Leigh Rupinski, Archivist for Public Services and Community Engagement
Katelyn Fletcher, Research Services Assistant
Grand Valley State University Libraries

Abstract

Although the archival field has come a long way towards making outreach a more integral function of archivist positions, it remains difficult to fully define and assess. Categories of outreach are broad, often focusing on time-consuming or budget-hefty projects such as exhibitions and workshops. Less has been written about “just for fun” outreach; the kinds of activities that center fun and joy with less immediate payoff in assessment and impact reports. However, they remain one of the only ways to engage the community with archival holdings outside of the Reading Room or classroom. It is through these more modest outreach efforts that archivists can reach further than traditional audiences and embrace the idea that archives are for everyone.

This case study will discuss three examples of how just for fun outreach in the Lemmen Library and Archives at Grand Valley State University has created a community-centered space that encourages students to interact with the archives, even if they are not actively researching with the holdings.

Background

To borrow from Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that an archive, in possession of interesting collections, must be in need of someone to use it. However, little is known about the feelings, interests, or views of such a someone. This truth is so well fixed in the minds of archivists that anyone is considered to be a potential audience for their holdings.

But what happens when that someone does not, in fact, want to use the collections?

Enter the outreach archivist. Steadily growing in number since the first job was posted in 1981 (Boff et al 2006, 144), full-time outreach archivists remain a fairly small group, due in part to the way archivist and librarian positions frequently combine outreach roles with other duties (Metzger and Jackson, 646). In Lawrimore et al, 2022, the authors examine the development of outreach as an archival function over time. In 1939, Albert Newsome’s presidential address to the Society of American Archivists just barely touched on the idea of expanding reference services and generating public support (88-89). It was not until 1978 that another archivist, Elsie Freeman Freivogel, would define outreach as a core function of archival work (91), and not until 2015 that then-SAA President Kathleen Roe would promote outreach as a proactive necessity, remarking “we cannot wait patiently for the researchers to find our websites or come to our repositories” (93).

Outreach work, by its very nature, is difficult to describe. Under the “outreach” umbrella, we find terms like “community engagement”, “instruction”, “reference”, “marketing”, and more. As Farrell and Mastel point out, “There are as many definitions for library outreach as there are creative activities and strategies”. For the purposes of this article, two categories are particularly relevant. First, Samuelson separates community engagement as predicated on building relationships; its purpose is to act for community benefit. Ippoliti approaches this from another angle, remarking that outreach “is increasingly…a two-way street in which outreach is framed as engagement rather than solely dissemination or education” (2022, 39). If we take community engagement as a form of outreach then, its purpose is to build relationships with the community, to make a space for that community to interact with comfortably.

In the concept of space, there is another barrier to archival outreach activities. While libraries inhabit a “third place” (Montgomery and Miller 2011, 232), archives exist in a third-place adjacent space. Third places are communal gathering places; spots where people spend time outside of home (the first place) and work (the second place), where one can connect with others of similar interests. Libraries are one of the most accessible third places, since no commercial relationship is needed to participate and there are many community-building events and activities. Archives, though a type of specialized library, do not quite reach that same communal gathering level. Considerations like collections security and preservation concerns limit the kinds of interactivity and events that can be planned. For academic archives, this can be made easier by having a location tied to the greater library building, such as a wing or floor of dedicated space. Integrating into other spaces for outreach is then a matter mostly of logistics. For archives with their own buildings, drawing people into a welcoming environment becomes more of a challenge. Large scale exhibitions or even small displays are often used to create a more welcoming environment in archives in an effort to draw users in to engage with the materials. Demas and Scherer refer to the idea of a “transportive space” (2002). “A transportive space in the library involves design that inspires patrons and enhances their unique experience while in the library” (in Montgomery and Miller, 2011, 232); the archives provide the ultimate “uniqueness” to a library experience, if only because no two archives’ collections and environments will ever be identical.

Montgomery and Miller (2011) ask, “What is the role of the library as place when users do not need to visit the building to utilize library services and resources?” (228). A modified question might be, “What is the role of the archive as place when users do not need to visit the resources to utilize the services?”

