American Samoa Community College

17.  Information and Learning Support Resources:
The institution provides, through ownership or contractual agreement, specific long-term access to sufficient information and learning support services adequate for its mission and instructional programs in whatever format whenever and wherever they are offered. (Standard II.B.1 and II.B.4)

The library has a collection of approximately 40,000 volumes that includes a subscription to ninety periodicals and some online databases for full-text professional and scholarly articles, reference books, journals, and newspapers for student and faculty research. In addition the library has an elevator that is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The library is also designated as a federal depository library, and houses federal government publications. The library owns DVDs, CDs and audios, and videotapes for instructional purposes. The Follett Automation System is currently available at the ASCC Library.1

ASCC library is a member of the American Samoa Library Consortium that includes American Samoa Historic Preservation Office, Feleti Barstow Public Library, Kanana Fou Theological Seminary, Manua High School Public Library, Ofu Community Center, Polynesian Photo Archives, Tafuna Juvenile Correctional Center, and KVZK-TV Station.

Card catalog and Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) provide information and easy access to the location of books. There are computers with Internet access and computer software for students and faculty.2

The library collection consists of books, periodicals and electronic resources to assist library patrons’ research needs in the following Collection Areas:

  • The Reference Collection is located on the first floor of the library. This collection consists of Encyclopedias, Almanacs, Dictionaries, Atlases, Handbooks, and other reference materials. The Magazine collection is also located in the Reference area of the library. The Reference Collection area also contains ten student desktop computer carrels with a printer, located at the adjacent Circulation Desk, to facilitate student learning and research, as well as ten study-tables.
  • The General Collection for patron check-out is located on the second floor of the library and consists of Non-fiction and Fiction Books. This collection also contains the Biography, Large-Print, Juvenile, Paperback, and Spanish Language collections. The General Collection area also contains 12 study-tables and five individual study carrels.
  • The Education Resource Center (ERC) room is located on the second floor of the library and contains educational books and periodicals in support of the B.Ed. Elementary Degree program and teacher education courses. The ERC room is equipped with eight student desk top computers and two printers to facilitate student learning and research, as well as three study-tables and three individual study carrels.
  • The Special Collection Room, also called the Samoa and other Pacific Islands Collection, is located on the first floor and contains books, periodicals and materials on Samoa and other Pacific Islands, Pacific CD-ROMs, and materials from the South Pacific Commission.  The library’s Rare Book Collection is also located in this room. The Special Collection area is equipped with a fax/photo-copy machine and three study-tables. ASCC research publications are also available in the Special Collection Room. The Special Collection Room also provides access to the Samoa Studies Institute archives via ASCC’s website.

In addition to the College’s collection materials, books may also be borrowed from the Feleti Barstow Public Library, University of Hawaii Libraries, University of Guam Library, and College of Micronesia Library through a Memorandum of Understanding interlibrary loan program with each of these affiliate libraries.3

ASCC collaborates with other institutions but is primarily responsible for its own resources. ASCC Library is a member of the American Samoa Library Consortium (ASLC). Other members are the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office, Feleti Barstow Public Library, Kanana Fou Theological Seminary, Manua High School Public Library, Ofu Community Center, Polynesian Photo Archives, Tafuna Juvenile Correctional Center, KVZK-TV Station.4

The Library Consortium Members are connected via the above online Follett Automation System called “Destiny” that allows consortium campus users to renew borrowed items online via a web interface for all materials in the libraries across all campuses.

In addition to ASLC membership above, the library also participates in the Interlibrary Loan program for borrowing books or document delivery through a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Hawaii Library at Manoa, University of Guam Library, and College of Micronesia Libraries. As a result, library users from participating campuses can borrow collection items, for a nominal fee, from another member’s campus collection.