LIT 2023 took place as an in-person retreat on Friday, May 19, at the Nashville Public Library. The in-person retreat program is available for review. Session descriptions are also listed below. Thank you to all who attended, and especially to all of our presenters!

In coordination with the in-person retreat, LIT hosted a virtual conference via Zoom on Wednesday, May 24. The virtual conference program is available. Most sessions will be recorded and shared on our YouTube channel after the conference.

The LIT Retreat, Friday, May 19, @ NPL (Times TBD)

Critical Information Literacy in the Wild: Forging Connections and Building Partnerships Outside the Library – Interactive Presentation (Sarah Morris, NSF Convergence Accelerator Cohort): Critical information literacy is a rich arena where librarians can explore new opportunities for instruction and engagement with learners. But critical information literacy can also provide opportunities for engaging with partners outside the library thanks in part to the ways in which the theoretical frames, concepts, and pedagogical approaches embedded within critical information literacy can and do resonate with faculty, campus and community partners, and others outside the library. This session will explore the potential for leveraging the approaches and ideas of critical information literacy to connect with partners, to highlight the work of libraries and librarians in new ways, and to discover rich opportunities for collaboration. In this session, we will explore a series of examples, from both inside and outside academic libraries, of forging partnerships around critical information literacy and will discuss ideas and approaches for using critical information literacy as a potential tool for outreach and engagement.

Did I Help or Hurt? Learning from Student Responses to First-Year Experience Library Instruction – Standard Presentation (Madeleine Gaiser, University of Cincinnati CECH Library): Librarians taught instruction one-shots to multiple sections of an first-year experience (FYE) course focused on college skills and resources. The course has no research or writing component to contextualize the library session which taught an overview of database research skills, introduction to the library, and how a librarian can serve them individually. At the end of each one-shot, students wrote one question and one thing learned. 34% of students expressed some level of self-doubt or worry; only 10% mentioned librarians. So how can a librarian teach a broad overview without adding stress about citations or database choices? Where is the balance between avoiding information overload and designing a thorough lesson about research skills? There is literature about library anxiety but what about information overload? In this presentation, one librarian will reflect on their experience teaching library instruction to FYEs and changes they will make in future semesters, citing supporting literature.

Meeting the Diverse Library Instruction Needs of HBCU Students – Standard Presentation (Dr. Vanessa Jones and Jennifer Castle, Tennessee State University): Library instruction is growing and changing the educational environment—diverse needs to integrate into every facet of the student research experience. There are challenges in knowing how to represent multiple cultures in professional communication effectively. It’s vital for college students to learn various research approaches and styles for accumulating reliable sources. Adopting mixed methods to explore databases and printed sources means communication and collaboration bring forth new concepts to meet the demands of the students. In this presentation, we will discuss meeting the diverse needs of HBCU students when providing library instruction. We will address concerns behind various approaches to delivering these new skills (databases, printed sources, communication, and collaboration) and share instructional strategies that challenge students to move beyond their general practices that are more culturally inclusive and sensitive.

Redacted: A Banned Books Week Program in Review – Standard Presentation (Will Fisher Volunteer State Community College): What do you do when you have no banned books in your branch library collection for Banned Books Week? Talk about the Government! Join Will Fisher as he discusses how the Thigpen Library at Volunteer State Community College developed and executed “Redacted: A Banned Books Week Program,” a multimedia slate of active and passive library programming dedicated to educating students on the history, policies, and effects of the U.S. Government’s classification and declassification process, and how the recent trend of overclassifying documents has restricted the public’s ability to monitor the Government’s actions due to heavy censorship and limited access.

Effective Library Instruction In Shortened Academic Sessions – Roundtable (Maryellen Nash): This round table discussion will ask participants to discuss various strategies employing learning technologies to develop successful library instruction programs for seven-week terms that will meet learners at their point of need while providing faculty and instructors with flexible options that are sensitive to their unique curricular challenges.