Phillip T MacDonald

Academic libraries as an institution need to provide tools and services for their patron community to become lifetime critical learners. With this setting in mind, instruction at this type of library must dynamically support the faculty, student body, and other members of the patron community to reach their fullest potential during their time at this institution. 

Critical pedagogy and the tenets of equity and inclusion will be the core values that our institution is built on. We don’t just want to deposit information into our students’ minds but instead, push them to become active and critical participants during instruction. This also cuts both ways our instructors will become better teachers and learn more about their subjects through this student engagement. This mode of instruction will also help lessen the overt power structures present in our institution. Additionally, focusing on equity and inclusion will make our institution a more welcoming and open space not only for its users but also for the staff. Through our community engagement, instruction, physical structures, collections, etc. we are creating a space in which our community can be their authentic self. Moreover, we want to foster conversations to create an environment of respect. All of our instructions start at these values. 

In regards to instructional approaches, we want to provide a multitude of types of instruction to meet the patron at their needs. Types of services included are workshops, one on one consultation, experiential learning, and student support spaces, online guides (like subject area LibGuides), and even embedded librarians for first-year students. Materials covered in workshops and one on one consultations could cover research tools, makerspace making, data visualization, digital scholarship, research strategies, amongst other programs. One on one consultation could cover all these areas but in the form of more individualized instruction. Experiential learning and student support spaces will be open rooms for patrons to work on projects independently. Of course, staff will be present in case of the need for support. For instance, in a makerspace a student may want to build a model of a bridge for an engineering course. The room will have everything they need for the project and if there are any hiccups or if they have any question someone will be there to help. We also know that our students are our students even if they are not in the library’s physical space. That is why we are creating a myriad of support and information resource materials they could access online. For example, one of our subject area librarians might create (and keep updated) a LibGuide. Another lofty goal would be to have embedded librarians in various first-year courses. These courses would be periodically taught in one of our classrooms. This approach will not only provide overtime support for our learning students but also expose them to the physical space of the library. For embedded courses and all of our approaches to work, we must create partnerships with faculty and student organizations to better understand the needs of our community. Moreover, these instructional approaches touch on different learning types and styles. No patron is alike and with varied forms of instructional experiences we hope to, again, meet our community at their needs. 

The ultimate goal of our institution’s instruction is to create an inclusive space where all members of our library community feel empowered and respected to come in. Moreover, once they are in (or using our resources) we want them to become a critical lifelong learner.