ILS560 Benchmark Exercise Executive Summary  

 The following is an evaluation of Pope Pius XII Library at Saint Joseph College in

West Hartford, CT. and a comparison with libraries from four other Northern,

Masters Level, first tier, all women’s Catholic colleges: College of Saint Elizabeth,

New Jersey, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Regis College in Massachusetts and

Rosemont College in Pennsylvania. The evaluation includes library collections,

operations, expenditures, staffing, as well as, general college characteristics and

statistics. The assessment will illustrate the difference in resources and services vis-

à-vis the four other comparable institutions.

The assessment of Pope Pius XII Library is necessary due to a reduction in resources

and services. A review of library statistics from 2000 to 2006 shows that as

enrollment has increased the number of librarians, periodical subscriptions, books,

circulation and reference transactions has decreased.

Of the four schools the College of Saint Elizabeth is the closest to Saint Joseph

College in terms of enrollment, faculty, faculty to student ratio, endowment and

accreditation.  Their libraries have similar print, periodical and audiovisual

collections. For nearly the same number of students the College of Saint Elizabeth

has more librarians and staff overall, making the ratio of staff to students higher, has

a larger budget overall and spends more on library resources by about one hundred

dollars per student.

Five main points need to be addressed concerning the Saint Joseph College library: 

hours staffing, instruction, technology and reference. These crucial resources are 

currently either lacking or non-existent due to funding. Analyzing comparable college 

libraries shows that these resources are available and budgeted. To fully support 

programs the library needs financial support to achieve the high standards students 

require. To better serve constituents we need to canvas their opinions, preferably in an 

online survey to provide an opportunity for as many students as possible to share their 

needs.