Eight LIBRAS Directors joined 24 Deans and Provosts on the campus of Elmhurst College on November 20, 2019 for a meeting of the West Suburban Deans (WSD). LIBRAS Directors provided a 45 minute presentation that addressed the following agenda items:
I. What is LIBRAS? RAILS? CARLI? (John Small, North Central College)
II. What’s needed to run an effective library? (Felice Maciejewski, Dominican University)
III. How & why do libraries do assessment? (Kathy Clark, Aurora University & Andrew Lenaghan, Lewis University)
IV. Thinking Strategically – We share a unique vantage point (Cathy Mayer, Trinity Christian College)
V. Librarians are Educators (Peg Cook, Elmhurst College)
Following the presentation, Peg Cook (Interim Director) offered a tour of the newly renovated library space to provide insight into how Elmhurst library acts as a “third space” for students. The remodeled first floor offers a learning commons model by integrating tutoring services into A.C. Buehler Library. The redesign also features a popular Starbucks coffee shop frequented by students, librarians, faculty, and staff from across campus.
Although no questions were posed by attendees during the meeting, directors report positive follow-up conversations with institutional colleagues. A Dean in attendance from Dominican University said the meeting was one of “the best” she has attended. Meanwhile, the Provost at Trinity Christian College noted that the tone of the message of our work was one that carried “a sense of gravitas and joy – simultaneously.”
