Thanks, Michigan librarians

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Maureen

Last Friday, I co-presented at the Michigan Library Association Academic Libraries conference.  My co-presenters, Suzanne Gray (Eastern Michigan University), Shannon Zoet (Michigan Campus Compact), and I spoke with about 35 Michigan academic librarians.  We spoke about how pairing information literacy and service-learning can advance the library’s impact on the curriculum and the community.

I gave a similar presentation in Ohio last fall and we only drew about a dozen attendees.  So, I was quite pleased to see so many faces in the crowd on Friday!

Thanks to the planners of the Michigan Library Association Academic Libraries conference for the opportunity to spread the word about service-learning!  And thanks to my co-presenters, as well.

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Service-learning represented at LOEX

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Maureen

Last week, hundreds of instruction librarians gathered in Columbus, Ohio for the biggest LOEX conference ever.  I was thrilled that the planning committee included a presentation about service-learning in the program.  Chris Sweet, Information Literacy Librarian at Illinois Wesleyan University, presented a case study of a course with which he was involved at his institution.  He was embedded in an environmental studies senior seminar that employed service-learning pedagogy.  The students in the course identified their own community partners and sustainability problems in their communities.  In the end, they were able to bring about some important change.  One student’s project, for example, enabled the local farmer’s market to take food stamps.  Another student documented the environmental benefits of roadside prairies. You can imagine how much information they needed in order to accomplish these projects.  You can probably also imagine that not all of this information could come from the standard reference interaction of “I need scholarly articles about [x] topic for my [x] class.”

Sweet also suggested some emerging best practices for library support of service-learning courses, including: tie service-learning and information literacy to the institution and/or library’s mission statement(s), use information literacy to strengthen the contexts of service setting and reflection portions of S-L courses, and identify existing “information needs” in S-L courses and explain how library collaboration could help address those needs.

It was great to meet another librarian who is championing the pairing of information literacy and service-learning!  Keep an eye out for his chapter, Information Literacy and Service-Learning: Creating powerful synergies, in the forthcoming title Information Literacy and Social Justice: Radical Professional Praxis.

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LOEX Quarterly article, part II – Hot off the presses

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Maureen

The new issue of LOEX Quarterly is out and part II of my article is published.  It isn’t posted in Wright State University’s CORE (Campus Online Repository) yet, but it will be there soon.  Check back here next week, perhaps:

http://core.libraries.wright.edu/handle/2374.WSU/5843

Barry, M. (2011).  Librarians as Partners in Service-Learning Courses (Part II).  LOEX Quarterly: 38(2), Article 4.

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Alternative spring break, part IV, OR the “ethic of inefficiency”

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Maureen

The ethic of inefficiency is a phrase that we discussed on our spring break trip quite a bit.  It’s hard to define in concrete terms. I can give you an example, though.  Imagine that you are the only handyperson in a group of 5 volunteers that are trying to build some porch steps for a neighbor.  Although you know that you could get the job done quicker if you just do it yourself, you take the time to teach the other 4 volunteers how to use the nail gun.  You sacrifice time for the experience of working alongside your fellow volunteers, to build relationships with those people and extend to them patience, expertise, and support.  You include them, rather than excluding them.  Each and every project we worked on in Athens County modeled this “ethic” for us.  The folks at Good Works model it for everyone, every day.  Maybe they are inefficient at work, but they are efficient at building community.

I’ve thought a lot about this concept since our alternative spring break trip to Athens County.  Throughout the quarter and the trip, I asked myself, would I do this again?  COULD I do this again?  The answer to the first question is definitely yes!  The answer to the second question isn’t up to me, really.  It will be up to my administrators in the end, whether or not I can be the embedded librarian for this course again.  Some may argue that this model isn’t sustainable.  No librarian could do this for every class at the University.  It’s a huge time commitment.  However, not every instructor would invite us to be so involved in their course.  And also, if you think back to the ethic of inefficiency, I think my role in this class is a good example.  I could go give a canned presentation that I’ve given a thousand times to dozens of classes, but it might not be as meaningful as the experience I had in this course.  I wouldn’t make the friends I made, learn the things I learned, or have the fun I had.

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Alternative spring break, part III

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Maureen

This installment will feature some photos that I couldn’t load from my phone while we were away.  I have also gone back to my previous posts about the trip to add photos.

