Virginia Tech’s Innovative College Librarian Program

Abstract

In 1994, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) Libraries founded a College Librarian Program. Begun with four librarians serving four colleges, it has since grown to include eleven librarians providing comprehensive library services to the six of Virginia Tech’s eight colleges not served by branch libraries. Other authors have described the early history of the program or outlined some of its specific elements.1 By reviewing how the program came to be, by analyzing the choice points it presents, especially from an administrative perspective, and by discussing its benefits and costs from a university point of view, the authors hope to illuminate an exciting and potentially beneficial approach that other large institutions might seek to adapt to their own missions.

Embedded Reference to Embedded Librarianship: 6 Years at the University of Calgary

“…This includes being asked to be on the curriculum committee and faculty journal club, and participating in admissions interviews. Virginia Tech's longstanding college librarian program led to an increase in high-quality interactions with faculty (Seamans & Metz, 2002). Librarians were named to committees in their respective colleges and cite a better understanding of faculty and student research needs.…”

Leadership to advance data and information science at Virginia Tech library

“…During this time of change, the Libraries had been for several years developing new services and infrastructures to support open access, open education [3], digital scholarship, data management and analytics [4,5], digital curation, and research collaboration and impact. Our new services and collaboration interests began to align nicely with opportunities presented during Beyond Boundaries conversations.…”

“…University Libraries are, and have been for some time, a highly engaged organization within the larger academic enterprise at Virginia Tech. Our community engagement dates back to a program established in 1994 that reimagined the role of liaison as embedded partner and service provider for the colleges [5]. Over the last several years, however, the Libraries have increased both the volume of credit-bearing courses taught and the vigorous pursuit of external funding for research projects.…”

The Impact of Physically Embedded Librarianship on Academic Departments

“…Collaboration for embedded librarians usually refers to taking part in academic endeavors, particularly teaching and research, in which the librarian serves as a major partner. Subject librarians create customized information modules for online classes, 22 serve on teams that design new courses, 23 and co-teach courses. 24 Embedded librarians collaborate in research activities by conducting literature searches for faculty grant applications and potential areas of faculty research, and they may even serve as coprincipal investigators with faculty on research projects.…”