By Nancy Shore, STEM & Health Sciences Librarian,
Columbus State University,
Erin Tan, Head of Access Services,
Columbus State University, Columbus, GA
and
Kristina Clement, Assistant Director of Academic Engagement and Instruction and Instruction Coordinator,
Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA
Introduction
Student employees play an important role in the daily operations of academic libraries, contributing to access services, user engagement, and special projects while simultaneously developing transferable skills for future employment (McKenna, 2020; Sterling, 2015). The student employees benefit from meaningful participation in campus operations and financial support for their work in academic libraries, while library supervisors face challenges in training, motivating, and retaining a transient workforce. Traditional supervisory strategies geared for full-time staff often emphasize efficiency and policy adherence, but they may fall short in supporting the diverse learning needs of student workers, particularly those who are first-generation or neurodivergent (Accardo et al., 2024; Becker-Redd et al., 2018). Emerging scholarship suggests that extending inclusive pedagogical frameworks, commonly applied within classroom contexts, into campus workplaces can help address these challenges. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) emphasizes proactive planning to reduce barriers by offering multiple means of engagement, representation, and action (Smith, 2025), while Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) highlights the value of clearly communicating purpose, tasks, and criteria for assignments and job responsibilities (Winkelmes, 2023). Both frameworks demonstrate positive impacts on student confidence, belonging, and persistence in employment settings and hold potential to enrich student experience as employees in academic libraries.