College and Career Ready: What’s the Library Got to Do With It?

Abstract

College and Career Ready, Career Clusters, and Career Pathways are buzz words often heard but not always understood. These terms will be discussed as information about the collaborative activities between Emporia High School (EHS) and Flint Hills Technical College (FHTC) is shared. One responsibility of Emporia High School guidance counselors is to assist students in exploring and choosing career pathway courses. To support the counselors, the librarians at both institutions have created resources and activities that engage students in career exploration. The FHTC librarian created a LibGuide that includes online handbooks, reports, and crosswalks from FHTC programs to the six career fields and sixteen career clusters. Resources and activities created by the EHS librarian for the career fair, which helped students explore their learning styles and career interests, will be discussed. Although the activities are specific to these institutions they can be generalized for other settings.