BEYOND DISCIPLINES:

PROVIDING OUTREACH TO

UNDERSERVED GROUPS BY

DEMOGRAPHICL O R E L E I R U T L E D G E

A N D S A R A H L E M I R E

WHAT IS OUTREACH?

Marketing: lets the community know what the library is doingand often focuses on events inside the library

Outreach: asks what stakeholders need and engages them in conversation, focusing on events both in and outside the library

WHY DO OUTREACH?

Members of underserved communities may not:

• Be familiar with the resources that the library offers

• Know how to access what they need (language-

learning resources, specific tools)

• Feel comfortable asking for help

Love, E., & Edwards, M. B. (2009). Forging inroads between libraries and academic, multicultural and student services. Reference Services Review, 37, 20-29

ALA OFFICE FOR LITERACY AND OUTREACH SERVICES

The ALA OLOC has identified the following communities as underserved:

• Adult New and Non-Readers

• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People

• Incarcerated People and Ex-Offenders

• Older Adults

• People of Color

• People with Disabilities

• Poor and Homeless People

• Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds

• Bookmobile Communities

American Library Association (2014). Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS) Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/offices/olos

LIBRARY OUTREACH MODELS

• Satellite service points

• Roving reference

• Dorm reference

Rudin, P. (2008). No fixed address: The evolution of outreach

library services on university campuses. The Reference

Librarian, 59, 55-75.

LIBRARY OUTREACH MODELS

Outreach librarians

LIBRARY OUTREACH MODELS

Embedded librarianship• Office hours model

• Full-time departmental location

• Virtual Reference

ENGAGEMENT STYLES

Passive

• Silent roving reference

• Office hours

Active

• Events

• Active roving reference

OUTREACH BY DEMOGRAPHIC

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

MARRIOTT LIBRARY

LGBT

• LGBTQ patrons may fear that they will be

judged for their gender expression or identity.

• They may also struggle to find adequate

information about topics of interest, like

LGBTQ health

• As an often invisible minority, LGBTQ people

might feel like the library is not interested in

supporting them.

LGBT DEMOGRAPHICS

Williams Institute. (2013). Infographic: % Couples raising children in top metro areas. MSA. Retrieved from

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/infographic-msas-may-2013/

MARRIOTT LIBRARY LGBT OUTREACH

MARRIOTT LIBRARY LGBT OUTREACH

• Sending library representatives to LGBT Resource Center Events

• Holding librarian office hours in the LGBT Resource Center

• Working with the LGBT Resource Center to update their library.

• Displaying Safe Zone signage in Faculty and Staff offices

• Liaising with the Utah Pride Center

• Providing tours for community LGBT groups

• Creating exhibits highlights LGBT people in Utah

VETERANS

VETERANS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Total Undergrad Grad PhD

University of Utah Fall 2014Veteran Enrollment

Total

Male

Female

Other

MARRIOTT LIBRARY VETERANS OUTREACH

MARRIOTT LIBRARY VETERANS OUTREACH

• Librarian office hours in the campus Veterans Support Center

• Librarian involvement in annual Veterans In-Brief

• Co-sponsoring veteran-oriented events with the Veterans Support Center, including a panel discussion/film showing about women in combat

• Librarian involvement in campus veterans’ events, including the annual Veterans Day Commemoration and Student Veteran of the Year ceremonies

• Library displays of student veteran photographs

• Librarian participation in local efforts to raise veteran profiles in Salt Lake City and on-campus, including interviews with local media (print and radio) and oral history interviews with the American West Center

• Partnering with Veterans Support Center on veteran-oriented charitable endeavors, including collecting supplies for homeless veterans and writing letters to deployed servicemembers

DISABILITY SERVICES

• 18.7 percent of the U.S. non-institutionalized population has a disability.

