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Update:  I am waiting for the keynote to come to the library on DVD since I was ill and missed the lecture.  I will post a summary when I can get my hands on the DVD! I'm looking forward to hearing Dr. Barbara Holland, service-learning and civic engagement expert, speak at Wright State next week as part of the Presidential Lecture Series.  She will present on Tuesday, September 13 at 7 p.m. in the Apollo Room.  More information is here.

Wright State University was recently named one of the top ten colleges that gives back to the community by The Washington Monthly.  You can also read more in the Huffington Post here.  The story at Huffington Post highlights a committee of Wright State University staff members has formed a group called We Serve U to promote community service among WSU staff and faculty. In fact, this week, students, faculty and staff (myself included!) will participate in the first-ever Wright Commitment Day.  Volunteers have a choice between participating in a Five Rivers ... Continue reading

Eric Klein, the founder of CAN-DO, will speak at the Wright State Convocation tomorrow, Sept. 2 at 3 p.m.  Read the Full Story here. More about CAN-DO here.

The American Library Association Center for Civic Life is surveying libraries to determine what they are offering in terms of civic and community engagement.  Some more information is available here.  Please take the survey!  It's important to offer some proof of how we are supporting and engaging with our communities.

I'm thrilled that my colleague and co-teacher, Cheryl Lauricella, and I will be co-presenting, along with Kirsten Fox from Ohio Campus Compact, about service learning at the 2011 Annual Academic Library Association of Ohio conference in Toledo, November 4. Our presentation title is Service Learning and Libraries:  Emerging Opportunities for today's changing higher education landscape. More information about the conference is coming soon here.

Why service-learning?  How did this come to be my "research agenda?" Service-learning provides meaningful opportunities for teaching and learning.  And it's clearly growing in popularity, nationally.  How do I know this?  There are lots of signs, including all the research that indicates students retain what they learn better when it's applied to real-world issues through service-learning.  But today, I'll focus on two of these signs. First,  The Carnegie Foundation offers an elective classification for community engagement.  You can read more about the ... Continue reading

Have you heard of this new site?  Philanthroper highlights a different nonprofit each day and allows members to donate as little as $1 or as much as $10 to the organization.  It's a cool twist on all of these daily deal sites that are all the rage now.

The Carnegie Foundation offers an elective classification for community engagement.  You can read more about the classification here. Some thoughts:

Since it's so rare to hear about the librarians' role in a service-learning course, I contacted both the instructor, Barbara Wallace, and the librarian, Kathi Epperson, for the UC Clermont class I read (and posted) about last week. Wallace told me she used an "embedded librarian."  She said the librarian spoke to her class and recommended specific resources via Blackboard.   "I’m sad to say that she was really under-utilized but I did teach sophomores who were fairly savvy about finding and incorporating resources" she said. And, Epperson, the librarian, ... Continue reading

I just read this article about a University of Cincinnati Clermont College service-learning class that successfully obtained $4,500 through grants to give to area agencies who help at-risk youth.  Read more:  http://www.uc.edu/News/NR.aspx?id=13767 The composition class served their community through research and writing, so it was of particular interest to me.  I hope to find out more about their research.  Stay tuned for more information on this project (I hope!).