FREE Online Presentation: Creating the Relational Liaison: Preparing Librarians for Relationship Management and Stakeholder Engagement
Presented by Honora Eskridge & Alexander Carroll
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 1pm-2pm CT
Register here: https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GiNRWbgwSV-YXT1yDPpKLQ
Sponsored by the ACRL ULS Professional Development Committee
Successful academic libraries create relationships and foster networks of collaborations among institutional stakeholders. Academic libraries invest a significant portion of their staffing into liaison librarian positions, whose primary purpose is to cultivate and manage these relationships, developing relational capital for academic libraries on their campuses. The soft skills needed to manage relationships, such as communication, networking, negotiation, persuasion, and empathy, have become critical for librarians working in public services roles.
Although this relationship-centered staffing concept has been in place for decades, many liaisons still struggle to make these connections with campus stakeholders and may not even appreciate the centrality of relationships to a library's mission. Moreover, library and information science degree programs, continuing education opportunities, and even liaison job descriptions tend to emphasize the hard skills of liaison work. As a result, many academic libraries find themselves hiring candidates with one set of skills and then expecting them to achieve strategic objectives that require a completely different skill set.
In this webinar, Alexander Carroll and Honora Eskridge will explore the importance of relationship management for academic libraries, and why liaison librarians must develop their soft skills to succeed in the work. The webinar will provide practical approaches liaisons can use to improve their outreach skills, and will outline steps that library managers can implement that connect individual liaisons' efforts into a cohesive engagement strategy. The webinar will close with suggestions for how search committees can prioritize (and how search candidates can highlight) soft skills during the hiring process.
Presenter Bios:
Honora Eskridge is the Associate University Librarian for Research and Campus Libraries and Director of the Science and Engineering Library at Vanderbilt University. A science and engineering liaison for 25 years, Honora writes and speaks about effective models for library liaisons. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in mechanical engineering from Manhattan University and a Master's Degree in Library & Information Science from The Catholic University of America.
Alex Carroll, MSLS, AHIP, is the Associate Director of the Science and Engineering Library at Vanderbilt University. Prior to moving to Nashville, Alex worked as a STEM liaison librarian at NC State University and the University of Maryland. He received his MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his BA from James Madison University. His research on liaison librarianship has previously appeared in journals such as College & Research Libraries, portal: Libraries and the academy, and The Journal of Academic Librarianship. He also is a co-author of STEM Librarianship Essentials, a monograph from ALA Editions due out in late 2025.
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This free presentation is sponsored by the ACRL University Libraries Section Professional Development Committee. It will take place on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 1pm-2pm CT. Register here:
If you can't make this session but wish to view a recording later, please register so that you'll receive an email that includes a link to the video of the presentation.
Please direct questions and concerns to Colleen Quinn (colleen.quinn@umgc.edu) and Jane Hammons (hammons.73@osu.edu) Co-Chairs of the ACRL ULS Professional Development Committee. A full list of the committee's past programs is available on the ULS website.
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Jason Kruse
Undergraduate Engagement Librarian
Northwestern University
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