There\u27s No Stopping Us Now! Why Systematic Staff Training Keeps the Organization Moving Forward

Libraries have shifted from repositories of materials to centers of innovation and community-based learning. Many library services changed to accommodate the shift; some staff find this difficult and perplexing and it has led to technological wariness and resistance to change. To address this we developed a continuous in-house professional development program. We will discuss barriers and enablers to establishing a program and unintended benefits, such as reducing perceived inequalities among staff, increasing trust, and empowering staff

Making It Fit: Reshaping Library Services and Spaces for Today\u27s Students

University course assignments increasingly focus on group work and group projects to help students collaboratively discover more about their fields of study. The Thomas G. Carpenter Library realized the need to investigate means for reimagining itself to better accommodate today\u27s researchers. The complex process of planning for the redesign of both services and space undertaken by the library is described and explained in this first of a planned series of articles

Stop, Collaborate and Listen: Identifying Partnerships to Strengthen Your Library’s Relevance in the Community

Libraries are under pressure to demonstrate their value within their constantly evolving educational institutions or in their communities. The presenters will propose skills to strengthen library relevance that are applicable to all libraries: STOP – Evaluate where you are. Assess your current practices and determine areas for improvement. COLLABORATE - Identify opportunities for partnerships with organizations or groups whose goals align with yours. LISTEN - Garner feedback from users via social media and other platforms such as surveys and user interactions

Stop, Collaborate and Listen

Libraries are under pressure to demonstrate their value within their educational institutions and in their communities. The University of North Florida is in the process of a rebranding project to update its image and to address concerns including student success, retention, and time to degree. The presenters will propose skills to strengthen library relevance that are applicable to all libraries by using three simple steps: STOP - Evaluate where you are. Assess your current practices and determine areas for improvement. COLLABORATE - Identify opportunities for partnerships with organizations or groups whose goals align with yours. LISTEN - Garner feedback from users via social media and other platforms such as surveys and user interactions. Presenters will demonstrate how librarians can incorporate these three steps into their library\u27s marketing and outreach plan to help ensure that their library will remain relevant within their changing community for years to come

New Frontiers: Integrating Academic Libraries when Universities Merge: Implications for Libraries, Teaching, and Learning

With political, social, and financial forces affecting public higher education systems nationally, required integrations of individual universities campuses into combined universities are becoming more common. From the perspective of two different public higher education systems, we will discuss our experiences in merging our libraries into cohesive, patron focused organizations. Learning Outcomes To share the experience(s) of creating a single, functional, student-centered, Library organization from separate universities due to integration of Public Higher Education System Redesigns. Analyze and appraise the design of organizational staffing structures, consolidated budgets, and resources awareness amongst our student body. 3. Learn ways in which to incorporate different cultural values, identities, sense of community when merging academic libraries. Examine the role of the individual Libraries and their sustainability within the context of a values in practice library organizations. Issues touched upon include: social justice, assessment, ethics, equity and inclusion, value demonstration, and shrinking resources

Practical approaches and proposed strategies for measuring selected aspects of community-based broadband deployment and use

A series of studies of rural Florida community anchor institutions have concluded that existing national measurement practices for broadband penetration, adoption, and impact are often poorly defined, confusing, or inadequate to inform decisions about community broadband deployment and adoption. As a result, local broadband initiatives may be hindered by “measurement confusion.” We propose the Broadband Readiness Index (BRI) with a number of broadband readiness criteria to address this confusion and position local officials to better coordinate, deploy, and use broadband locally; demonstrate how improved high-speed broadband affects their communities over time; and sustain planning for continuous improvements of community broadband use.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Why Not Play Ball? When Athletes and Librarians Play Together, Everyone Wins

Who are the last students you expect to see in a university library? Probably athletes. With incredibly tight schedules structured around classes, homework, practices, and athletic events, most student athletes have very little free time in their schedules. Because they have their own academic support structure, libraries most likely do not reach out to the Athletics Department. Join librarians and academic support staff discuss what happens when they team up to play ball to support student success