You Can “Like” It on Paper Too: Reaching Digital Students through Analog Displays

In response to literature on libraries as space and the Millennial generation, this chapter speaks to the importance of the academic library as both social and communal space and how to communicate with today’s college students. These case studies illustrate that students can be reached through analog displays, building an unconscious community between students as a group and students with the library. Community built within the academic library is discussed in light of these analog displays, the current library literature and via sociological positions. It is concluded that although it is thought that students want digital or online communication only, the highest amount of interaction with displays come from the traditional, analog elements

More than just art on the walls: Enhancing Fine Arts Pedagogy in the Academic Library Space

At a medium sized university with a small department of art and no specific art library, art majors and minors can feel that they have no place within the academic library. At Valparaiso University, a collaboration between the university’s Department of Art and library culminated in a Student Art Purchase Award. Faculty from both departments collaborated to create an experiential learning opportunity that includes the application process, production and finishing of fine art pieces on a professional level. This ongoing, annual, experiential learning opportunity culminates in a juried art presentation, and purchasing of art for a permanent art collection within the library. An exploration of the varied responsibilities that come with changing a space and the effects of new art representation within the space of the library will be examined from the student and faculty side. While not considered traditional collaborative space, both groups change the physical environment of the library space favorably

Patron Driven Programs: Successes and Lessons Learned from Turning the Library Over to Students for a Week

While stress relief activities in academic libraries during finals weeks are nothing new, few libraries have experimented with turning the reins over to the students. Librarians at Valparaiso University initiated a two-round ideation and voting process for students to choose their own finals week programming. First, students were asked to generate ideas for the programs they wanted to see during finals week and to share them on whiteboards in the library lobby. Second, after the most prominent suggestions had been identified, students again used the whiteboards to vote for the top eight programs: four active and four passive. Allowing students to propose their own programming resulted in many innovations and even some new campus partnerships. The suggestion to have yoga in the library resulted in a well-attended program organized in collaboration with the university’s Recreational Sports office. The idea to have a “Pillow/Blanket fort” materialized when the library turned a lounge into a do-it-yourself blanket fort space; students used sheets and cushions to create comfortable spaces for relaxation and studying. From a stress-relieving “group scream” to a makerspace with Playdough and button maker supplies, the week of student-driven activities pushed the library outside its normal programming routines into new territory. The poster documents the process of planning and assessing this week of programming, including photographs of the ideation and voting stages, of the programs themselves, and of the students’ feedback

More than just art on the walls: Enhancing Fine Arts Pedagogy in the Academic Library Space

At a medium sized university with a small department of art and no specific art library, art majors and minors can feel that they have no place within the academic library. At Valparaiso University, a collaboration between the university’s Department of Art and library culminated in a Student Art Purchase Award. Faculty from both departments collaborated to create an experiential learning opportunity that includes the application process, production and finishing of fine art pieces on a professional level. This ongoing, annual, experiential learning opportunity culminates in a juried art presentation, and purchasing of art for a permanent art collection within the library. An exploration of the varied responsibilities that come with changing a space and the effects of new art representation within the space of the library will be examined from the student and faculty side. While not considered traditional collaborative space, both groups change the physical environment of the library space favorably