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Hi Anita, I've been involved in trying to have a Student Advisory Group for our Library at the University of Delaware three different times over the span of 6-7 years (last time being 2019, I think). None of them were successful. - We were given a list of campus leaders to participate and surveyed them as to the best times of the week for the group to meet, was hoping for quarterly meetings, but no one showed. This one was focused on space and the website and we had a formal invitee/attendee list. We had specific topics we wanted to have input on and agendas focused on exercises for this input, such as a tour, picking out sample furniture, etc. Attendance was an issue so it fell flat.
- We decided to open it to all students, but promoted especially to our student assistants. The meeting format was more of an open forum with some directed questions from us to get the discussion going. The most active attendees were student assistants, but even when we had 10 RSVP that they would attend, 3 would show up and then the next meeting was different (with different attendees). We offered pizza and drinks based on the RSVP list.
- We had a student assistant lead the formation and moderation of the group. Started with a student survey (with a gift card raffle) and then invite to the group based on what the students replied (such as, having food at the meeting is a plus and having students create the agenda is good). I thought that there was more support this time around, but when it came to the meeting, the same thing happened, 2 or 3 attendees and no continuity.
Overall, the jest I got was that students didn't have time for yet another thing and being on this Advisory Group was just not enough of a boost for their resumes. The students most involved are the ones that are most involved all over campus or those who are existing student assistants. The main benefit to having a group like this is having the student voice and allowing them to make grass roots efforts on behalf of the Library and being advocates for the Library on campus.
Since it didn't work out, I concentrate more on partnering with existing student groups on campus and asking for input during their meetings. It is difficult to get on their agendas, but usually if it is space-related or if there is a huge change coming (say to Library hours) than we can get an audience with the student government association, grad student council, etc. We also make sure to meet with the editor of the student newspaper on campus every year so that they know our priorities and know that we are open to hearing and being able to respond to feedback before it goes live in the paper... Hope this helps! Glad that your group is working out so far! Shelly McCoy Associate University Librarian for Public Services and Space Planning University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press 302-831-6363 | 610-329-9328 (for urgent matters)
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Original Message:
Sent: 1/20/2023 3:09:00 PM
From: Anita Hall
Subject: RE: January Discussion Topic: Advisory Groups
I guess I should actually get things started on the topic :)
- Does your library use an Advisory Group of any sort? If so, can you share some details about your group? Yes, we have a Student Advisory Board, a Faculty Advisory Board, and an advisory board for our Institutional Repository. I oversee the Student group, which we've recently expanded to include graduate students. We meet 2-3 times per semester and I try to plan a mix of discussion and interactive feedback opportunities.
- What has worked well / fallen flat? Meetings that are nothing but discussion tend to be more difficult, particularly when we were meeting virtually during the pandemic. The students really respond to being able to see physical spaces in the libraries, or talk about things like furniture and lighting.
- What do you see as the main benefits of having an Advisory Group? For me, I really enjoy getting to know & work with the students since otherwise I tend to be in my office looking at data a lot of the time. For the libraries, it gives us more in-depth feedback than we can get from surveys (which seem to always be getting lower response rates) and the opportunity to get non-verbal feedback.
- If you do not use an Advisory Group, or have disbanded yours, what other ways do you get feedback from patrons? I am really interested in hearing about this from anyone who doesn't have a group!
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Anita Hall
Assessment & Analytics Librarian
University of Louisville
She/Her/Hers
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Original Message:
Sent: Jan 09, 2023 10:58 AM
From: Anita Hall
Subject: January Discussion Topic: Advisory Groups
Hello! As one of your new co-conveners (along with Megan Hodge and Susanna Cowan), I'd like to welcome you to a new year with the Assessment Discussion Group. Starting this month, we will have a monthly discussion topic to try and keep the group a bit more active. This is not intended to limit conversation to the monthly topic - please continue to post/share any topics that come up organically as well!
For January, our topic will be Advisory Groups.
- Does your library use an Advisory Group of any sort? If so, can you share some details about your group?
- What has worked well / fallen flat?
- What do you see as the main benefits of having an Advisory Group?
- If you do not use an Advisory Group, or have disbanded yours, what other ways do you get feedback from patrons?
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Anita Hall
Assessment & Analytics Librarian
University of Louisville
She/Her/Hers
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