Are services that were once intended to be exclusively available to the distance learning population now typically available for all users in a university community? This article seeks to investigate this question using two different methods. First, an unobtrusive study of 100 library Websites was conducted to determine whether these libraries…

On the margins of El Paso, Texas, a teacher-librarian communicates daily to her students the following bilingual mantra: "'Esta biblioteca les pertenece a ustedes.' This is your very own library." Lisa M. López-Williamson is the teacher-librarian and literacy activist and advocate at William "Guillermo" C. Herrera Elementary…

Collection development is the core of every school library, and successful school librarians know that meeting all learner needs can contribute to their success. When curating their collections school librarians must consider learners with visual, hearing, physical, and cognitive impairments. The school librarian should work with a team (other…

Library orientations continue to excite, or plague, instruction librarians everywhere. Reaching first year students early can preempt academic heartache and research woes, yet the question of "what students really need" continues to evolve. This article presents a case study of a large-scale implementation of library orientations. The…

It's easy to imagine no gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) students are at a given school, and, therefore, no need exists to court controversy and potential challenges by providing LGBTQ materials. LGBTQ students are everywhere, though, and they are at increased risk for a host of issues, including bullying, assault, and…

As an educator who recognizes the critical role of librarians and the too few conversations among literacy researchers and librarians, in this article the author presents a unifying conception of literacy, a conception to buttress collaborative efforts to support all students. The first section uses the experiences of David (pseudonym), a…

Academic libraries are continually being asked to demonstrate their value. Showing benefits that provide financial value to the user community is one approach to meeting this challenge. With a focus on journal articles and monographs, the authors have analyzed course syllabi to determine the cost savings graduate students in psychology receive…

In Fall 2014 the University of Maryland Libraries launched a textbook reserves program to help relieve the burden of high textbook costs on students. Although its initial performance was lackluster, workflow refinements and expanded promotion greatly improved usage, resulting in a tenfold increase in circulation and expansion of the program. This…

As the cost of textbooks rises and discoverability of resources improves, students are turning more and more to interlibrary loan to meet their textbook needs. This article describes how systems can be utilized to streamline processes and allow for the canceling of textbook requests consistently and appropriately by taking full advantage of the…

In the summer of 2013, staff in the Access Services unit of an academic library began a cross-training and collaboration project in an effort to provide continued library service to the campus community. The cross-training was established in an attempt to address a shortage of staff as a result of budget cuts. The cross-training resulted in the…

How does an association prioritize the needs of its members as it introduces new professional standards? What strategies ensure a smooth transition from one set of standards to another? How can a school librarian use new standards to spark and maintain continuous professional growth? One way to ease the transition and prioritize the needs of…

Do we think enough about what we are doing as information literacy (IL) practitioners? The relationship between reflection and IL development is well documented in academic and professional literature, particularly in the context of teaching librarians using reflective activities to enable learners to think critically about their IL abilities.…

The Future Voices in Public Services column is a forum for students in graduate library and information science programs to discuss key issues they see in academic library public services, to envision what they feel librarians in public service have to offer to academia, to relate their visions for the profession, or to describe research that is…

This article examines the relationship between the standardized service quality survey LibQUAL+ and the rise of audit culture. Recent scholarship examining assessment and accountability systems and the ideological principles driving their implementation in higher education raises concerns about the impact these systems have on teaching, learning,…

The article describes a proposal for a skills-based training course, including the methodology involved and results obtained. In this online course, the areas of competence and the teaching method adopted draw from the precepts of visual literacy. Gamification is the approach adopted to encourage student participation in and engagement with the…