Created by ChatGPT EDU for reflection blog.
Reflecting on what it means to be a Hyperlinked community that connects my library with participation and outreach really got me thinking about how my college library can do more to serve the community, not only inside our campus, but to the whole community with which it resides. How can or has the library been a steward of the hyperlinked library model in relation to participation and outreach? How are we connecting with our users?
Illustration by Boxicons on Unsplash
I know that we try and provide excellent customer service and being a small college we really get to know many of our users because we can take the time to get to know them. Whether it be through helping with assignments, study hall hours for athletes, or the go-to place for general technology questions….we have formed bonds with students, faculty, and staff. Stephens(2016) writes about how we have interactions across both the physical space as well as the virtual space and I can honestly say that we do much better in the physical than the virtual. With such a small staff, it’s been hard to dedicate time to tend to the virtual side when through this class, I have learned that I need to make it more of a priority because not all of our patrons can make it into the physical space. And this goes for more than just social media content. In speaking with my soon to be former boss, I asked her about what activities she felt (through the hyperlinked library lens) did she wish she could have implemented, but didn’t get a chance to? Her reply? It was more connection with the faculty. Exploring options for an embedded librarian in our LMS system, Canvas. The opportunity to create signage for the different Career and Technology programs showcasing what the library has to offer these majors. It was an amazing conversation with her. It also got me thinking about wanting to move those things forward.
You see, July 1st will be here before I know it and then it will be my turn to make these decisions. This class and specifically this module has had my brain on overdrive with possibilities (maybe a bit grandiose given my current staffing issue) about how to make connections with our community. I know what you are thinking…it’s summer…..how much connection can you do when most of the students are taking online classes right now? The answer would be I don’t know, but what I do know is that I want to make sure that the library communicates effectively and with more transparency with the active involvement of the college community. They are the reason we are still here. They are the reason we look for those connections. I like the saying that being hyperlinked isn’t all about technology, that its truly about connection in many forms, and that includes the human connections (Stephens, 2016). In fact, I also sit on the Board of Trustees for the public library and I have sent the library director there some of the things that I am learning in this class and hopefully collaborating with her in the future to partner on programming that benefits both our libraries.
Beyond Buzzwords by Michael Stephens (2025) was super informative. I wrote down every single one and attempted to think about how to incorporate, if I hadn’t already, into the daily activities of the library. All 10 items were down to earth connections that helped the library show compassion, empathy, and overall care for the patron. Finding those things that we have in common with our users, asking them about their wants and needs, making sure our mission includes a commitment to inspiring the user to learn. Making sure to value every person and include all walks of life. We have a poster like this when you first enter our library:
Courtesy of https://www.etsy.com/listing/1551319118/in-this-library-we-are-helpful-we-are.
I like this sign because we really do strive to accomplish all the items on here and we hope that students feel the same way. We attempt to have displays that show diversity and inclusion. Even our Student Services department will, every fall, have the International Students put a pin on a world map and then ask to showcase this sign in the library highlighting where all of our international students are from. It’s really cool to see people stop in and look at the map and be surprised at how far some of our students come to attend college.
In conclusion, getting to know our users, honoring them, listening to them, and reaching out to them through other platforms when they can’t always come to the library are vital to the continued existence of libraries. We are not just a place for knowledge. We are so much more. We are the “heart” of the community where people can feel welcome, feel loved, and allowed to spread their intellectual wings.
Resources
- Stephens, M. (2025). Beyond Buzzwords: Ten Invitations to Build Library Connection and Community
- Stephens, M. (2019) “Libraries in Balance” in Wholehearted Librarainship, p. 78
- Stephens, M. (2016). “Reaching All Users” in The Heart of Librarianship, p. 41
Hi Becca, thank you for your post! I’m curious based on something you said: does your library serve the larger community outside of the members of the community college campus?
As far as connecting with the faculty goes, I think that’s a great outreach strategy. That is something I try to do in my role as a subject librarian at an academic library and have varying success with–but when I do, it’s typically wonderful! I think the idea of being embedded in the LMS is a great one. When I manage to be embedded in a course LMS, I have more students reach out to me.
Cassandra, yes, the public is allowed to come in and use our resources and check out books. We are a small enough community (around 8,000 people) that we want to foster good relations with the people out in the city we reside in. We also work with the public library from time to time with Interlibrary loans, but I think more collaboration between us and the public library would benefit both libraries. That is a project for in the future, but for now, I want to connect more with the faculty and remind them that the library is a great place to start research, study, find interesting things, and just hang out! We have collaborated with a few faculty in the past to set up displays, but that has not happened in the last few semesters and I would like to revive that practice. I would also like to see where they feel would be a good fit for library sessions within their course schedule to help students realize all the resources available. I have seen and read about how embedded librarians have increased library usage and overall improved research skills in some respects, but I don’t remember the articles off the top of my head. I do know there is a library Service link in the LMS, however, there isn’t a good place for our online students to contact the library directly from the LMS, let alone in the online course itself. It is definitely something that I would like to explore more of.
Hi Becca – I appreciated your discussion about developing more faculty connections. I work at a technical college, and we have been having problems reaching students to get materials returned. I just asked our student worker how he thought students could be better communicated with (since they don’t read their email). He said it would be nice if his instructors would remind him about library due dates and if they could put reminder messages on the LMS. Like you mentioned, embedded librarians would be great, but there are staff constraints. Faculty connections and buy in are so important, but they can be hard to cultivate.
I agree completely Rachel. These connections are important and sometimes hard to cultivate. Most technical and community colleges are like commuter colleges and no one stays longer than they have to, which can sometimes make having those in-person conversations difficult. This is where we have to think outside the box to reach not only students but in some instances, faculty. We have a very limited staff and I know with the current workload right now, the things I would like to accomplish feel out of reach because I don’t know what my future staffing is going to look like right now. I think it would be nice if our instructors would remind students of timelines and due dates for not only their class materials, but for library returns as well. However, since some of our faculty don’t require students to check out books for research and things, that gets a little bit murkier. We try the best we can and attempt to meet our users where they are…I hope that you get some good results as far as making connections with the ideas you generate from this class.
@beccaslick – I am thrilled that you were finding inspiration here for your future position that begins just two days from now. I appreciate the thoughtful reflection about how you were thinking regarding your library position on campus and within the community. Cheers to you for starting your new position!
@michael – Thank you for the comment. I am trying to soak up as much as I can to bring with me into my new role. There is just so much that being a hyperlinked library can do for even small community college libraries. I need to pace myself, because I want to do it all, and I know that is unrealistic, but at the same time fosters ideas about how to bring the library forward.