The New Instruction Librarian: A Workbook for Trainers and Learners

by Candice Benjes-Small, Rebecca K. Miller

Overview

The sheer amount of resources on the subject of information literacy is staggering. Yet a comprehensive but concise roadmap specifically for librarians who are new to instruction, or who are charged with training someone who is, has remained elusive. Until now. This book cuts through the jargon and rhetoric to ease the transition into library instruction, offering support to all those involved, including library supervisors, colleagues, and trainees. Grounded in research on teaching and learning from numerous disciplines, not just library literature, this book

shows how to set up new instruction librarians for success, with advice on completing an environmental scan, strategies for recruiting efficiently, and a training checklist;

walks readers step by step through training a new hire or someone new to instruction, complete with hands-on activities and examples;

explores the different roles an instruction librarian is usually expected to play, such as educator, project manager, instructional designer, and teaching partner;

demonstrates the importance of performance evaluation and management, including assessment and continuing education, both formal and informal; and

provides guided reading lists for further in-depth study of a topic.

A starter kit for librarians new to instruction, this resource will be useful for training coordinators as well as for self-training.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780838914564
Publisher:	American Library Association
Publication date:	11/16/2016
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Candice Benjes-Small began her career at the University of Southern California and since 2001 has worked at Radford University in Radford, Virginia. She is the head of information literacy and outreach and university coordinator of information literacy for the general education curriculum. Under her leadership, the library instruction program has been recognized as an Exemplary Information Literacy program in numerous categories by the ACRL. She has served as president of the Virginia chapter of ACRL (VLACRL) and is active on numerous VLACRL committees. She and Rebecca K. Miller founded The Innovative Library Classroom, a very popular regional information literacy conference that won the 2016 Beta Phi Mu Conference Support Award. She has written numerous publications on information literacy and was lead author on an article about cognitive development and web evaluation which was selected as a Top 20 article by the Library Instruction Round Table. She is also an instructor for the Library Juice Academy on library instruction assessment.

Rebecca K. Miller is the information literacy coordinator and college librarian for science, life sciences, and engineering at Virginia Tech. Currently, she serves on the editorial boards of three journals and holds leadership positions in both national and state level professional organizations.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part One

Chapter One Identifying as an Instruction Librarian
Chapter Two Laying the Groundwork

Part Two

Chapter Three The Many Hats We Wear
Chapter Four Colleague
Chapter Five Instructional Designer
Chapter Six Teacher
Chapter Seven Teaching Partner
Chapter Eight Advocate
Chapter Nine Project Manager
Chapter Ten Coordinator
Chapter Eleven Learner
Part Three

Chapter Twelve Observation
Chapter Thirteen Performance Evaluation and Management

Part Four: Tools and Templates

Needs Assessment Tool
Sample Training Curriculum
Sample Job Ad
Sample Candidate Criteria Spreadsheet
Sample Interview Schedule
Sample Orientation Checklist
Sample Orientation Schedule
Sample Training Schedule
Personal Learning Plan Template
Sample Lesson Plan 1
Sample Lesson Plan 2 and Script
Sample Assignments
Sample Observation Form

About the Authors
Index

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2017
Benjes-Small (Radford Univ., VA) and Miller (Pennsylvania State Univ.) correctly note there are many great books introducing information literacy instruction to librarians. What has been lacking, however, is an introduction for librarians who are new to instruction. In addition, many librarians find their initial teaching experience is "trial by fire" rather than a structured training program. With that in mind, the authors have written a solid overview of academic instruction librarianship for both supervisors and novices. Supervisors will find content related to recruitment, orientation, and providing continuing support. The authors outline the many roles librarians will be expected to play: instructional designer, teaching partner, advocate, and learner. Included are expert voices, activities, and reading suggestions, as well as a section dedicated to templates and activities for both audiences. VERDICT New instruction librarians, particularly recent graduates, will likely find the chapters related to roles to be helpful in understanding expectations in their new workplace. Even experienced managers should find this work to be helpful in thinking about how to welcome librarians into their instruction programs.—Amanda Folk, Ohio State Univ. Libs.

Library Journal