The Village Bakery lends books (many about local food) to the community

The sign of some hard, dirty work!

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Videos of interest

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Maureen

This week will be the first installment of a new feature here at Service Learning Librarian, videos of interest.  Today, I’d like to share two videos.  First, is the video snapshot of how I spent my alternative spring break with a Wright State class:

http://youtu.be/_lqSuRkl6ZM

Second, this video about service-learning composition courses at George Washington University is also worth watching.  One of the faculty members, Phyllis Ryder, featured in the video partnered with librarian Jennifer Nutefall to incorporate information literacy in her service-learning courses.  Nutefall wrote about their partnership in The relationship between research and service-learning.   It’s one of the articles I refer to quite often.

http://vimeo.com/27876193

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Alternative spring break, part II

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Maureen

It’s hard to believe it’s our last night in Hannah House, our home for the week.  I’m pretty sure that I can speak for everyone that we learned a TON this week – about social, environmental and economic sustainability and ourselves.

I can’t think of a better community partner for a service-learning experience than Good Works.  The principles by which they operate align perfectly with service-learning.  They believe in relationships being the most important part of service.  Just as ideal service-learning experiences focus on working WITH the community in a mutually beneficial experience, Good Works staff emphasize the importance of building a relationship with neighbors and friends throughout our work in the community.  Spending time getting to know someone is more important that the program or service.  It isn’t about showing up, serving and leaving, it’s about taking time to relate to people, to provide a ray of hope for them when they might otherwise be feeling overlooked because of the situation (poverty) in which they have found themselves. As we discussed as a group this week, those living in poverty or homelessness often feel as though they don’t have much to offer others, or that they deserve to be in the position they are in.  But when someone (a volunteer, for example) spends time with them, it often gives them a reason to believe they deserve better.

Thanks to the good folks at Good Works, our morning conversations serve as a pre-reflection for the day (and a post-reflection from the previous day).  This is yet another way Good Works is an ideal community partner for a service-learning experience.  I’ve been very impressed with our students’ comments during the reflections.  It’s not often that a librarian gets to experience the “end result” so to speak.  I’ve gotten to witness their learning in person, which is exciting and inspiring.

Today, I spent the day with three staff members from Monday Creek Restoration Project and two students.  We sloshed through the creek, witnessed water seeping from a coal mine and helped clear a portion of the Buckeye Trail.  Monday Creek watershed was our lab today.  If it hadn’t been a short day today due to a special event this evening, we might have tested some water for its pH.

This evening, we spent a few hours at Della Zona, a restaurant in Athens, that uses local food.  The owner started by engaging us in conversation about the social, environmental and economic impacts of using local food.  We helped prepare our meal, which was a delicious warm lentil salad and fresh greens salad with house made vinagrette dressing.  It was not only delicious, but also gorgeous, of course.  One of the concepts emphasized at Della Zona was the challenge of operating as they do in a world that doesn’t value the same principles.  While big box stores reign, the Della Zona staff think outside of the box and they have the freedom to be creative.  They support their own community and build relationships.  They contribute healthy food to their neighbors.  It was an amazing meal, and it is an amazing business.

Dinner at Della Zona

Beautiful, local dinner at Della Zona in Athens, OH

Tomorrow, most of us will visit the small town of Glouster to clean up their city park.  Others will go to the Athens Public Library again to continue shifting the adult collection.  While we will not finish the big shift, we will make significant progress and they will be close to finishing.  We made a lot of progress.  It feels good to support a community through their library.

More reflection to come…stay tuned.

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Alternative spring break

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Maureen

I am very fortunate to have the opportunity this week to travel with the Social and Environmental Sustainability in Appalachia (UH 202-203) course to southeastern Ohio (Athens County).  We are learning a ton and making lots of new friends as we complete social and environmental projects in the community.

We are staying at Good Works’ Hannah House for the week.  Good Works is a faith-based organization that believes that relational contexts encourage transformations for those living in poverty or extreme poverty.  They provide opportunities and a support system for those who find themselves in poverty.  They do amazing work, and they have created wonderful partnerships for us.  Throughout the week, we are working with Monday Creek Restoration Project, Rural Action, Green Edge Gardens, Athens County Public Library, Neighbors helping Neighbors (a Good Works project) and a few others I’m sure I’m forgetting at the moment.

