Please join the Southern California Instruction Librarians (SCIL) on Friday, February 7th from 9am - 1pm for SCIL Works 2025, a virtual, half-day conference. This year's SCIL Works will focus on relationship building, liaison collaborations, and campus engagement with library instruction.
Relationship building is critical to embedding information literacy instruction across disciplines, student success initiatives, and campus collaborations. Library workers often have to build networks with library colleagues, discipline faculty, staff, students, and community groups. Strategic and intentional approaches to relationship building are not always discussed in library education programs. What happens when we have never heard the word "liaison" throughout our graduate education? How do we learn how to approach relationship building and create effective instruction collaborations across the library, campus, and the profession? Together we will explore the expanding definitions and responsibilities of liaison roles as they relate to instruction.
Presentations
Research and Practice
(25 minutes followed by 5 minute Q&A)
Kristin Peace & Samantha Hilton
(Occidental College)
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once Librarianship
This presentation will highlight the outreach strategy utilized at a residential liberal arts college: a strategy centered on being intentionally uncentered. We will share how we've successfully identified partners - both in and out of academic affairs, and outside of our institution - and how these partnerships have led to key programs that will last. Focusing our efforts outside of the library has, in some instances, led to more quality interactions from students within the library and has significantly increased the profile of our building, services, and staff across the campus. Using examples from our own collaborations, we will share what we've learned about what makes a strong partnership, how to initiate a new campus relationship, how to foster continued collaboration, how to fail productively, and how to ensure the library is an integrated and embedded part of campus programming.
Sarah Corona & Heather Steele Gajewski
(California State University, Long Beach)
Crafting Knowledge: Bridging Librarians and Discipline Faculty Through Creativity
This presentation will highlight the planning and execution of a combined faculty guest lecture and zine making workshop series held in a public university's Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) department that provided fruitful opportunities for collaboration in and outside of the library. The workshop series is hosted by an early-career liaison librarian responsible for supporting the university's Ethnic Studies departments and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) department and an early-career University Archivist in charge of coordinating the university library's SCUA department. Together, the archivist and liaison librarian team sought out campus instructional faculty conducting research on themes relevant to two cultural heritage months (Women's History Month and OUTober) and invited them to speak about their research to attendees. The team also sought out archival collections housed in SCUA that reflected the themes of the faculty guests' presentations and could be reproduced and used during the zine making portion of the workshop. These events strengthened the bond between the University Library and the WGSS department and laid the foundation for future collaborations with faculty from other historically underrepresented groups. Additionally, these workshops introduced students to archival materials and SCUA, encouraging the use of primary resources in creative and transformative ways. During this proposed presentation, the archivist and liaison librarian will provide an overview of past workshops, discuss considerations for future workshops, make suggestions to attendees for hosting similar workshops, and describe the types of collaboration opportunities that were instrumental in making the workshops a success.
Annette Marines
(University of California, Santa Cruz)
Think like a __________ (fill in the blank): making sense of disciplinary knowledge for liaison librarians
As liaison models become ubiquitous, those in traditional roles, such as instruction and reference, might find themselves repurposed into disciplinary or divisional liaison roles. Much has been written about liaisons skilling up and becoming partners to faculty in their research, to become embedded in research through outreach efforts. The attention on this elusive relationship with faculty obscures authentic relationship building with them, which can happen beyond formal connections and communication channels and takes time to cultivate. It also creates a gap in addressing teaching support as a liaison.
So, how do former generalists, i.e. instruction and reference librarians, or new hires build disciplinary knowledge in their liaison roles? How does one cross walk their public service and teaching experience to a liaison role with a disciplinary focus? More importantly, how does one do this without burning out?
The answers can be found in our respective campus settings. They can be guided by methodologies such as design thinking, which helps uncover not just what faculty (and students) say and do, but how they think and feel. They can be guided by observation and participation. They can certainly build on the rich experience we already bring to the table. Using this information can help us delve into professional development that is more targeted to our new roles and can help round out how we make sense of disciplinary knowledge as a liaison.
