COIL on Wheels: A Library Professional Development Roadshow

Abstract

Professional development for instruction librarians is in danger of coming to a standstill in difficult economic times. COIL on Wheels is a professional development roadshow developed by the Community of Oklahoma Instruction Librarians to allow librarians with budget and staffing issues to benefit from peer training. By matching member librarian interests with institutional needs, librarians can visit institutions in their geographic area to provide their colleagues with low-cost or free training. This article discusses the origins of and rationale for this program and describes a successful implementation of this traveling professional development project.

A roadshow of library resources: familiarize students with what you have

“…The National Archives of the United Kingdom led a series of roadshows in eight cities across the country addressing issues, offering advices and sharing tips in digital preservations to librarians and archivists (Todd, 2010). The Community of Oklahoma Instruction Librarians organized peer training roadshows to help familiarize fellow librarians in the region with new skills and emerging trends (Hoberecht and Brown, 2010). The "Read and Grow Roadshow" in South Africa visited eight libraries in their two-week campaign to foster love of books and reading in children (Hart, 2007).…”