MCC Daily Tribune
The Value of a Personal Librarian Program By: Seyvion Scott
The Personal Librarian Program at MCC Libraries is an outreach service that provides first-year students with regular email and text-messaging communication from their personal librarian. Establishing a personal, human connection to the college library is essential to getting students in the door and providing them with a quality service experience and learning environment. The Personal Librarian Program is being piloted by myself, the First-Year Experience Librarian, and has already made a significant impact in helping our students succeed. The objective is to increase students’ efficacy, confidence, skill set, and knowledge of the library’s resources and services. The goals of the Personal Librarian Program are to:
1) Connect with and introduce students to the library’s resources, spaces, and services
2) Build a personal connection between students and their personal librarian
3) Increase students’ feelings of belonging and inclusion on campus
4) Improve student success and retention by teaching them information literacy and research skills
According to a study by Constance Mellon, 75% to 85% of college students felt anxiety and fear when thinking about using the library (Moniz & Moats, 2014). This can be significantly reduced by providing each first-year student with a personal librarian who can serve as a point of contact in the library. The personal librarian concept is a relational interaction, rather than a transactional one. The difference between relational and transactional interactions is: transactional interactions are basic and last only a short amount of time (e.g., scanning a library book at check out), whereas relational interactions (e.g., a personal librarian program or research help appointments) are more involved and facilitate a meaningful connection between students and the librarian.
Another tangible benefit of the Personal Librarian Program is, it has led to an increase in students scheduling research help appointments. By virtue of regularly corresponding with students, word of mouth has spread fast that I am a good resource to go to for research help (I’ve had about 37 research appointments in the last two months alone). In addition to research help appointments becoming a popular service this semester, the personal librarian program also supports the library’s information literacy program. Research help appointments enable students to be more candid and honest about what they need help with. In group settings, students are shy and may not speak up during a classroom library instruction session. Focusing on students’ individual needs and questions in research help appointments is an effective way to improve students’ information literacy and research skills.
Research studies have also found that students who used library resources more frequently often correlated to more students being retained and graduating from college (Haddow, 2013). Therefore, if every student was given a personal librarian, by default, students would have more contact with the library because a personal librarian will consistently contact, communicate with, and send out digital resources to their students throughout the semester. Even if students decline the help, or do not respond to the communications, the personal librarian virtually improves every student’s chance of staying in school and not quitting. Sometimes, the simple fact of knowing someone will help and is committed to you, is just the touch many students need to feel valued and finish college.
If you would like to learn more about the Personal Librarian concept, you can check out this book from our library:
Call Number: Z675.U5 P472 2014
ISBN: 9780838912393
Publication Date: 2014
Seyvion Scott
Library
12/01/2022