Jillian Sandy
(Binghamton University)
Drag Me to the Library: Building Relationships and Planning Events with Your LGBTQ+ Center
Hosting a successful academic library event often involves trial and error, sustained relationship building efforts, and/or connections to campus departments that make things happen. In October 2024 (Pride Month on our campus), our academic library held a reading with a drag queen and faculty panel in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ center, which involved a mix of all of these elements. The event worked on multiple levels of learning: students learned about historical and contemporary drag practices, Libraries' collections and services that support LGBTQ+ research, and that the Libraries' value diversity and inclusion. This presentation will share successes related to this event in collaborating with the Q Center, Theatre Department, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. I will also provide examples of events and other efforts that have not gone so well, and discuss how we moved forward to plan better programs as a result. We will talk about continuing forward with educational outreach programs that lack administrative support or funding, and how seeking sponsorship across campus can remedy this to some extent while building relationships. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate by sharing their own examples, experiences, and challenges when collaborating with departments and co-curricular units.
Lightning Rounds
Elisa Acosta
(Loyola Marymount University)
Out to Lunch: Making Connections over Cheesecake and AI
This short presentation addresses an instructional challenge that many librarians face, "How can we integrate ChatGPT and generative AI into our first-year library instruction program?" The presenter will share a list of previously successful relationship building approaches for first-year instruction and explain why the informal let's go "out to lunch" approach was selected this time around.
Last May (2024), two librarians invited three first-year instructors to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory to discuss AI and collaboration. The three instructors chosen for lunch were long-time instructors, innovative, interested, and chatty. As the liaison to this program, the presenter interacts with approximately 25 writing instructors who all have different AI policies. The seven instruction librarians were leery about adding controversial content to a popular standardized lesson plan, without instructor input. Lunch was designed to be a "listening session" where the two librarians posed open-ended questions about generative AI and student use.
During the lunch discussion, the first-year instructors suggested that library instruction should focus more on the ethics of generative AI instead teaching students how to use it. They wanted library instruction to foster discussions about the ethical implications of using AI in the classroom and to encourage critical thinking about its use. The new Fall 2024 instructional materials will be shared at the end of the presentation.
Gabrielle Riter & Francesca Marineo Munk
(Pepperdine & UCLA)
From Classroom to Community: Developing Practical Skills for Future Librarians
Many aspects of librarianship cannot be learned in a classroom alone, so how can current librarians best support LIS students in developing practical skills while still in graduate school? In this presentation, we will share how the UCLA Library's Library Student Research Assistant (LSRA) program builds connections and community for students in the Master's of Library and Information Science program at UCLA. Presented by one of the supervising librarians at UCLA and a former LSRA turned instruction librarian, we will highlight how the program offers LIS students the opportunity for hands-on information literacy experience, relationship building with various staff across the library, and exposure to both general and subject-specific liaison librarianship.
At the core, LSRAs offer peer-to-peer reference consultations through a shared, multi-library model. In addition, there are various opportunities for tailored projects based on the students' interests. For LSRAs who aspire to instruction librarianship, some of those projects have included co-teaching library workshops, building digital learning objects, and showcasing disciplinary collections. Working as colleagues, the librarians and LSRAs learn from each other, making connections and networks that can last long after the students graduate. The librarians gain valuable insight into their own instruction through collaboration with LSRAs and the LSRAs develop hands-on experience helping them both acquire jobs in the field and feel confident in their skills to succeed within it.
Attendees will gain new perspectives on how to engage LIS students and foster meaningful relationships through mentorship and information literacy experiences.
Jimmy Zavala
(UCLA)
Building Connections: Fostering Relationships Within and Beyond UCLA
This slide deck will describe the collaboration between Library Special Collections and the School of Education at UCLA and the resulting relationships developed from this collaboration. Every Summer since 2021, Special Collections welcomes K-12 Ethnic Studies teachers as part of the Teachers Education Program hosted by the School of Education where teachers learn about Special Collections and the approaches taken to primary source instruction with an emphasis on Social Justice and Critical Pedagogy. Through this initiative, teachers learn how to embed archival material into their Ethnic Studies curriculum. As a result of these workshops, new collaborations have taken place between Special Collections and K-12 teachers who have brought their classes to Special Collections for primary source instruction workshops. This presentation will describe how this initiative with the School of Education began, the approaches taken to embed primary source instruction workshops into Ethnic Studies curriculum, and the outcomes of hosting K-12 classes as a result of the Teachers Education Program.
