Tag Archives: outreach

Community is the Curriculum

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Janice Grover
Carol J. McMurry Distinguished Librarian for Academic Excellence
University of Wyoming Libraries

At the University of Wyoming, the Zine Collective meets in the basement of the Honors College, a large old house on the edge of campus. Over time, the basement has become our space. Three round tables are pushed together and covered with glue sticks, scissors, old magazines, scraps of paper, and half-finished zines. The Honors Library interns usually get there first to spread everything out while people wander in carrying backpacks, water bottles, and random ephemera they found somewhere and wanted to share. I usually walk in carrying dinner, either local takeout, or the cheapest pizza we can afford depending on how many people are expected to show.

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We Have Glue and a Dream: A Case Study on Just for Fun Outreach at the Lemmen Library and Archives

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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.

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Micro-Programming: A Dynamic and Flexible Approach to Student Engagement

Peer-Reviewed Article, , ,

Kelsey Hammer, Coordinator of Student Engagement & Programming
Julia Feerrar, Head of Digital Literacy Initiatives
University Libraries at Virginia Tech

Introduction

Academic library outreach and engagement often works at the nexus of multiple challenges. Librarians must meet the needs and interests of patron communities, make the most of limited staff time and resources, and navigate competing priorities for time and attention across campus. Over the last several years, our team of teaching librarians at Virginia Tech has sought out multiple opportunities to rethink and restrategize some of our approaches to these challenges.

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Formalizing the Informal: Making Conversations with Faculty Count

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by Jenna Pitera
Instruction Librarian
Union College

My colleagues joke that I am always selling. I am an instruction librarian at a small liberal arts college that calls itself ‘very relationship based.’ When I came to Union College in Upstate New York, in a barely post-pandemic world, I had an uphill battle to climb when I tried to communicate the utility of our library to the campus. During the pandemic, the library was a rockstar amongst campus services, finding innovative ways to continue services and instruction in a remote environment, but despite my colleagues’ immense efforts, many faculty had moved to a research instruction model where they sprinkled how to find research articles into their standard lessons, using the methods they employ in their own research rather than working with librarians. “I just teach my students what I do” said an economics faculty member to me when I asked him how he works with the library. “I know how to find articles.”
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Poetry, Pizza, and Pandemics: How an Academic Library Successfully Moved a Popular In-Person Student Engagement Program Online

Peer-Reviewed Article, , , , , , ,

Stephanie Evers Ard
Social Sciences Librarian
Marx Library
University of South Alabama

Abstract

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced most libraries to move their services online, the University of South Alabama’s Marx Library was quick to respond. The library already provided robust online services, and library workers understood their crucial role in providing remote academic support to faculty and students. However, the Marx Library also recognized that providing social support was just as essential. This article describes how the Marx Library Student Engagement Committee rallied to provide students with a much-needed sense of community by developing online programming–specifically, by moving the library’s very popular semesterly “Poetry & Pizza” open mic events online. The author details how the library successfully planned two fully virtual poetry events by identifying and collaborating with relevant campus departments and community organizations, adapting available technology to create a safe and comfortable place for student expression, and drawing upon a strong social media presence. The author also evaluates the Student Engagement Committee’s successes, reflects on the problems they encountered, and offers suggestions for other libraries hoping to plan similar online events.

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