Open educational resources (OER) provide college students with course materials on the first day of class, ensuring an equitable learning experience for all. The concept of OER has been around for almost 20 years, yet many faculty and librarians are just now becoming aware as more and more statewide initiatives are introduced. The adoption of OER…

The pandemic prompted Courtney Lewis and her fellow school librarians to dig deep and acknowledge that their information literacy instruction followed a just-in-time philosophy. Essentially, limited just-in-time information literacy instruction is like teaching a kid how to play soccer for seven days out of each year and expecting them to be a…

Libraries have always been civic institutions in their communities. Whether it's a public library supporting community members with election information or a school library offering 18-year-olds voter registration opportunities, participating in civic matters is a mission that comes naturally to librarians. In this article, Carolyn Foote recalls…

The academic library profession is being redefined by the shifting research and scholarly landscape, the transformation in higher education, and advances in technology. A survey of librarians working in Canada's research-intensive universities was conducted to explore new and emerging roles. This study focuses on librarians' activities in:…

An academic library's single service point, where users can get answers and help with their library needs in one place, is often the first and most popular place used by students. Studies assessing desk design are rare but needed to help guide planning for renovation or service model change. This study investigated an academic library's service…

This paper sets out to identify the ways in which academic libraries can further interdisciplinary scholarship on campus. The medical humanities is presented as an example to interrogate the current practices in academic libraries and to inform future efforts in support of interdisciplinarity. Text mining was employed to illuminate trends in this…

In 2020, New America embarked on a year-long initiative with librarians in children's and youth services across three library systems in Illinois. The aim was to build staff members' skills and confidence in media mentorship--the act of mentoring and providing tailored guidance to students and families in selecting, analyzing, and using media to…

It is challenging to identify the needs of researchers and students at any satellite campus, a situation that is exacerbated when the satellite campus is a research laboratory. The users are not taking classes, but still have library support needs. This article discusses the difficulties in properly identifying a population of students at this…

This mixed-method study explored teachers' perceptions of the Living Libraries (LL) professional development program. The study investigated the program's perceived effectiveness and impact on students' reading skills. Additionally, the researchers sought to understand how LL trained teachers perceived the program as aiding their reading…

The high-quality instruction offered in the school library and in collaboration with classroom teachers helps students understand and practice the content standards. School librarians should begin by collaborating within their school building and then thoughtfully expand those connections to neighboring schools, community organizations, and state…

Public libraries play an increasingly vital role as a public hub and safe haven open to all, with innovative programming and services that increase literacy, access to resources, and capacity-building. This field note describes the implementation of a federally funded academic--community partnership integrating a trauma-informed care framework and…

This essay explores the tension between pursuing meaningful work in instruction librarianship and the realities of working in a society in which many jobs provide little fulfillment or pleasure, or, as the journalist Sarah Jaffe puts it, "Work won't love you back." Drawing on a recent conference keynote by Anne Helen Petersen, C. Wright…

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) poses challenges as well as opportunities for anyone or anything dealing with digital technologies, including libraries. Libraries and librarians have a twofold challenge in that they simultaneously must consider AI applications in library operations as well as AI skills and knowledge as part of…

Pennsylvania has experienced a significant reduction in certified K-12 school librarian positions. This exploratory sequential mixed methods research study explored principal decision-making impacting K-12 school library programming. 30 survey participants and 8 interview participants located across 3 IUs in PA took part in this research study.…

Although extensive research has looked at first-generation college students' experiences, little has examined the role of the library in their academic lives. This article reports the results of an exploratory study to better understand the experiences of first-generation college students at three universities. Key findings of this study focus on…