Get to Know Your Librarian: How a Simple Orientation Program Helped Alleviate Library Anxiety

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-27-2017

Journal Title

Public Services Quarterly

Volume

13

Issue

4

Abstract

Library orientations do their part to familiarize students with information literacy, and how the library fits within university life. But what if an orientation could give a student a strong introduction to their academic librarians? Research in academic libraries has noted that library anxiety remains a continual problem among current students. Valparaiso University librarians created the Get to Know Your Librarian program, which sought to make librarians accessible. Using humor and casualness, incoming students were “introduced” to librarians through a series of fun facts. This simple program was successful in helping alleviate incoming students’ library anxiety before their first semester.

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