Purpose At the turn of the twenty-first century, academic libraries revived their tradition of working with readers, which resulted in a surge of publications in this area. However, the nature and thematic coverage of these publications has not changed dramatically in the past 18 years, signaling little advancement in the reach and scope of this professional activity. This paper aims to address the following research problem: What do citation patterns reveal about reading research and practice in academic libraries and do they point to interdisciplinary research and the presence of an evidence base or do they carry a mark of an inward disciplinary orientation? Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative exploratory study, also involving descriptive statistics, that uses bibliographic and citation analysis as a method. Findings The study discovers a disconnect between the diversity of interdisciplinary research cited in the published work on reading in academic libraries and the sameness of respective professional practices; it describes a relatively small community of reading researchers in academic libraries, emerging as leaders who can change the direction and scope of reading practices; and it highlights a preference of academic librarians for relying on interdisciplinary knowledge about reading over building on the readers’ advisory experience of public librarians. Originality/value Translating the incredible wealth of interdisciplinary reading knowledge possessed by academic librarians into practical applications promises to advance and diversify reading practices in academic libraries. One method that could aid in this effort is more intentional learning from the readers’ advisory practices of public librarians.

This article positions the practice of working with readers in academic libraries as a diversity practice and examines this practice through the lens of the Diversity by Design concept. We use Diversity by Design to propose and explicate a differentiated approach to reading promotion on campus, drawing attention to the broader and multiple meanings of diversity in the context of reading engagements. We look at the differentiated nature of readerships on campuses as an expression of inherent diversity in North American institutions of higher education and, by extension, academic libraries. We also make specific recommendations on how to give reading practices in academic libraries a boost and a new direction, befitting the diverse and eclectic nature of contemporary North American universities.

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Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) students represent a population for whom literature searching is a core practice and a learning outcome for an entry-level course on information searching. How LIS students learn to find information, though, is not completely clear. Many studies have explored undergraduate searching behavior, but few recent studies have investigated the search behaviors of MLIS students. The purpose of this Scholarship of Teaching and Learning study was to explore the following research questions: (1) How do MLIS students describe learning to search?; (2) What works in helping MLIS students see themselves as better searchers of information?; and (3) What works in helping MLIS students become better searchers of information? Participants articulated that course sequence was important in their development of searching skills, that demonstrable skills and engagement with research improved their view of themselves as searchers, and that course structure, content, and active learning were important factors in their improvement.

The temporary contract is often framed to Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) graduate students as a key gateway into the field of academic librarianship (Lacey 2019), and yet outside of a few important studies and personal reflections, literature on this topic is relatively scarce. This paper reports on the demographics of participant academic librarians who have held temporary contracts in Canada, their career paths, the conditions under which they held contracts, and their experiences of workplace integration and other positive and negative outcomes. Study participants (n=95) have held one or more temporary contracts as an academic librarian in Canada during their career. An online survey was distributed, asking closed and open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using Excel, Qualtrics, NVivo, and manual methods. Participants derived new skills, new networks, satisfaction and confidence from their contract experiences (though sometimes only in retrospect), while others felt excluded, overworked, undervalued, and prevented from making life decisions. And many felt all these things at the same time, meaning that contract academic librarians are caught in a difficult set of competing structural and emotional experiences.