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Retired professor accesses worldwide research through Newport News libraries

Service provides unlimited information

Raymond Jirran burst out of his car on a recent afternoon in front of the West Avenue Library with arms extended, a smile on his face and a gregarious exuberance.

Raymond Jirran conducts research at West Avenue Library in Newport News. Jirran often uses the Library’s Interlibrary Loan service to get research from other libraries sent to West Avenue.

Raymond Jirran burst out of his car on a recent afternoon in front of the West Avenue Library with arms extended, a smile on his face and a gregarious exuberance. For Jirran, an opportunity to talk about his relationship with the Newport News Public Libraries is a chance to discuss something he cares about and to reminisce.

A retired professor, Jirran uses the Library to research race relations in Cleveland, Ohio, during the period of desegregation. Though he was in the city during the 1940s and ’50s, historical information can be cloudy.

“The Library then,” he says, “is the primary resource for access to the truth.”

Having taught African-American History at Thomas Nelson Community College for more than 30 years, Jirran is no stranger to the subject. His dissertation at Kent State University explored racial relations in Cleveland, Ohio, after World War II.

“The American Dream and the American Dilemma are two aspects of the same reality. One does not exist without the other,” Jirran concluded from his research.

Like a true academic, Jirran hasn’t allowed retirement to stifle his intellectual curiosity.

“In retirement, I am having an opportunity to use Interlibrary Loan as never before,” he said.

Interlibrary Loan is a service of the Newport News Public Library System that allows patrons to borrow items – books, DVDs, articles, reports, government documents, and more – from libraries outside of Newport News.

Jirran uses the service to retrieve economic information, city minutes, and census data for his research. He adds to that information by reviewing articles from academic journals, books, and press from the time of segregation. He acquires items from local universities and other public library systems, as well as from out-of-state sources, academic journals, foreign press and libraries, as well as scientific studies.

Without Interlibrary Loan, Jirran’s research would be difficult. He would have to drive to each library housing the information he required, he said, and individually solicit academic journals for full text articles.

Individuals also can face obstacles such as loaning eligibility, financial costs and time when trying to obtain items from other libraries, but Interlibrary Loan gives patrons eligibility and eliminates distance between a patron and a resource.

It’s an excellent resource for distance learners who can’t make trips to their university library, or anyone who can’t commute to the library.

“When the Library expands access for residents throughout the world, the resulting value becomes inestimable,” Jirran said. Interlibrary Loan links patrons to resources in the “best and most complete libraries,” he said.

But Interlibrary Loan isn’t just for those who know specifically what they’re looking for. Jirran said he once stepped into the Virgil I. Grissom Library with a curious word on his mind: melungeon. He had come across the name in his travels and was curious as to who or what melungeon was.

The reference librarians at Grissom were able to identify who the Melungeon people are and provide a correct spelling and pronunciation of the name. Then through Interlibrary Loan, the librarians provided him with a text on Melungeon history, including a genetic study conducted in Turkey that possibly links the Melungeon to the colonists in Roanoke.

“I can’t get over the accommodation the Newport News Public Library System has made for my research,” he said.

The Newport News Public Library System provides Interlibrary Loan service to all patrons with a Library card in good standing. While usually free, some other libraries might require a borrowing fee. In that case, Newport News patrons may be asked to pay minimal charges, but they have the right to decline the loan instead. Patrons are limited to five loans at a time, and they must contact the lending library for renewals. The loan period is typically 10 days to two months.
 

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