The Personal Librarian

The incredible shift in the provision of library services resulting from innovations such as online resources, mobile technologies, tablet computers, and MOOCs and hybrid courses makes it more challenging than ever for academic librarians to connect students with the information they need. Enter the Personal Librarian, a flexible concept that focuses on customizing information literacy by establishing a one-on-one relationship between librarian and student from enrollment through graduation. In this book the editors, with decades of library instruction and academic library experience between them, and their contributors Define personal librarianship and trace how it has developed within the broader context of the work that librarians do Demonstrate its radical potential to impact student learning, retention, and graduation rates Discuss how the concept relates to embedded librarianship and academic library liaisons, and the role of faculty and staff Illustrate how personalization can be supported by academic support centers, IT services, Student Affairs, and other college and university departments Use case studies from a variety of institutions to show how to develop and implement a Personal Librarian program By prioritizing relationships over merely providing access to information resources, the Personal Librarian can improve services while ensuring that students have what they need to learn and grow. This book shows how to make it happen.