Farrell and Mastel introduced categories of outreach including “Just for Fun Outreach”, which they define as having a “focus on providing a friendly or welcoming experience with the library and/or redefine the library as place” (2016). Ippoliti takes this one step further, adding that this type of outreach focuses on “how the library seeks to build rapport with the community” (41).  The implication seems to be that outreach “for fun” is less likely to be assessed because it is relationship dependent. It is difficult to quantify a relationship in meaningful statistics, unlike an event that has clear goals and outcomes. As many of these outreach activities are designed to be independent of intervention by the librarians, it is harder to track statistics without unduly putting pressure on the intended audience. Accurately assessing who is interacting with the materials and in exactly what way becomes difficult and may even distract from the ultimate purpose of having fun. Furthermore, Diaz notes in her 2019 article that “outreach case studies often place more emphasis on the newness or trendiness of a method, rather than the issue it was intended to address” (184). In other words, we know that community outreach matters, that relationship building and transportive spaces are important, but the literature focuses on the higher-stakes methods, with heavier workloads, richer assessment techniques, and, ideally, greater payoffs.

In archives, outreach happens in classrooms, Reading Rooms, exhibition galleries, event spaces, and beyond. In each of those instances, the goal of outreach is to actively educate the community about using archives, market a particular collection, or provide a service. What is lacking in the literature is an examination of outreach activities that are passive, “just for fun”, asynchronous, and (usually) underfunded.

Lemmen Library and Archives

Most “just for fun” projects that have been successful at Lemmen Library and Archives started out as a sentence phrase on a whiteboard in the Reading Room. Student employees are encouraged to brainstorm ideas and write them down. Some of the best projects started out with someone saying “wouldn’t it be cool if…” The open sharing of ideas, and the knowledge that there is little budget for outreach led to the creation of successful projects such as the “This/That/Other” display cases, magnet poetry, and Lemmen Library Spotify, all of which will be discussed later as sample outreach initiatives.

Lemmen Library and Archives occupies a portion of the first building constructed on Grand Valley State University’s campus in Allendale, Michigan, named Seidman House. Seidman House began its life as the student center, before a series of transformations, ending in 2000 when it officially became home to the special collections and university archives materials. Upon entering the building, students or researchers can choose to either turn right, into the Reading Room, which is connected to the closed stacks and faculty offices, or continue left into an open Study Lounge, complete with a 1960s-style conversation pit, floor to ceiling windows, and the occasional drive-by outdoor cat sighting.

The lobby of Seidman House is connected to the lounge via an exhibition gallery of three flat cases followed by seven full-length wall cases. There is a set of stairs to the basement where additional closed stacks and bathrooms are located. From the Reading Room service desk, student employees can see anyone who walks through the front doors, but many patrons do not engage with the staff immediately. Even when patrons do approach, the physical barrier of the glass windows between the Reading Room and the lobby frequently causes anxiety to patrons unused to archival spaces. That being said, the separation of archival space and lounge space creates a unique opportunity for archives faculty and staff to engage with students who are looking for a quiet study space in the lounge but have no interest in directly researching with archival collections.

In 2024, Grand Valley State University’s Special Collections and University Archives successfully proposed a rebranding of their identity to “Lemmen Library and Archives.” Rebranding offered the perfect time to start changing the relationship of the Library with its community. Whereas undergraduate students did not always understand what a “Special Collections” was, the more common “Library” associates the building’s services with library ideas of third places and community resources.

Within Lemmen Library, there is a relatively small staff: two full-time archivists, one support staff member, and five student employees. There is no designated budget specifically for outreach or public services, which necessitates creativity. As Research Services Assistant Katelyn Fletcher once put it, “we have glue and a dream!”

Just For Fun Outreach

This, That, or The Other?

The first example of “just for fun” outreach utilizes flat display cases in the hallway leading to the main study lounge. Full-size cases are often curated by staff or Capstone classes showcasing archival material and often attempt to tell a full story or theme. The flat cases open at about waist height and measure 4 x 2 feet, compared to the full-size cases, which are 6 x 5 feet. The flat cases are too small for a full-scale, comprehensive exhibit, yet they are one of the first things patrons see when walking into the building. In 2024, Fletcher envisioned a more interactive opportunity.  Now, the three cases are part of an ongoing series titled “This, That or the Other?”. The individual cases feature signs created by student employees out of construction paper, labeling each case either ‘this’, ‘that’, or ‘other’. Mason jars and slips of paper sit on top of each case, along with a small poster explaining each week’s theme. Anyone walking by can take a quick look at the cases and put a piece of paper into the jar of the case they like the best. Theme ideas can come from any of the staff, and anyone is welcome to write down or suggest an idea. Themes relate to items from collections, most often university history or rare books. They are rotated on a monthly basis, sometimes composed of materials from a single collection, while other months feature a diverse mixture of materials.

