Document Type
Presentation
Keywords
academic libraries; student success; first-generation; outreach
Rights Management
CC-BY-NC-SA
Abstract
For many first-generation college students, the university library can seem like an intimidating space and present challenges that often aren’t encountered by traditional students. This panel discussion focuses on how academic libraries are creating community and space for historically marginalized students. In this presentation, panelists from three different academic libraries discuss how they’ve developed programs and enhanced instruction to support first-generation students on their campuses. Dymond Bush discusses how she invited students from Alpha Alpha Alpha, the First Generation Student Honor Society, into the library through programming in the virtual reality lab to encourage their sense of belonging in the library and on the larger Bryant University campus. Olivia Seymour shares the results of a first-generation event held at the library at Salve Regina University in collaboration with the Office of Residence Life that focused on building an inclusive community to support marginalized students. Finally, Alicia G. Vaandering explains how she gamified library instruction to encourage team- and community-building in outreach to the Talent Development Program, which has supported BIPOC and other marginalized students at the University of Rhode Island since the late 1960s.
Comments
This panel discussion from the 2024 Rhode Island Library Association conference focused on how academic libraries are creating community and space for historically marginalized students who identify as first generation students.