STLHE 2016 SAPES

Academic library and school partnerships are one way to connect and establish meaningful relationships between a university campus and its neighboring community. The Lamson Learning Commons at Plymouth State University, in Plymouth, NH extended its outreach program by offering all-day school research visits to students in both middle and high school grade levels. The visits featured a brief instruction session with the Outreach Librarian tailored to the assignment and skill levels of younger students, along with ample time for individual research, plus fun break periods with coffee in the library café and lunch in the campus dining hall.


This collaborative project benefits everyone involved. Most obviously, elementary and secondary school students are exposed to a larger library building similar to one they will use in their academic futures and the myriad of reliable information resources available. However, the university benefits from this collaboration to an even greater extent. First, school visits provide a university the opportunity to promote its campus, making it an important tool in enrollment management. Likewise, for the academic librarian, work with younger students expose us to the ways in which these future students of higher education gather, evaluate and use information. What instructional methods work best with school-aged children and how can those be incorporated into methods we use to instruct university students? Even current university students can participate! School visits provide them the opportunity to work directly with, and mentor school children on their research projects.


This presentation will further expand on these and other topics along with guidance on how your library can develop and execute its own school research visit program. Imagine a typical sports camp with an academic library twist! After all, the library IS the best part of a university campus!