Approaches to Liaison Librarianship

Approaches to Liaison Librarianship

Liaison librarianship is a well-established system for framing the work and organizational structures of an academic library to effectively meet the needs of faculty and students. But despite its rich history, the precise meaning of liaison librarianship remains somewhat fluid―the size and nature of an academic institution, the library’s financial and human resources, and the diversity and size of local programs are only some of the variables that librarians must take into consideration when evaluating a specific liaison model for their library, how to implement it, and how its success will be assessed.

Approaches to Liaison Librarianship showcases a number of different implementations of the liaison model, across a range of institutions, and describes in detail many of the tailored programs and services that liaison librarians are so well-positioned to provide. In 20 chapters, this thorough book explores:

the design and establishment of liaison librarian programs;

refreshing programs periodically to reflect local campus changes and demands for new services and support from faculty and students;

the challenges of managing liaison programs through these types of changes;

day-to-day experiences as liaison librarians, from collaborating with teaching faculty on crafting and delivering information literacy instruction to designing online research support tools;

librarians working to become fully embedded in their liaison departments to establish a closer connection to the workflows and culture of the departments they serve;

participating in special projects in collaboration with research and teaching faculty that leverage the specialized knowledge and skills of today’s liaison librarians;

and more.

Throughout, the authors describe the opportunities and challenges faced by liaison librarians and outline how these librarians leverage their specialized skills and knowledge of their users’ needs to satisfy a wide variety of demands. Approaches to Liaison Librarianship offers ideas for creating customized solutions for your local environment and ways to integrate new resources and services into your liaison models.