A lot of things have changed from my last entry, but the main things to know are as follows:
- I graduated library school (yay!!) after spending a fantastic year working part-time as a reference librarian at the public library where I did my internship and then moved out west to Oregon for my husband's work.
- I was super fortunate to find immediately that the community college he got hired at was hiring part-time librarians as well, and they hired me.
- Since my husband's new job is as the Residence Life Coordinator for the new residence hall they just built on campus, we live at the residence hall in a lovely staff apartment.
All of these things led me to where I am going with this blog post. How convenient would it be, I thought, since I live in the res hall, if I could start doing research help as a librarian in the hall during the evening when students are working hardest on their assignments? How many times in undergrad was I up until 2am looking for just one more source for my paper due the next day? Sure, the library is open until 10pm, but frantic students don't have time to walk over there, much less think of it. They're already in their lounge clothes, they've been working on this paper for hours, they have had nothing but Red Bull and Skittles to eat since their rushed dinner at 4:30pm before their last class of the day. I know, I remember that.
So really, how hard would it be for me to spend an hour or two in the res hall in the evening once a week? I know it's not exactly the on-call librarian dream for students, but at least maybe it can help a few students who are working right then. I call it the "Late Night Librarian."
My idea is to spend from 9-10pm in the front lobby of the res hall with a big sign and some candy (necessary) on Wednesday nights. I'm there for help with that last source, the "I'm supposed to cite this in APA but I have no idea what that even means," as a sounding board for topics, and even just the oddball question.
I don't expect that I will have a mad rush for help, but if I can help a struggling student or two a week to be more successful, I'm happy with that.
With all that said, the library director has given me her enthusiastic blessing to begin such a program! After looking over my proposal, she sent me a few links to some resources that were really tuseful for me! Mostly this blog post started as a place to comment on certain bits of these articles (once a student, always a student, I guess).
The Live-In Librarian RUSQ Blog
This was a rather lengthy blog post, but I really found most of it very useful. I pulled out some snippets that I thought were particularly meaningful or that I wanted to comment on below.
“The entire foundation of outpost librarianship rests on the supposition that in a digitally dominated environment, there is still inherent value in the personal encounter.”
I loved this statement, and I think it is so incredibly true! So much of academic library work in particular can be done online, but the basis of library outreach, and this outreach in particular, is that people still need people!
“For outpost librarians reconnoitering the residence hall, this most personal of campus spaces requires a very delicate intervention. Promoting information literacy in the lobby of a public university building like the student union is one thing, but proselytizing on the students’ very doorstep is another.”
I'm pretty lucky in that right now I feel welcome and at home in the res hall (since, remember, I live there). Also, I'm not exactly the shrinking violet type. I boldly go where no librarian has gone! And I ain't even scared.
An extensive body of research indicates that students benefit both personally and academically from on-campus living. Thus many colleges and universities have developed on-campus housing with the specific goal of supporting the educational mission. This approach to residence hall design accepts the two assumptions that Riker and DeCoster articulated in 1971: (1) environment influences behavior, and (2) learning is a total process.
If you're interested in the sources the blog mentioned, they're available from the link above. Being married to a student affairs professional with most of his experience being in housing, I am now well-aware of the housing community's goal of supporting academic success, instead of just acting as a place to stay for the students. It's integral to their college experience, and the more of their life that can be tailored for success, the better. I love that "learning is a total process" bit. It definitely reminds me of many class discussions we had in library school.
Promoting scholarship being central to the mission of college and university housing programs, residence hall administrators are “always open to partnerships with other campus units that will build up academic programming within the context of student housing”—natural teammates, it would seem, for librarians who are likewise interested in creating a more academically thriving student body.
This is so true! Maybe it's just that I'm married to one of those residence hall administrators and so I really feel like the library and the res hall are natural partners. Bring the library to where the users are!
When Research Rescue moved into the dormitory, the dynamic changed. First, the physical environment of the dormitory social lounge was much more conducive to the program’s success, both more comfortably furnished and much less crowded than the student union. The new setting allowed Antell to offer refreshments, which contributed to a more relaxed and welcoming feeling. Of course, her existing relationship with the residents helped: any anxiety students may have felt over asking for library assistance under more formal circumstances did not seem to extend to a chat with their neighbor and her librarian colleagues. The venue gave Antell a new ally that the previous locations had lacked, the Resident Assistants (RAs), who helped her to market the event. Finally, upon moving into the dormitories, Research Rescue sessions began to be held in the evenings rather than the afternoons, as Antell suspected (correctly) that this would be a better time to find students in their dormitories and in “homework mode.” Cumulatively, those differences made the program both considerably better attended than it had been in its original locations and more enjoyable for students and librarians alike.
I don't think I can say anything more than this says right here. Helps students feel more comfortable asking for help, talking to the librarian, etc. Because research shows that "library anxiety" is real! And I promise we're not scary.
The knowledge she had gained and relationships she had built continued to help her and her reference colleagues connect with the students and staff in campus housing—a place that, before Antell’s FIR stint, had seemed alien and completely separate from the academic life of the university.
So cool to see that even after the live-in librarian left, both the library and the res hall continued the program. It has value! I feel validated!
But for librarians whose outreach mission prioritizes undergraduates, it is a mistake to neglect the residence halls. Students spend a great deal of their time and do much of their academic work in their dormitories. In addition, residence halls often offer ideal conditions for library outreach: comfortable collaborative learning spaces, suitable technology (including wireless Internet access), and, perhaps most important, a network of staff members and student leaders whose job it is to bring academic opportunities to the dormitories and who generally are delighted to join forces with librarians in their outreach efforts.
So true. I can't wait to start this new endeavor!
Embedded in the Residence Halls
This was a second, much shorter blog post that also had some great takeaways. I liked their big, simple poster advertising the session. I liked their variety of hours offered, and I noted that Sunday was their busiest day (surprise!). I'd consider Sunday evenings, but I am scheduled for the reference desk all day Saturdays and... well, I'd like to see my husband sometime. Sorry, students.