Our schedule is set up such that we work each day from about 9:30-3:30.  We have guest speakers in the evenings as well.  We all go to different sites each day so that we have the chance to experience several different projects.

We hit the ground running Friday afternoon as soon as we arrived to prepare a meal for nearly 150 community members for Good Works’ weekly community meal.  Good Works teaches people to value other people, first and foremost.  So while Sarah Twill (one of the co-instructors of the course) and I prepared the meal, the students were out socializing and getting to know members of the community.  It was a great meal, and a wonderful way to kick off the week.

Green Edge Gardens

Green Edge Gardens Amesville, OH

Saturday, I went with two students to Green Edge Gardens.  The owner, Kip Rondy, and his dog, Dance, greeted us and put us right to work.  We helped him clean all day to prepare for an important visit from a Ohio Department of Agriculture representatives next week.  He also showed us around all of his greenhouses and the mushroom house.  We had great conversations with him throughout the day about the issues facing small farmers.  He is extremely passionate about it, of course.  He taught us a lot about the local food movement and the challenges involved.  He advocates for a living wage for farmers since his employees are only paid between $18,000-$25,000.  He believes that once deisel/gas prices rise, local farming will be more in demand.  The system we use now is not sustainable.  We cannot keep shipping vegetables (which are 80%+ water) across the country.  As soon as I get home, I’m joining the CSA.  He has converted me!

Cows at Snowville Creamery

Cows at Snowville Creamery

Sunday, we visited Snowville Creamery.  Sarah, an employee there, showed us around and gave us a taste of the most delicious chocolate milk ever!  The cows are grass-fed, and the milk is amazingly delicious.

Today, Sarah Twill, two students and I helped the staff at Athens County Library shift their collection.   The library director was so grateful for our help.  She says that our help cut weeks off of the time it would have taken them to shift the entire adult collection.  One of the important things the director shared with us is that the library Board doesn’t want to ask for taxes to fund the libraries because such a small percentage of the population that could afford to pay the tax would decide to pass the levy, but then the rest of the population would have to pay for it.  They are very aware that 30% of the population lives at or below the poverty level.  This is why it is so important to know your community.

The students came willing and ready to serve and learn and make new friends.  They are treating each other with respect, having fun and learning a lot about themselves and the surrounding community.  They are representing Wright State extremely well!

More updates to come.

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Final Update, Week 10: InfoLit course (EDT 110)

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Maureen

We made it!  Our students learned some crucial information literacy skills, helped solve a community problem (illiteracy) and turned in a pretty solid research portfolio to Project READ.  Yesterday, we met one final time this quarter to reflect as a group, along with Becky Garvin, Director of Project READ and Cathy Sayer, Director of Service-Learning at Wright State University.  In preparation for this reflection, the students write responses to 4 or 5 reflection prompts.  Then we discuss as a group what they have learned about information literacy, about themselves and about their community.

Each student told our guests about one of the best sources they found about fundraising.  Becky explained that any information the students found will be helpful for them to inform their decision making about future fundraising.  She and her staff members will be able to make better choices about how to spend their time and resources.  Even if the information we found confirms what they already know – it will be just that, a confirmation that they’re doing the right thing.  Or, it will be a reminder.

The students reflections’ were, for the most part, mature and thoughtful.  They were able to talk through their inability to wrap their heads around the fact that some people skate through school without learning to read at an appropriate level.  They are shocked that 200,000 people in our county alone have limited literacy skills.  Becky helped them understand how this is possible, by explaining, first, that just because someone can’t read, that doesn’t mean they aren’t intelligent.  She also explained that some people don’t grow up with reading role models like our students did.  And people who can’t read very well develop coping skills.  For example, they will often ask people to read things for them, claiming that they have forgotten their glasses.

Becky also asked the students a very important question:  “Now that you’ve been in this service-learning class, do you see yourself volunteering in the future?  How did it affect your attitude about volunteering?”  At least three of the four students were very enthusiastic about volunteering in the future (verbally, anyway).

It’s always a little amazing to me how our students come to us often with a very poor attitude.  Our class is a two-credit elective, so they don’t put much stock into it at first.  And in the end, they are always impressed by how much they learn.  It makes the journey worth it…even if it’s a long and bumpy ride along the way.  Perhaps some of our students, current and past, tell us what they think we want to hear.  But I believe a majority of them are genuinely surprised at how much they learn.

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