This article by Fran Smith did my heart some good!  Although quite a few service-learning projects were highlighted, the one that stands out to me involved some high school students who did far more than was asked of them.  When they discovered that their community partner school didn't have a library, they took matters into their own hands and built one! My favorite paragraph is this one: "Teachers encouraged the kids to think modestly -- collect old books, raise a few dollars to buy wood and brackets, and recruit parents to build shelves.

For those of you stopping by to see more about my Information Literacy Course, the list of posts about the course can be found here.  Or, you can click on "Information Literacy Course (EDT 110)" under Categories in the right menu.

This fall, I am again librarian-partner for a service-learning project in a first-year seminar (learning community) and a service-learning English composition course.  I had an initial meeting with each class last week.

Kranich, N. C. (2010). Academic Libraries As Hubs For Deliberative Democracy.  Journal of Public Deliberation, 6(1),  n.p.

My friend, colleague, and fellow service-learning enthusiast, Jennifer E. Nutefall, Associate University Librarian for Innovative User Services at Oregon State University Libraries, has a new article hot off the presses! Read Why Service-Learning is Important to Librarians in the OLA Quarterly here:  http://data.memberclicks.com/site/ola/olaq_17no3.pdf (see page 16).

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.

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.

About this time last year, I approached a friend, Craig This, who teaches a UVC 101 course (first-year seminar or FYS).  I told him I'd like to try a service-learning research project with a UVC 101 class.  He jumped at the opportunity and said "Sign me up!"  I had already approached a community partner, Project READ, about the potential partnership, and they had also (enthusiastically!) agreed to accept students' research and service.

One of the emerging themes at the ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries) conference was demonstrating the value of academic libraries (see Megan Oakleaf:  Evolution or Revolution?  Strategies for Demonstrating the Library's Impact in a New World of Assessment).  This current discussion on the value and impact of academic libraries, including a post by Derek Rodriguez, "Understanding Library Impacts on Student Learning"&nbsp

In October, Jennifer Nutefall & I will lead an ACRL Webcast, Service Learning and Information Literacy: Models for Engagement. Details are available here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/events/elearning/courses/service…