Some examples of past topics include: “The Eras of Louie the Laker”, “Red, Green or Blue Rare Books”, and “Fruits, Vegetables or Legumes”. The displays are more visual than a full-size display with narrative labels. Emphasis is placed on visual components and clear, quick choices. For instance, a recent “This, That or the Other” called “Fruits, Vegetables or Legumes” asks those walking by to choose between three types of Michigan agricultural advertisements. Each case had a color scheme and showcased archival material in each category: a “Beananza!” recipe calendar, joke postcards featuring unnaturally large vegetables, or realistically illustrated strawberry garden books. Staff filled the cases with relevant material and printed out additional decorations to make the cases even more colorful and eye-catching. A poster explaining the theme was created and informed the viewer of the winner of the previous theme. This theme showed off a new aspect of Lemmen Library’s collecting areas with minimal effort, and while some people undoubtedly do walk by without participating, staff in the Reading Room have observed others taking their time to examine all the choices before voting. In this case, “Fruit” accumulated nine votes, Vegetables had 11, and Legumes had three, making Fruit the winner.

Even though the Study Lounge is not technically within the confines of the archives itself, the flat case displays provide an immediate signal about what kinds of things can be found in the building. They set the tone for the space as interactive and collaborative; what is put out is for the patron to enjoy and to give feedback on, regardless of whether or not they have any intention of using the archives.

Magnet Poetry 

Another example of “Just for Fun” outreach that Lemmen Library enacted was “Magnet Poetry” for Valentine’s Day. This was accompanied by other activities for the holiday, such as decorating the conversation pit area with poetry, asking patrons “What do you love about Lemmen Library?”, and setting out Valentine’s cards with images from our collections for anyone to take. The most successful of these activities was magnet poetry.

To create the magnets, student employees scoured our digital collections for words that were then clipped, put in a folder, and printed. Employees tried to collect a variety of words and phrases that would make for varied poem content, such as spaghetti, taxes, dinosaur, wild ducks, and justice, as well as filler words such as he, she, they, so, more, or,  a, we, and you. Staff glued all of the words to magnet sheets over two days and individually cut them out using scissors and box cutters. In total, there were around 230 words. The magnets were placed on a large whiteboard in the study lounge with the words “Write us a Poem!” written at the top, encouraging patrons to take part. The whiteboard is just outside the conversation pit, which is the most popular area in the lounge. The intention was to provide something creative, where no expectations were placed on patrons to participate. Anyone could make a poem and, therefore, interact with pieces of our collections if they were interested. It was quite successful and there was a lot of participation, so staff decided to keep it out indefinitely. Patrons continue to use it, taking a break from their studying to create silly poems. Currently, there are about 30 poems on the whiteboard, featuring works such as “small special town of starry-eyed fantasy people view life with ‘tradition’ and dragons and fun”, “Book bats must own campus”, or “Welcome fair soul, what it do?” There are frequently new poems or existing ones that have been changed.  Lemmen Library staff bought more magnet tape for about six dollars, so more words, and hopefully more poetry will be added in the near future.

Curated Playlists

Our Lead Student Employee for Cataloging, Erika, suggested curating Spotify playlists for patrons using the Study Lounge. Curated playlists are very popular among students, who use them to create specific “vibes” or aesthetics to match their activities, moods, or the season. James Foley, Spotify’s leader for Global Editorial Strategy, remarked on the importance of music to college-age students: “I’d say youth culture has always driven the discovery and rediscovery of popular music.” (Spotify Editorial Team 2023). The connection between music, Lemmen Library’s primary user population, and the collections felt like an exciting possibility to conduct outreach in a new way. According to Janelle Potter in their essay “Music Preferences Among College Students Through the Decades,” most college students at Grand Valley prefer listening to music through Spotify compared to Apple Music, or YouTube Music (12). This could be because Spotify offers an economical student plan, making it an appealing choice for students. Accordingly, Lemmen Library staff chose Spotify as the platform for the playlists.

To advertise, staff has been creating social media posts recommending the playlists based on “vibes.” The posts say, “if this is your vibe…Listen to this playlist,” with a scannable Spotify code. These posts have helped draw attention to the new initiatives, which are otherwise difficult to find directly on the platform.

