Personal Librarians: Building Relationships for Student Success

by Lynne Bisko, Heather Buchansky, Brian C. Gray, E. Gail Reese

Overview

Experienced authors describe all aspects of a personal librarian program, including potential campus partners, diverse student populations, marketing approaches, technology integration, various assessment methods, and common pitfalls and how to avoid them.

In order to get the most out of their research, students need to understand the depth of resources and services available to them. Personal librarian programs help students—especially new ones—to feel welcome in the library and comfortable asking for assistance. They provide enhanced support and serve as students' point of contact to help them build the information literacy skills necessary to successfully navigate their academic path.

Personal Librarians: Building Relationships for Student Success focuses on specific ways to connect with and to engage first-year and other new-to-campus students. The authors provide concrete guidance, informed by interviews with other librarians who have successfully implemented such programs, for librarians wishing to begin or expand programs of their own. Personal librarian programs provide opportunities for the proactive to build relationships that grow student confidence as future needs arise—and the authors, who coordinate personal librarian programs at their own institutions, demonstrate how well they work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440858253
Publisher:	ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/17/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	166
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Lynne Bisko is outreach librarian at Carol Grotnes Belk Library, Elon University.

Heather Buchansky is student engagement librarian at the University of Toronto Libraries.

Brian C. Gray is team leader for research services for the Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University.

E. Gail Reese is associate director for public engagement and library administration at the Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

1 Introduction 1

2 Fulfilling a Need 5

3 Preparing and Scaling Up a Program 19

4 Collaborating with Campus Partners 31

5 Marketing and Communication 45

6 Assessing a Personal Librarian Program 59

7 Listening to Viewpoints across Campus 71

8 Adjusting to Challenges and Lessons Learned 85

9 Implementing Personal Librarian Programs for High School Students 101

10 Expanding the Program beyond the Initial Audience 109

11 The Future of Personalized Library Programs 121

Appendix A Assessment Tools 125

Appendix B Marketing and Promotional Materials 135

Appendix C Additional Readings 147

Index 161

About the Authors 165

What People are Saying About This

Douglas F. Hasty

"This comprehensive, scholarly work written by four experienced librarians focuses on the timely topic of student success by addressing the many types of students and their backgrounds in relation to the higher education environment and the need for retention improvements and graduation rates. The authors have applied both common sense and groundbreaking approaches to developing, delivering, and evaluating student success strategies within a framework of personal attention and diligent patience. The book’s strengths includes discussion and examples of the many kinds of students—traditional, international, online, etc.—and therefore provides to interested librarians and libraries methodologies and processes that can be initiated on the local level."

Raymond Pun

"This book is an excellent resource for academic and research libraries seeking to build personal librarian services programs from scratch. Drawing on the extensive experiences of three academic libraries as case studies, the coauthors provide the valuable perspectives of faculty and administrators, a variety of resources and readings, and practical steps in establishing and marketing such programs collaboratively for student populations including first-generation, commuter, transfer, distance-learners, and more. This book is highly recommended for all academic libraries interested in developing an innovative, proactive, and responsive library service to support student success."

Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe

"Pragmatic and comprehensive, this guide will be equally valuable to those libraries developing a personal librarian program and to those that already have a program but are seeking ideas for innovative strategies and collaborate approaches. The case studies bring real-world detail to general advice and recommendations. Approaches to planning, communication, marketing, and assessment will also inspire those who manage subject librarian liaison programs."

Ian Singer

"Personal Librarians: Building Relationships for Student Success presents clear pathways to engage students, particularly first year students, apart from the more traditional reference interview paradigm. Bisko, Buchansky, Gray, and Reese provide frameworks, not just ideas, to implement broad programs that in fact can help strengthen institutional collaboration as well as increase student retention. Regardless of institutional size, Personal Librarians offers new modes and ways of thinking in support of student success."

Beth Black

Personal Librarians: Building Relationships for Student Success enjoyably walks readers through all aspects of these programs. The authors, representing very different types of academic libraries, share what has worked and what has not as their successful programs continue to evolve through regular assessment. These insights are useful beyond personal librarian program creation and management. Many of the lessons shared in this book will be valuable to librarians with outreach, engagement, and student success roles in all types and sizes of colleges and universities.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/01/2019

Personal librarian programs involve bringing together librarians, students, and faculty to redefine the role of the librarian as a partner in teaching, research, and learning. A personal librarian program is also valuable in promoting and marketing library resources, increasing user engagement, positively impacting student success and retention, and increasing collaboration with other campus partners. Bisko (Carol Grotnes Belk Lib., Elon Univ., NC), Heather Buchansky (Univ. of Toronto Libs.), Brian C. Gray (Kelvin Smith Lib., Case Western Reserve Univ.), and E. Gail Reese (Kelvin Smith Lib., Case Western Reserve Univ.) offer case studies that highlight steps toward developing and assessing such a program. The chapter on marketing and communication covers strategies that could be used by any library. The appendixes are particularly helpful, containing examples of assessment surveys and marketing and promotional materials. Richard Moniz and Jean Moat's The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience is a bit more general than this title. While there is some overlap, the two works are distinct and worthy additions to the literature. VERDICT All librarians will find useful ideas here, particularly library administrators marketing their institution's value to the community. Essential for every collection.—Margaret Sylvia, St. Mary's Univ. Lib., San Antonio

Library Journal

All librarians will find useful ideas here, particularly library administrators marketing their institution's value to the community. Essential for every collection.” —Library Jourbanal, Starred Review

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