Library Instruction Symposium

Eastern Kentucky University Libraries hosted a fantastic Library Instruction Symposium in October, with Jeffrey Liles as the guest speaker.

What was really beneficial to me was not so much learning new tips (Dr. Liles kept emphasizing that he didn't bring "a bag of tricks."), but reminding myself of what I already knew about good instruction. Keeping the focus on task-based activities and letting the students work together. It made me think of so many things I used to do as an ESL teacher that I had somehow lost as a one- (or two-) shot instruction session librarian.

And the best part was that I got to meet so many fantastic EKU librarians, who were about to become my new colleagues. The week after the Symposium I began my new job as the Visiting Reference and Instruction Librarian at EKU. It's great to be here.

New Northside Public Library Branch

Academic libraries and public libraries can have a lot in common. The brand-new Northside Branch of the Lexington Public Library system is an example of a user-friendly space that reminded me in some ways of our Information Commons here at UK.

From the big, bright sprightly sign out front to the cafe inside to the long outside reading area, the whole space was inviting. Good job, LPL.

Hong Kong Central Library

My husband and I had a fantastic week in Hong Kong for our honeymoon in September. It was a great time, and we both took tons of photos.

When I first spotted the Hong Kong Central Library from a distance, I wondered what that strange-looking building was. However, once we were inside I found it was a very nice space. (Photos were not allowed, so you will have to take my word for it.) The photo of the gold plaque is a braille sign. There were also raised tiles on the floor for sight-impaired guidance.

The central area was very open, which reminded me a little of the Central branch of the Lexington Public Library. I always find myself surprised at how much libraries are really quite similar, no matter where you are in the world.

American Libraries Direct

The Hub @ WT's got some national attention this week, appearing in the American Library Association's e-publication, American Libraries Direct.

A huge Hubbub

On August 25, we had our 2nd annual "Hubbub," a party in the Hub for our new freshmen students to introduce them to the library and the Info Commons. Although I'd thought our first Hubbub was pretty great, this year's seemed like a whole different league of fun. It was almost twice the size of our first Hubbub, with about 700 students and more activities for them to do.

One of our great new activities for this year was a photo booth. Beth Kraemer set up a green screen and Photoshopped students (and faculty/staff) wearing funny hats and holding props onto interesting backgrounds. We showed these on our flat-screen TVs and some of our Video Windows, as well as making a flickr set of them.




Our remaining Video Windows were used for video games. We also had balloon animals, makeovers, a caricature artist, palm reading (had to definitely have this again as it was our surprise last-minute hit from last year), and two tarot card readers. We had pizza and drinks. I think our surprise hit this year was the board games. Students sat on the floor and played Monopoly and other retro board games enthusiastically.

A small touch that I think went over well was putting leis over the heads of attendees as they walked in. Nothing says "party" like wearing a lei. The balloon hats that the balloon artist made also added to the festivities.

photo credit Alice Wasielewski

As for lessons learned for next year:

Ordering more pizza and drinks and having the cups poured ahead of time. Not only did we have many more students eating, but we switched vendors, and the quality of the food was better this year, so students were taking more.

Having a longer Hubbub. We had the prize drawing at 7:15, which seemed too early since all the activities were still going strong, but by the time it was over at 7:45 the library closing announcement was coming over the P.A. Maybe next year we could have a 3-hour Hubbub.

It's only September, but I already feel excited about our Hubbub 2009.

photo credit Kopana Terry

Got married.

August 9, 2008

photo credit Suzanne Fleming

Still learning about patrons

Today at the reference desk a professor came up and said that an entire periodical series was missing from the shelves. Normally, when an undergraduate or community member says something like this, I immediately go to the shelves and double-check. Because this was a faculty member, I first tried several other avenues: scouring the catalog, making phone calls to circulation and off-site storage, etc., before going to the stacks. Long story short: even professors find the the library confusing and end up in the wrong place. Never assume - or you know what you make out of u and me both.