William Ortiz
(CSU San Bernardino)
Library Ambassadors: Bridging Peer Mentors and First-Year Students to the Library
In this lightning round I will briefly describe the CSU San Bernardino's Library Ambassador Program, the pedagogy behind it, its successes, its struggles, and what I would recommend to those seeking to implement a similar program at their campus.
Our Library Ambassador Program is a collaboration between the Pfau Library and the Peer Mentor Program. A librarian trains peer mentors to present library information to first year courses. In addition to basic procedural information about library services and programs, ambassadors are also encouraged to speak frankly about their experiences with the library and with research. Additionally, ambassadors implement an engagement activity in the form of a Kahoot game at the conclusion of their visit.
In this presentation, I will focus on concepts of culturally responsive teaching and make an argument that peer-teacher programs like these exemplify Paulo Freire's co-learner teaching model. Student representation in the curriculum is paramount to feelings of comfort and belongingness in library spaces. By hearing not only of library services but also research experiences from their peers, first year students will feel validated in their own struggles with the research process.
Margaret Puentes
(Chapman University)
You want me to teach what?: Building confidence with instructors as a new subject liaison
Being assigned to a subject area which does not match your degree is a common challenge that many new and experienced librarians face, either in a new position or when asked to take on additional responsibilities. When you do not have extensive knowledge in a subject, where do you begin and how do you reach out to instructors and their department as a new subject liaison? This session will focus on learning the basics of a newly assigned subject area and building relationships with instructors. It will include tips for learning your new subject and teaching information literacy for that subject. We will also introduce best practices for developing and maintaining connections with departments, instructors, and students.
Summer Upton
(University of Alabama at Birmingham)
Supporting Faculty & Students as a New Academic Liaison Librarian Through Personal Relationship Connections
Starting a new job at a new institution can be a daunting task, especially as a liaison librarian. Not only is a new hire tasked with joining the library staff but also responsible for integrating into a department outside the library. In this lightning presentation, a 20-year veteran of K-12 education highlights strategies that were helpful for making a transition to academic liaison librarianship and successfully liaising with the School of Education and Human Sciences. Topics covered in this presentation include organizational techniques, in-person and online strategies that encourage relationship building, and methods for bridging knowledge gaps and leveraging strengths. Attendees will learn practical, action-oriented steps for increasing liaison and instruction work through methodical relationship building. These relationships encourage long-term support of faculty and students beyond the typical one-shot instruction.
Michaela Ullmann
(USC)
Listening to All Parties Involved - A WRIT150 Info Lit Program Re-imagined
The collaboration between the Writing Program and the USC Libraries went through many iterations over the years. Some worked better than others, but sustainability and equity kept being a pain point of providing information literacy instruction for 2000+ students by just a small number of librarians who also have many other responsibilities every semester. This lightning talk will shed light on the most recent changes that were implemented by the USC Libraries Teaching & Learning Department to fulfill the need of providing quality information literacy instruction while creating a more sustainable and equitable approach to teaching WRIT150s and while taking into consideration feedback from all parties involved.
Isabel Morales & Sally Bryant
(Pepperdine University)
Connecting the Dots: Collaborative Ties Across Campus
Academic libraries are pivotal in building formal and informal relationships across campus. Librarian liaisons strategically started networking and creating specialized library instruction and best practices tailored to address the distinct needs of non-traditional student communities online and in person. We started working with the Aliento program, which addresses the individual and communal health needs of Latinx communities. As outlined in our fiscal year 2022 strategic plan, we established a collaboration with the Horizon Scholars program, which supports current and former foster youth students at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Building on our experiences with the graduate school, and the Horizon Scholars program, we expanded our efforts to include the student success initiative program, Summer Bridge to College Leadership, which supports first-generation undergraduate students. We are currently expanding our initiative to include tailored programs for military veterans, encompassing both graduate and undergraduate levels.
Through this outreach to underrepresented and underserved groups, we aim to provide valuable resources and skills that contribute to these students' academic success and retention. By forging strong connections through targeted outreach and offering information literacy workshops that complement traditional classroom instruction, librarians are redefining their role in community building. While other institutions have long had summer bridge programs, we believe the Aliento and Horizon Scholars (foster youth) programs are unique. This session will inspire innovative ideas for promoting library services to campus organizations, unlocking the potential for powerful collaborations and strengthening institutional relationships.
