Library is able to provide electronic resources to students and faculty both on and off-campus. In addition, LOUIS licenses full-text electronic resources from over 10,000 journals and allows for interlibrary loans of books.

To help students and faculty with research, the Library has OneSearch, allowing them to find articles and books by searching multiple databases and the Online Catalog. OneSearch offers access to 43 databases, including Business Source Premier, LexisNexis Academic, JSTOR, MathSciNet, MEDLINE, MLA Directory of Periodicals, Oxford English Dictionary, Serials Directory, and Social Services Abstracts. In addition, OneSearch provides access to the Library Catalogs of 30 public and private colleges and universities in Louisiana.

For Web searches, the Library offers access to 18 search engines, including AOL Search, Excite, Google, Infoseek, and MSN Search and 15 meta search engines, including Dogpile, Metacrawler, Surfwax, and Webcrawler.

To obtain feedback, the Technology Resource Center encourages students who use its facilities and services to complete a survey. The information obtained from the survey helps the Library faculty and staff improve resources and services.

The Learning Center

The Learning Center is a tutoring and learning resource center which provides students the opportunity to improve academic skills. The Learning Center is located in Building A, Room 248, and the hours of operation are Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. during spring and fall semesters. Statistics from the 2005-2006 academic year showed the number of student visits to the Learning Center totaled 21,197.

The staff of the Learning Center includes the Director, the Lab Manager, a Program Coordinator, and an Administrative Assistant. In addition, qualified BPCC students serve as tutors in the Learning Center. The tutors are recommended by instructors and undergo a rigorous screening process before being selected to work in the Learning Center.

The purposes of the Learning Center are to enhance instruction provided in the classroom and to assist BPCC students in achieving academic success, gaining self-confidence, and becoming independent learners. These are achieved through one-on-one tutorial services and computer-assisted learning.

The one-on-one student tutorial services are offered for science, math and English courses taught at the College, and a special computer service, PLATO, is used to manage the delivery of computer-assisted instruction in the Learning Center. PLATO also allows instructors to have access to information on the status of students' assignments, including progress reports and scores for each activity. In addition, the Learning Center offers a large collection of videotapes, graphing calculators, microscopes, anatomical models, and educational software on stand-alone computers for student use.

Electronic Learning Services (Division of Educational Technology)

The College offers a wide variety of electronically-based instruction and training opportunities. Online courses have become very popular with students; in the spring semester, 2006, the College offered 75 sections of online courses, using the Blackboard e-Education Platform. The Division of Educational Technology is responsible for the operation and maintenance of Blackboard. It also offers SMARTHINKING, which provides live, online, and personalized learning assistance in a wide range of academic subjects.

The Division of Educational Technology is located in Building D and has five staff members: the Director of Educational Technology, an Assistant Director, an Instructional Technology Specialist, an Instructional Technology Assistant, and an Administrative Assistant. The Division staff offers frequent orientation seminars for students and workshops for faculty about using Blackboard.

The College is one of six institutions of higher learning in Louisiana participating in the Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB) "Electronic Campus". The "Electronic Campus" provides students with basic information about the availability of courses and certificate and degree programs at institutions of higher learning across the 16 SREB states.

The Respiratory Technology program is offered via compressed video, and all the required courses for the associate degrees in Computer Information Systems, General Studies, and Criminal Justice are offered online.

Using the Library website and related resources, students taking online classes have access to the same resources and services that on-campus students enjoy.

In summary, Bossier Parish Community College provides and supports access to adequate library collections, services and other information resources sufficient to support its programs and degrees offered.

With 36, 000+ items of books and periodicals to support the College curricula, the BPCC Library, along with its well-qualified staff, provides a comprehensive range of support and services for both students and faculty. Through BPCC's membership in LOUIS, students may access not only the resources of all Louisiana's 43-member public and private academic institutions but, also, a centralized support staff located on the LSU-Baton Rouge campus. Membership in LALINC extends this resource-sharing. The Library offers students Interlibrary loan services, and students may make requests by means of the online request form, in person, or by phone. The Library recognizes the increasing number of students accessing Library facilities online; the Library's online catalog provides 24 hour access to the Library's holdings.

BPCC Library staff offer assistance to users ranging from computer assistance and reference questions; additionally online tutorials provide guidance in the use of facilities and study guides. Librarians accommodate faculty needs by providing orientations, encouraging faculty requests for new material, and managing requested acquisitions.

Students and faculty members regularly complete surveys to rate the Library's resources and services, and Library faculty and staff employ this data to create strategies for improvement.

Computers located in the Library's Technology Resource Center provide student access to Internet resources and to software programs they may need for course work completion. The Learning Center, by providing a range of tutorial services, enhances classroom instruction and assists students in achieving success both in and out of the classroom environment.

Through its Division of Educational Technology, electronically-based instruction and training opportunities continue to expand at BPCC. The division staff offers frequent orientation seminars and workshops for both students and faculty. Also, online and compressed video offerings expand learning resources/venues available for students.