Preparing the Next Generation of Librarians for Family and Community Engagement

• Published in: Journal of education for library and information science Vol. 59; no. 4; pp. 157 - 178
• Main Authors: Caspe, Margaret, Lopez, M. Elena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: North York Association for Library and Information Science Education 01.10.2018; University of Toronto Press
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Adults; Children; Children & youth; College Faculty; Community; Community Involvement; Curricula; Education; Educational Needs; Equal Education; Experiential Learning; Families & family life; Family Involvement; Immigration; Interpersonal Competence; Knowledge Level; Learning; Librarians; Libraries; Library and information science; Library associations; Library Education; Library Role; Library Science; Lifelong Learning; Literacy; Noncitizens; Pedagogy; Professional Identity; Program Effectiveness; Public Libraries; Research centers; Schools; Skills; Social networks; Society; Students; Teacher Attitudes; Teachers; Teaching Methods; User services; Young adults; New York; United States > US; Massachusetts (Boston); Maryland; California (San Jose); Tennessee; Illinois; Michigan
• ISSN: 0748-5786; 2328-2967
• DOI: 10.3138/jelis.59.4.2018-0021

Many librarians work in public libraries to make a difference for children, families, and communities and identify family and community engagement as a cornerstone of their responsibilities. For librarians to be successful they must be afforded strong foundations in family and community engagement that begin early in their preparation. Yet little is known about the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that librarians need to engage families and communities, and these topics are rarely covered in schools of information and library sciences. The purposes of this exploratory paper are to identify the competencies that librarians need to engage families and communities and to understand promising pedagogical methods for promoting them. Interviews were conducted with 11 library educators at leading schools of information and library sciences within the United States to understand their perspectives on the topics. Results reveal three main goals for the preparation of librarians for family and community engagement: (1) to provide librarians with knowledge of families and communities, (2) to promote relationship-building skills, and (3) to encourage the mindset that librarians are professionals. Experiential and connected learning opportunities are the most promising methods for achieving these outcomes. Findings are discussed in terms of four main recommendations for stronger integration of family and community engagement into existing curriculum.