Registration is open for our winter 2023 Presidential Program!

Register here for our January 19th Virtual Program

ACRL MD New Opportunities for Academic Libraries: Student Success and the Student Employee

Start Date: 1/19/2023 10:15 AM EST
End Date: 1/19/2023 12:30 PM EST

Online Via Zoom

Student academic success, engagement, and career readiness are high priorities for colleges and universities. Academic libraries often work to support these priorities through resources, services, and spaces for student users, but fewer libraries consider the impact that student employment and other student contributions in the library can have in these areas. Carissa Tomlinson, Director of Student Experience, Learning, & Outreach at the University of Minnesota Libraries will present recent research in this area along with case studies highlighting creative opportunities for academic libraries to support students in new ways. Participants will then hear from a panel of library workers, who work closely with student staff in a variety of ways and share practical ideas and approaches. 

MLA Members  $12.50
Non-Members  $18.75

Do you support student workers at your library? Share your work & ideas with ACRL MD!

ACRL MD will host a program on January 19th entitled, “New Opportunities for Academic Libraries: Student Success and the Student Employee”. Our scheduled keynote is Carissa Tomlinson, the Director of Student Experience, Learning, & Outreach at the University of Minnesota. This program will also feature a panel discussion highlighting what is happening in local academic libraries related to success and the student employee. We are looking for library workers open to sharing their experience on this topic. Panel participants will be asked to give a 5-7 minute “lightning talk” on their subject and stay to answer questions from the group. Topics should be related to the theme of student library employees at any level – volunteer, undergraduate and graduate. Some suggested topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Culturally responsive outreach & events 
• Student worker training & autonomy 
• Addressing student needs or involvement in collection development 
• Evolving library spaces & places 
• Methods to encourage student connection & mentorship
• Student-led work in library & archives 
• Supporting student researchers
• Leadership development

Participants should be available to attend the virtual program on Thursday, January 19th from 10:15am – 12:30pm EST. More information about registration for the event is forthcoming. To express interest in participating as a lightning panelist, contact ACRL MD President Bria Sinnott (bsinnott@towson.edu) by December 2nd. You do not need to be a current ACRL or MLA member to participate as a panelist or attendee.

Call for Proposals!

The Maryland Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL MD) is excited to invite proposals for our division to sponsor at the Maryland Library Association & Delaware Library Association Annual Conference, on May 5 – 7, 2021 as we explore Libraries Without Limits.

Submit Proposals Here

Proposals are due by 11:59pm on September 18th and will undergo a double blind peer-review.  If you have any questions about ACRL MD’s proposal process or our programs for the annual conference, please contact Sean Hogan – shogan@ubalt.edu

Get Involved with ACRL MD!

Looking for an opportunity to engage with ACRL-MD and support peer scholarship? Look no further…

ACRL-MD is sponsoring three sessions in the MLA/DLA Virtual 2020 Conference and is calling for volunteers to provide virtual production assistance. These sessions will be held via Zoom on the following days:

• October 8th, 3 pm-4 pm “Beginning with Assessment in Mind: That Feels Backward” presented by Kimberly Miller
• November 17th, 1 pm- 2 pm “Votes for Women” presented by Julie Mancine
• December 10th, 3 pm- 4 pm “Managing in the Middle: Strategies for Success in Middle Management”  presented by Catherine Johnson and Sara Arnold-Garza

If you have interest and availability, please contact Lois Entner for details (lentner@Harford.edu).

Register for MLA/DLA 2020 here

ACRL-MD is currently accepting proposals for the MLA/DLA 2021 conference. Submit your idea by September 18, 2020.

Academic Library Advocacy: Call for Proposals and Program Registration

Registration is open for ACRL-MD’s Spring Program!

Academic Library Advocacy: Everyone’s an Advocate

April 3, 2020 at Towson University Northeastern Campus

8:30 AM – 12 PM

What do you think of when you think about “library advocacy?” While many libraries find themselves needing to connect with stakeholders such as legislators and voters, academic library advocacy is less likely to target these same groups. Academic library personnel routinely need to advocate for the library as an essential contributor to their college or university’s mission, in addition to advocating for their own unique functional role as an individual library worker. But this typically means advocating for themselves, their students and other campus community members, and their library with a wide variety of colleagues and administrators.

Coffee and light refreshments will be served as we explore what it means to be an “academic library advocate” from a variety of perspectives. Dr. Lucy Holman, University Librarian at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and former Dean of Libraries at the University of Baltimore, will share an administrator’s perspective on current advocacy issues and methods. Participants will have the opportunity to begin crafting their own advocacy narrative tailored for their networks during activities throughout the day. We hope you will join us for an engaging event!

MLA Members $25

Non-members $37.50

MLA Student/Retired/Unemployed/Friend $12.50

Register here

Call for Program Participation:

Do you practice every-day academic library advocacy? We’re looking for speakers to share experiences or projects that required advocating on behalf of yourself, your library or your students along with best practices or lessons learned. These lightning talks will be 5-7 minutes long followed by a brief Q&A.

To submit your interest in presenting, please fill out our Google Form. The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2020.
Please direct any questions to kimberlymiller@towson.edu. And please pass along this information to any colleagues who might be interested.

Join ACRL MD at the Ballpark!

If you are looking to squeeze in some more summer before the fall semester ramps up, our upcoming social event might be just the thing!

We will have a friends and family inclusive meet up at the Frederick Keys evening game against the Potomac Nationals on Saturday, August 31st. Sign up and meet up details are below.

Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium

ACRL MD will meet outside the ballpark at 5:45 pm to distribute tickets and find General Admission seats together for the 6 pm game start. Tickets are $8/adult and $6/youth. If you would like to join us, simply sign up using our form by Wednesday, August 28th.

Questions about this event can be sent to Sara Arnold-Garza (sarnoldgarza@towson.edu).

How Do You Create Welcoming Spaces?

Hello, 2019! I hope you all had wonderful holidays.

Remember that it’s not too late to register for Breaking Down Barriers: Improving Inclusion for those with Disabilities.

To focus the discussion on welcoming spaces and information-access barriers for those with disabilities, we would like to hear from YOU about what you’re interested in discussing. It would be awesome if you could answer all or any of these questions in the comments, or Tweet at us at @acrlmd.

1) What have you witnessed or experienced (or failed to witness or experience) in your institution that has led you to think there are barriers to your library services and resources?

2) What have you and your colleagues already done to try making your library and workplace more welcoming to the disabled (which could include those with low vision or hearing, or those who are non-neurotypical)? How has it worked for you? How not?

3) What else could be added to this conversation?