Assessment

Given the nature of “just for fun” outreach, assessment has been a lower priority. Because these types of outreach activities can all be interacted with asynchronously, without supervision, it can be harder to judge their overall effectiveness. The interactive voting cases have the most measurable participation statistics, garnering about 15 votes per theme.

However, it’s impossible to know how many other people glanced at the cases in passing and enjoyed them without voting at all, or even if someone voted more than once. Similarly, the magnet poetry has generated poems consistently, but how many individual people participated is harder to calculate. Finally, Spotify shows if a playlist has been saved, but there are no statistics for how frequently it has been listened to or by how many people.

Staff were thrilled when drawings started appearing on a whiteboard in the Study Lounge, suggesting a successful relationship had been forged with at least some patrons. While staff communicated their care through these various initiatives, students were also reaching back of their own accord to share inspirational messages and drawings to the staff.

Given that context, a key component of assessing “just for fun” outreach lies in the question: Was it fun for the creators to make it happen? In the case of magnet poetry, staff and students had fun hunting up words and making poems prior to placing it in the public space, which made the activity feel more meaningful. Rupinski noted to a colleague during the creation process, “Even if no one else makes a poem, this will have been worth it just for us!” Spotify playlists have been promoted on social media, leading to some engagement, including a comment on our Instagram post from the University of Texas at Dallas Special Collections that they were listening to our Incunabula Tunes playlist. “Perfect vibe for a cloudy day,” they wrote. None of these activities is meant to be time-consuming; there is no hard exhibition deadline or event date. By design, they are meant to be fun to both creators and participants, engaging both groups with the joy of archival materials.

Lessons Learned

All of the examples demonstrate time and budget constraints. Because there was little staffing, time, and budget available overall, staff were specifically interested in low-stakes types of engagement. As noted, it can be difficult to fully assess the work. Initially, staff did not keep a good log of voting participation in the “This, That, or The Other” cases; now, there is a process to consistently log themes and vote numbers. As themes were rolled out, staff found that the simpler themes, such as “small, medium, or large” books received more votes than more complicated or reading-heavy votes, such as the “Choose Your Fighter” cases.

Lemmen Library and Archives staff are extraordinarily grateful to have student employees to help bridge the gap between faculty and staff ideas and the student population. Student employees have been key drivers of these interactive engagement ideas, and their creativity and skill sets have really lent themselves to the work.

Library staff also found that setting aside one day a month (or week) to work on these initiatives was good for staff and student employee wellness. The days with the most overlapping staffing were Fridays, so staff set aside a “Fun Friday” to work on these creative initiatives. Having the designated day gave everyone freedom to participate as able and made the work feel less ancillary or stressful. Too often, larger outreach activities, such as an ambitious Rare-book-and-Halloween-themed open house event held at Lemmen Library, can become all-consuming in order to pull them off successfully. While there was a tremendous turn-out for the event, and it was fun, it required exhaustive creativity and too much staff time, budget, and promotion to be a frequent occurrence.

Perhaps most importantly, staff learned to balance the desire for impactful assessment numbers with the desire to have creative outlets. So much of the assessment for “Just for Fun” outreach relies on anecdotal evidence or serendipity. For example, it is difficult to get a full picture of who is participating in magnet poetry, but the fun of finding words, making magnets, and seeing new poems appear factors into the overall assessment of the activity. “Just for Fun” can be fun for both creators and participants. So long as staff and student employees enjoy creating these initiatives, and they can be done with less budget and time investment, then they are worth it to meet goals for community-building.

Future Plans

Lemmen Library and Archives staff plan to continue with these initiatives. Because none of these examples are time-sensitive or burdensome, staff feel they are easily sustainable. This, That, and The Other cases now have an ideas list that all staff and students can contribute to, in order to make the creation turnaround quicker. Ideas include using photographs of different animals from various collections and choosing a dream house by showcasing different designs from the Home Design Catalog collection. Now that there is a healthy amount of Spotify playlists available, less time needs to be spent on creation unless someone has a great idea for an addition. The magnet poetry has been taken down during low-traffic periods in the building, but it can be reinstated at any point. The flexibility of these projects makes them extremely versatile. New staff recently joined Lemmen Library and Archives and their interests have sparked ideas of having some brown-bag lunch crafting circles to build community and creativity.  Of course, it is extremely likely that new “just for fun” ideas will continue to be brought forward as student employees turn over, new ideas emerge, and new archival materials enter the collections.

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