From Training to Learning

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors argue for moving student employee training programs beyond a sole focus on training students for effective service, to training based on experiential learning (EL) principles. The authors describe the development of an experiential approach for two student positions in the Ohio University Libraries' social media and video production work. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the challenges in this approach, and addresses issues of scaling the model to larger student employment programs. KeywordsStudent employee training programs, workplace learning, outreach, communication, social media, video production, library marketing, student engagement, instructional design, high impact practice Learning in libraries: the phrase may conjure up images of students working with a librarian to find information or poring over library materials as they write a paper. When we consider learning in the library, however, we should also call to mind a sometimes-overlooked group: student employees. At many libraries, students work across departments and help with a wide range of vital tasks, both behind the scenes and in the public eye. The library literature offers much advice for training student employees with the goal of providing effective service within the library. Less often is there guidance for framing student employment as a learning opportunity that fits into the student's overall academic experience. Regardless of the type of work assignment, we think student employment is an opportunity for libraries to go beyond training and explicitly encourage student learning.In this chapter, we describe an effort to take an explicit experiential learning approach for students working in our library's outreach program. While the students in these roles had previously been actively engaged in the library's social media and educational video production, their positions lacked an intentional focus on student learning. By framing their work as a learning experience, the student employees were able to set their own learning goals and use their work as a means of meeting those goals. Student Employees in Libraries: An Emphasis on TrainingThe library literature is replete with articles describing strategies for working effectively with student employees. Their work has become increasingly vital to many academic libraries, as the number of full-time staff members has decreased in the wake of budget cuts and positions left unfilled after retirements (Manley & Holey, 2014, pp. 76-77). With their growing importance to the daily work of academic libraries, many librarians have described their approach to recruiting, training, motivating, and retaining student employees for effective library services (see Farr &Valentine, 2011 andMcInnes, 2009, for examples of entire outlines of the hiring, training, and the student employee retention process).Many writers have offered up examples of their own training programs for students working in a range of roles. For example, Guerrero and Corey (2003, pp. 99-10...