Using Community Libraries to Address Challenges in Information Literacy Instruction
Presented by:
Lee Parker, Central Michigan University
Keywords:
Library Instruction, Critical Information Literacy, Community Libraries
Hear it from the author:
Transcript:
In this poster, I go through my efforts to engage with Central Michigan University’s Office of LGBTQ+ Student Services and Res Life’s offices through community library organization, connection to main library resources, and promotion through outreach events.
It is worth noting that both offices had at least one community library affiliated with them. While both of these libraries were organized online and physically by subject, it is worth noting that when organizing the Office of LGBTQ+ Student Services Library, I took the opportunity to challenge traditional methods of organization (like the Library of Congress Classification System) and instead used systems like the Homosaurus Subject Tag index.
To increase engagement through these sessions, I also utilized gamification. On this poster, one can find graphs documenting the results of a survey I sent out to students at the end of the various Office of LGBTQ+ Student Services + CMU Libraries outreach events. Questions included covered overall comfortability using library resources, feelings of safety, and understanding power and privilege in the library environment.
Most participants left the session feeling at least somewhat comfortable using CMU Libraries and Office of LGBTQ+ Student Services resources, many viewed these libraries as safe spaces or were neutral on the issue, and most reported a greater understanding of power structures in library environments, which many attributed to the use of gamification.
Key Statement:
Promoting critical information literacy and student connection are library instruction challenges. Learn how one librarian integrated campus community libraries into instruction to address these issues.
Abstract:
Academic librarians frequently face challenges fostering critical information literacy and building connections between students and the university library. That difficulty usually relates to time constraints and a lack of representation of students’ interests. This poster shows how I as an academic instructional librarian incorporated various department-level community libraries on campus (the Office of LGBTQ+ Student Services Community Library and a residence hall community library) into gamified instruction sessions to develop information literacy instruction that solved these problems. To represent effectiveness, I will include results from post-instruction session surveys showing how comfortable individuals felt using library resources after these collaborative sessions.
Outcomes:
1. Identify ways that community libraries can be incorporated into university-library level information literacy instruction.
2. Articulate the ways that integrating community libraries into instruction can foster critical information literacy and student connectedness to the university library.
3. Assess the effectiveness of this form of instruction through the results of the pre-instruction survey conducted.
References:
Keshvari, M., & CheshmehSohrabi, M. (2024). Visualization of hot topics and global trends in community librarianship (With an emphasis on the role of public libraries). Public Library Quarterly, 43(5), 577-602.
Tewell, E. C. (2018). The practice and promise of critical information literacy: Academic librarians' involvement in critical library instruction. College & Research Libraries, 79(1), 10.
Walker, K. W., & Pearce, M. (2014). Student engagement in one-shot library instruction. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 40(3-4), 281-290.