2022-05-20 SPLAT Curiosity Report: Volume 10, Issue 4

Featured Story

Bridging the Gap

Recently, a community college student came into our campus library and was disheartened by the lack of people using our space. I assured the student that early mornings always tended to be slow, as people often slept in or had morning classes. The student didn’t seem convinced, and she asked me when I expected libraries to close their doors “for good”. I went into a bit of auto-pilot mode, explaining the purpose and importance of libraries, how providing free access to books and the internet benefited growth in society. Libraries were too essential to humanity to close “for good”, and I emphasized that I believed libraries would adapt, rather than disappear.

It wasn’t until after the student left that I realized I’d given a series of intensely vague answers. Libraries are important. They won’t disappear. They will adapt. After mulling for a while, I came up with a few concrete ways we could expect libraries to adapt: increased online resources (like Libby and research databases), programming (like adult education and children’s storytime), and outreach (like bookmobiles and school visits).
Those are all great possibilities, and many libraries already implement some or all of those tactics. However, I felt that most of the options were more catered toward public libraries, rather than academic ones. It made me question how to make in-person academic libraries more valuable, especially now that many students rely heavily on digital resources. Between eBooks, online databases, and digital archives, most college students can easily complete a research paper without stepping foot in their campus’s library.

Our leadership team has been exploring ways to expand our resources, and one way we hope to do this is by linking our programming directly to the courses offered at NIC. We had discussed a wide variety of options for programming, many of which are often utilized at public libraries. Things like monthly book clubs, how-to computer classes, and money management lectures. However, we realized that there are many unique aspects to academic libraries which we could use to our advantage. Things like introductory sessions on different courses (where students can learn about classes they might not normally take) and programming based around our different database offerings.

Since speaking with the student, I have taken the time to fully consider the benefits of physical library spaces, particularly when considering academic libraries. Though today’s technology allows a great deal of online learning and researching, there are still many benefits to physical academic libraries. Some reasons include:

  1. Instructional classes on research, taught by a librarian
  2. Unique academic programs, such as those that relate to a specific field of study or an upcoming course
  3. In-person research help, demonstrating how to navigate the Library of Congress shelving system and how to find different resources
  4. How-to sessions on offered databases, such as LearningLibrary Express, NewsBank, and UpToDate
  5. Study rooms for individual or group use
  6. Access to a presentation space and materials for a speech
  7. Computer access for students without a personal computer or internet
  8. Access to computers, printers, copiers, and a wide range of materials

I am happy to build an ongoing list of unique offerings of a physical academic library. My conversation with the student helped me to bridge the gap between public and academic libraries, as well as online and in-person resources. By looking at the specific challenges and opportunities that exist within academic libraries and community colleges as a whole, we can continue to adapt and better serve our community’s needs.
– Brooke Urbaniak

 

Fail Forward

We’ve all been there. You pour your heart into a program, and no one shows up. You try something new, and you fall on your face. Sound familiar? Fail Forward is the place to share your failures, and give you the opportunity to share what you learned from them. Did you promote your program in a different way after no one showed up? Maybe you took a new approach to the new thing you were excited about? Awesome! Share your story via our online form so others can learn, and realize that failure is often part of the process.

The Key is the Key

Since I am constantly doing outreach, I try to stay as organized as possible and I make sure I have all my items for all the places I visit and for our events. I was running a training session for our assistant outreach librarian and we had everything we needed…except for the key that powers on the WiFi for our mobile makerspace! Since this training was offsite, we decided to focus on the other set up details and run another training session on just the WiFi test setup. Lesson learned that day, go through the checklist one more time before taking off. One more look never hurts!
– Monique Gaddy

Crush Corner

Is there a library you follow on social media who is always doing new and exciting things? How about a blog you follow that inspires you? What about a new idea, book, or resource that you want to share? Library Crush Corner is a place for those working in Idaho libraries to share what inspires them, and who or what they’re crushing on… in a professional sense. Share your story via our online form so we can publish it in a future issue!

Brookens Library at the University of Illinois Springfield

The crush: https://libguides.uis.edu/LoT/kitchen
I’m crushing on the Brookens Library at the University of Illinois Springfield! They have a collection of kitchen and household equipment that is part of their Library of Things. As a food lover myself, I’m particularly enamored with the kitchen equipment they make available to their students. They have everything from ice cream maker to blender. And all of them are dorm safe! I know when I was a student living in the dorms without access to a regular kitchen and all the paraphernalia that goes along with it, I would have made extensive use of this collection.

– Perri Moreno, Reference and Instruction Library,  University of Idaho Library

 

SPLAT explores the ever-evolving library world and supports library folks as they adapt to meet the needs of their communities. Library folk throughout the state of Idaho volunteer to serve on the Special Projects Library Action Team (SPLAT). Learn more about SPLAT at splat.lili.org

SPLAT is brought to you by the Idaho Commission for Libraries and was made possible, in part, by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (LS-246156-OLS-20). The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.