• People with impairments may:

• Need help accessing library tools and resources

• Feel unsure of what resources are available for them

MARRIOTT LIBRARY OUTREACH TO

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

MARRIOTT LIBRARY OUTREACH TO

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES• Attending Center for Disability Services events

• Inviting CDS administration over for tours

• Asking CDS employees to promote the library

• Advertising the library on the CDS homepage

• Asking for feedback from students with impairments about library

improvements

• Creating videos on best practices for working with patrons with disabilities

with the support of a student sponsor

• Creating a disability studies LibGuide

• Building collections for campus interpreters

STUDENTS WITH CHILDREN

STUDENTS WITH CHILDREN AT

THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

NASPA Consortium: Profile of the College Student Experience, Spring 2013

85%

6%

9%

University of Utah Students with Children

No children

1 child

2 or more children

MARRIOTT LIBRARY OUTREACH TO

STUDENTS WITH CHILDREN

MARRIOTT LIBRARY OUTREACH TO

STUDENTS WITH CHILDREN

MARRIOTT LIBRARY OUTREACH TO

STUDENTS WITH CHILDREN

MARRIOTT LIBRARY OUTREACH TO

STUDENTS WITH CHILDREN• Library created a Family Reading Room to make the library more welcoming

for students with children. Includes toys, books, and games to keep kids

entertained while students work. Room sight-lines designed so students can

keep an eye on their children while working at the computers.

• Efforts to make library marketing efforts specifically inclusive of students with

children.

• Library events for students with children, including family health days and

activities co-sponsored by Utah Museum of Fine Arts and National History

Museum of Utah.

• Displays specifically developed to include child-friendly elements and

marketed to include children, especially last summer’s Vesalius Exhibit.

CHALLENGES AND

CONSTRAINTS

CONSTRAINTS

• Time

• Money

• Engagement and Support

OUTREACH BY DEMOGRAPHIC

AT YOUR LIBRARY

STRATEGY: IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET

STRATEGY: IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET

• University of Utah Office of Budget and Institutional Analysis

• National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

• Utah demographics and statistics

• US Census Bureau

• American FactFinder

• Disability

• US Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Benefits Administration Reports

• UCLA’s Williams Institute

STRATEGY: IDENTIFY THE IDEAL OUTCOME

• I will host two open houses for students with disabilities during the Fall semester to introduce them to library resources. They will come back and visit the library again.

• We will co-host at least one event with the LGBT Resource Center for Pride Week.

STRATEGY: IDENTIFY YOUR GOAL POSTS

How will you know if you succeeded?

• I will get contact information from at least ten students at my open houses and follow up with them.

• I will have at least one event that is attended by at least ten people

STRATEGY: FIND YOUR PARTNERS

Who can I work with?

• I could work with the Center for Disability Services

• I could get in touch with the Gender Studies librarian and the head of the LGBT Resource Center.

STRATEGY: MAKE A LONG-RANGE PLAN

What is my long-term plan for my outreach to this group?

• I plan to hold 2 or 3 events per year for students with disabilities, with at least one of them being a tour of the Center for Disability Services

• I want to cohost regular events with LGBT students so that they are familiar with the librarians and feel comfortable asking questions.

STRATEGY: PLAN YOUR ACTIVITIES

What specific activities will I do to enact my strategy?

• I will create advertising materials to hang in

• the Center for Disability Services, including braille materials.

• I will ask the Center to tell the students who come in about the event.

STRATEGY: GATHER YOUR RESOURCES

What do I need to be able to meet my goals?

• Money for snacks

• Space to host an event

• Help from a graphic designer to create a design

STRATEGY: GET SUPPORT

Who do I need to buy into my plan?

• I need my Associate Dean to agree to give me space to hold an open house and money for snacks.

• I need the administration of the LGBT Resource Center to agree to cohosting an event.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

We created a worksheet for you to use

this in your own libraries.

Take a look at the worksheet and talk with

the person next to you about how you

might apply these ideas.

An electronic copy of the handout is

available at

http://tinyurl.com/MPLA2014

QUESTIONS?

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