Resources to Inspire and Inform Global Engagement
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When "Global Perspectives" launched in July 2015, the intent was to emphasize the increasing internationalization of higher education and the essential role of libraries in global engagement initiatives. Through reading about such activities, practitioners could learn from other librarians' experiences as they explored roles and responsibilities that made sense for them and their context. The timing was right because many colleges and universities in the United States were strengthening their global reach and interaction and developing worldwide partnerships with implications for the local campus. The number of international undergraduate and graduate students in the United States was substantial, and educational institutions invested in and expanded support of those students to ensure their success. Many of these institutional strategic initiatives involved the library, which stood ready to serve as a robust campus partner.
"Global Perspectives" is just one place to read about international possibilities. Several books published since 2015 deal with the global reach and services of college and university libraries. A selection of volumes is described here, chosen for their relevance to academic libraries and librarianship as well as their scope, currency, fresh perspective, broad interest, and wide applicability.
As worthwhile as reading about worldwide initiatives is, connecting with people engaged in such activities is even more valuable. Building relationships and interacting with colleagues complement and supplement reading. Therefore, following the reviews of selected books, this article offers a description of relevant discussion and interest groups to explore, all sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).
Read about It: Select Recent Books
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Planning Academic Library Orientations: Case Studies from around the World, ed. Kylie Bailin, Benjamin Jahre, and Sarah Morris. Chandos Information Professional Series. [End Page 375] Cambridge, MA: Elsevier, 2018. 380 pages. $106.00 paperback (ISBN 978-0-08-102171-2); $79.95 e-book (ISBN 978-0-08-102173-6)
Academic library orientations can be exciting, vexing, useful (or not), and successful (or not). Whatever form they take, they have become almost universal because they form a cornerstone of other library programming and services to support students in their transition to, and success in, college. Planning Academic Library Orientations is a thorough account of current programs in academic institutions intended to introduce students to the library. The book is divided into 34 chapters, each describing a different library's approach. The various methods are not presented as right or wrong but instead as a product of local need and the resources of the institution and its constituencies.
Most chapters are coauthored, which reflects one of the takeaways from the book: successful orientations, whatever their form, are collaborative and require partnerships and cooperation from both within the library and without. Most of the examples, not just those in the section "Partnerships," describe joint efforts. The other segments are "Games"; "Marketing & Promotion"; "Targeting Specific Audiences"; "Technology"; and "Tours." Each chapter helpfully includes background information about the institution described so readers can easily identify the colleges or universities that most closely align with their own. While subheadings may vary, most chapters provide background about the institution, its students, its past orientation programming, planning, and what it might do differently in the future.
The global dimension is provided by including programs in such countries as Australia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. This international scope is widened by chapters that highlight U.S.-based libraries providing orientations to specific populations, including students from other countries. Chapter 22, "Introducing New International Students to Privilege in Information Access," describes one such program. It recounts how librarians at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, creatively filled a campus gap to assist in the success of students from other countries. To graduate, every student at DePauw must take a course that centers on privilege, power, and diversity. The university realized that learners without a grounding in American history and culture would find it difficult to participate fully in the course. In answer, the campus revamped part of its two-week Summer English Immersion Institute, which about half of new international enrollees attend. The librarians developed new activities based on the frame "Information Has Value" from the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for...
