Successful Campus Outreach for Academic Libraries: Building Community through Collaboration

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In Successful Campus Outreach for Academic Libraries: Building Community Through Collaboration , Peggy Keeran and Carrie Forbes bring together a variety of ways academic libraries are engaging with their communities through outreach, with creativity and the spirit of collaboration as major themes throughout. As a compendium of best practices, it serves as a resource for academic librarians to discover new programming ideas, to learn principles of effective marketing, and to help them think strategically and programmatically about outreach activities of all types. Topics are presented in four sections:

Strategic Vision and PlanningDeveloping and Implementing Successful ProgramsCommunity Outreach: The Academic Library in the CommunityBroadening Library Outreach Audiences
Practitioners designing outreach programs and activities will benefit from learning about a diverse set of outreach practices from libraries.

Reviews

In recent years academic librarians have recognized that they can have a greater impact by connecting with new partners on campus and in the community. Editors Keeran (arts & humanities librarian, Univ. of Denver Libs.) and Forbes (associate dean, Univ. of Denver Libs.) have developed a theoretical overview of outreach and compiled a collection of case studies, mostly by academic librarians, that provide ideas and models for potential activities. Librarians are encouraged to identify service gaps and engage with campus and community colleagues to find solutions. Mandy Havert, digital research and outreach librarian at the University of Notre Dame, offers details on the well-received dissertation and thesis camp that the library cosponsors with the writing center and graduate school to help develop successful scholars. Several case studies focus on community outreach programs that include, for example, STEM programs with underrepresented populations and exhibits that highlight specific ethnic groups, such as exhibits on Islamic art and Jewish songwriters. Librarians are urged to seek opportunities to use their subject knowledge with students, faculty, and the community. VERDICT Outreach librarians will appreciate the variety of institutions represented and the scope of activities described.Judy Solberg, Sacramento, CA * Library Journal *
A volume of case studies about thoughtful outreach projects that worked and the methods used to measure their success would feel like a life raft to archivists and librarians who often feel like they are just treading water in a vast sea of outreach. Librarians may have found such a source in Successful Campus Outreach for Academic Libraries: Building Community through Collaboration, which demonstrates a wide range of innovative outreach activities as well as provides methods for scalability and for measuring outcomes. * Archival Issues *
Covering key requirements for successful planning, implementation, collaboration, and assessment of outreach programs along with extensive literature reviews and replicable models for programs, Keeran and Forbes have created a useful guide for both new and seasoned outreach librarians as well as those interested in creating or improving outreach programs at their academic library. * Technical Services Quarterly *
Outreach is essential for library engagement in academia and the community. Encompassing many facets of marketing and outreach, this book provides models for building strategies and measuring success. The creative approaches will inspire readers to develop innovative, effective outreach that draws attention to their own libraries' assets and services. -- Katy Kelly, coordinator of marketing and engagement, University of Dayton Libraries

Author Bio

Peggy Keeran (MLIS, MA), is a Professor and the Arts and Humanities Librarian at the University of Denver Libraries, and coordinator of the faculty advisory group to the library. She is the co-editor of the Rowman & Littlefield series Literary Research: Strategies and Sources, and has co-authored three of the volumes in the series. She has also co-edited both editions of Research within the Disciplines: Foundations for Reference and Library Instruction and co-authored Expanding Support for Graduate Students: Library Workshops on Research Funding Opportunities. Most recently her research interests include collaborations on instruction between Reference and Special Collections, and with her colleagues she co-authored If You Want the History of a White Man, You Go to the Library: Critiquing Our Legacy, Addressing Our Library Collections Gaps.

Carrie Forbes (MLS, MA), Associate Professor and Associate Dean, oversees the University of Denver Libraries public services including research support, instruction, outreach/programming, and borrowing and lending services. She co-edited, along with Jennifer Bowers, Rethinking Reference for Academic Libraries: Innovative Developments and Future published by Roman & Littlefield in 2014. Other recent publications include a co-authored chapter in Academic Librarianship Today on reference and instruction models and a co-written article in College & Research Libraries on Expanding Support for Graduate Students: Library Workshops on Research Funding Opportunities. Her other research interests include critical information literacy, library assessment, and co-teaching partnerships between librarians and faculty.