Library + LLC A Partnership Story

Librarians and LLCs Living Learning Communities at Ball State Outreach vs. Engagement A new plan - collaboration and partnership! What are LLCs? Librarians are assigned to LLCs - purpose is to provide support for academic peer mentors, academic success, to assist with programming Communication is outreach model, one way – difficult to get true engagement and traction Examples of outreach – workshops, paper clinics, trivia night, presentations about resources New project - true collaboration with faculty to promote the value of the library to students and show how the resources impact learning Two years – liaison – working to transform the info lit teaching in ETRC Issues - closed collection of 3-D objects - barrier to use and lack of awareness of existence of useful items in the collection

The Project MakerStudio located in the residence hall for the living learning community Students create educational materials, lesson plans, activities Librarian and faculty office hours “Play dates” Library materials in the space The information literacy component Partnership with faculty in elementary/early childhood education – Kate and Dixie Maker studio for LLC students – pilot - What is a maker studio? Purpose – explore design thinking in teacher education students, encourage students to play, explore teaching and learning materials from the library Goal is to move the library materials out to the maker studio, put them in front of students, allow them to experiment with them, suggest new items they need, etc. Designed to increase student engagement, be able to collect data about the maker studio and the use of the collection in the space Collecting use statistics, comments from students on questionnaire - about how use of the items. space informed their lesson/activity plans Larger research project - focus groups with students about the space, the LLC activities, and the connection to their work in EDEL 100 and other courses. Fall 2016 Space completed during summer 2016 Graduate assistant hired, meeting with LLC coordinator (student) Final meetings with HRL to ensure security of the library items and other checkout-able items in the space. Office hours and activities in the space - orientation, “fireside chats” The info lit component – framework – what parts are most relevant to new students in teacher education – also model of how to work with library media specialists

Consumable craft materials for use by students

Dry erase paint

Example of library material use - people counters - modeling activity plans/flow of the class

Closed collection

Examples of items that are “hidden away”

Locker system for items on loan

For suggestions

Forging the Partnership Seek out active, engaged faculty members Sell yourself as a partner Do you have the same goals? Say yes and work out the details later! Details are important! Seek out active, engaged faculty members Selling yourself as a partner – have the same goals, be on the same team Say yes and work out the details later The details are important - security of items, able to track and keep stats

Demonstrating Library Value Exposure of the closed collection to students Research study investigating the impact of the space on performance in EDEL 100 Continued funding of the space and the collection Justification for opening the library’s teaching materials collection Assessment Use of library materials in the space - now often, how long, what materials are used Student perceptions and feedback about resources - what we have, what they would like to have Does the exposure in the LLC drive traffic in the unit? Does the presence of the librarian drive questions and research help? Does the space and its resources lead to increased creativity and innovativeness in students? In better projects and more success in the EDEL 100 course? How are we measuring this? - Research study - focus groups with students about the space and the materials Results of student work - faculty perception of quality of work Desired Outcomes Continued funding for space in the LLC Increased funding for teaching materials collection Justification for opening the collection in the library

Thank you! Questions?