Outreach and
Research & Instruction

in libraries

Abigail Weil  (she/her) -- Research & Instruction Outreach Librarian

Simon Elichko (they/he) -- Social Sciences & Data Librarian

Liz Waltman (she/her) -- Performing Arts Librarian

Agenda

Introductions

Discussion: Public Libraries, City Government

Library Types

What's R&I librarianship?

Break

Libraries Outreach

Discussion:

public libraries, city government, & social media

Heated Rivalry book downloads surge 529% after Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsement - Gay Times

Library Types

Image credit: BayNet (Katherine Becvar, Tawny Dovico)

Research & Instruction Librarianship:

What does it look like day-to-day?

*at a small liberal arts college like Swarthmore

• collection development and management
• reference (answering questions, holding consultations)
• subject liaison duties (e.g. teaching class sessions, facilitating digital scholarship projects)
• student programs & jobs
• committee work

What about at larger universities?

and public libraries?

Examples from
ALA Joblist

Have you had a librarian visit any of your classes?

What do librarians teach?

Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education 

Association of College and Research Libraries

Image credit: Wheaton College Library

Information Literacy

Roles that sources can play in your research:

Information Timeline Graphic by adstarkel. Used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Zotero

• Borrow Beyond Trico

  • EZ Borrow
  • InterLibrary Loan (for books & articles)
• WorldCat

When the Trico fails you

Japanese original

​write down the call number

English translation

​write down the call number

BARBARA STROZZI

Italian composer and singer

Baroque period

Adopted daughter of Guilio Strozzi

Extensive collection of secular works
 

Selected Works:

• Lagrime mie

• Cantate, ariette e duetti

• Moralita Amorosa

• Chi brama in Amore

Group 1: General Collection Book

• Handbook of Frogs and Toads by Wright and Wright

• QL600 is the zoology section, it includes:

  • Frogs

  • Snakes

  • Lizards

• 4th floor includes the general section, so those books can be checked out

• To find books like this one:

  • On the library website, you can look in the catalog to search for a specific topic or book title

Birds are breeding earlier

50+ types of bacteria live in your belly button

An invasive mosquito species arrived in Germany

The existence of a Jupiter-sized planet

What kinds of things do you think students learn from librarians?

Brainstorm + write your ideas

on the whiteboard

break

Libraries Outreach

Concepts, questions, and creativity

What brings people

into the library...

or keeps them out?

Think about a library you love—it can be the Swarthmore library, your high school library, a public library you love.

What are your favorite things about the library? It can be services, specific resources, a space, a program, a philosophy or even a feeling.

What might be barriers for someone

to use a library, and why?

• Accessibility
• Intimidation
• Lack of information
• What else?

How do you welcome people into the library

and support them using it?

Hands-on activity:

Design an outreach strategy for a potential project

• Use one of our suggestions or propose your own idea

• Some guiding questions:

  • What kind of library would this be at?

  • Who is the target audience?

  • Is there a built-in audience, is there an untapped audience?

Abigail Weil

Outreach Librarian

aweil1@swarthmore.edu

Simon Elichko

Social Sciences & Data Librarian

selichk1@swarthmore.edu

Liz Waltman

Performing Arts Librarian

ewaltma1@swarthmore.edu

Thank you!