The Role of the Library in Achieving CoCurricular Activities

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The Role of the Library in Achieving
Co-Curricular Activities in Civic Engagement on
College Campuses LOEX Discussion Group
Mary Reddick Head of Online Curriculum Library
Services California State University Sacramento,
CA Susan Metcalf Instructional Services
Librarian University of Southern
Indiana Evansville, IN
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Walk around, introducing yourself to 20 people in
the next ten minutes, and chat about the meaning
of civic engagement.
Well call time in 30 second intervals.
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The Role of the Library in Achieving
Co-Curricular Activities in Civic Engagement on
College Campuses LOEX Discussion Group
Mary Reddick Head of Online Curriculum Library
Services California State University Sacramento,
CA Susan Metcalf Instructional Services
Librarian University of Southern
Indiana Evansville, IN
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What did you talk about?
Civic engagement means working to make a
difference in the civic life of our communities
and developing the combination of knowledge,
skills, values, and motivation to make that
difference. - Thomas Ehrlich,
former chair of the Campus Compact board of
directors and president emeritus of
Indiana University. Ehrlrch drafted the
Presidents Declaration on the Civic
Responsibility of Higher Education, and he
is author of Civic Responsibility and Higher
Education (2000) Campus Compact offers the
Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning
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Continuum of Engagement
Dr. Mary Kirlin Asst. Prof. of Public Policy and
Administration California State University,
SacramentoCivic Ed/American/German
Conference November 2006
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The self is not something ready-made, but
something in continuous formation through choice
of action. The trouble is we have forgotten
that democracy has to be enacted anew in every
generation, in every year and day...
-
John Dewey
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Civic Engagement in Higher Education Timeline
Ctr. for Liberal Education and Civic
Engagement AACU Campus Compact (2003)
Civic Partnerships The Role of Libraries in
Promoting Civic Engagement Resource Sharing
Information Networks 2005/2006
Bowling Alone Journal of Democracy Robert
Putnam (1995)
American Democracy Project American Assoc.
of State Colleges and Universities (2003)
Campus Compact (1985)
51 presidents sign Presidents Declaration on
the Civic Responsibility of Higher
Education (1999)
ALA, Libraries Foster Civic Engagement
Membership Initiative Group (MIG) June 2007
Putnam speaks at ALA (2001) Nancy
Kranich President of ALA (2000-2001)
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Presidential Declaration on the Civic
Responsibility of Higher Education
This country cannot afford to educate a
generation that acquires knowledge without ever
understanding how that knowledge can benefit
society or how to influence democratic decision
making. We must teach the skills and values of
democracy, creating innumerable opportunities for
our students to practice and reap the results of
the real, hard work of citizenship.We believe
that now and through the next century, our
institutions must be vital agents and architects
of a flourishing democracy. We urge all higher
education to join us.
Center for Liberal Education and Civic
Engagement (Providence, RI Campus Compact, July
1999) http//www.compact.org/resources/declaration
/assessment
Signed by 51 college presidents in 1999 By 2004,
450 presidents By 2007, 569 presidents
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- a show of hands -
  A. How many come from institutions involved in
promoting student civic engagement?    B. If yes,
has your library been involved with any of these
efforts? C. How many come from
institutions which have one or more student
learning communities? D. If yes, has your
library been involved in any of these
efforts? E. If your library has been involved in
either promoting student civic engagement or
learning communities, have these efforts been
primarily E1. successful E2. less than
satisfactory  
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Responses from approx. 270,000 students from 393
four year colleges/universities
Essential or Very Important Objectives
Type of Institution
Black Colleges
Private
Public
All Black Colleges
All Baccalaureate Institutions
79.5
75.0
76.5
66.7
Helping others who are in difficulty
Becoming a Community Leader
58.3
49.8
52.7
35.2
Influencing social values
60.9
56.1
57.7
42.5
Participating in an organization like Peace
Corps or AmeriCorps/VISTA
15.0
15.3
15.2
11.3
The American Freshman - National Norms for 2006
http//www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/norms06.php
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Discussion Points What can libraries do to
define themselves as places for civic learning?
1.  What is the role of librarians and libraries
in achieving co-curricular activities?  2. 
What are the major barriers, and why are they
barriers? 3.  What are the potential bridges,
and how can we build them? 4.  How can
librarians establish or strengthen collaborations
with civic engagement activists and
programs, and campus learning communities to
develop such initiatives? 5.  What are the
benefits and challenges to libraries and
campuses?  6. How can libraries harness
technology in the interest of civic engagement to
serve the needs of Learning Community
faculty and students?
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Discussion Point
1.  What is the role of librarians and libraries
in achieving co-curricular activities? 
Co-Curricular Activities
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Discussion Point
2.  What are the major barriers to achieving
co-curricular activities.
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Paradigmatic shifts in learning theory
To be successful, meaningful and
lasting, learning must include activity
(practice) concept (knowledge) culture
(context). Prof. Dave Jonassen,
Univ. of Missouri
passive learners reinforcements (praise,
candy) one absolute truth information is a
thing learning is a product information retrieval
(IR) model
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Recent Reform Efforts
Issue/Theme
Traditional Education
Application
Acquisition
Knowledge
Individual Competition Meaning
individually constructed
Team-Community Cooperation Meaning
socially constructed
Focus
By faculty, students, librarians and community
By faculty
Curriculum definition
Active, hands-on, participatory
Passive, lecture
Student learning
Continuous improvement
Sporadic reform
Change
Hybrid, residential halls, distant, online
virtual as well as in class
In-person, in class, face to face
Place
Collaboration
Memorization
Instruction
Co-curricular, civic engagement
Altruistic
Service Learning
Empirical, scientific, Objective,
postitivist-based
Rational inquiry Cooperative learning, civic
learning, Action-theory Interpretive social
theory neo-pragmatism feminism
Philosophical framework
Table adapted book Intro to service-learning
toolkit, Campus Compact, 2003. p 232, referencing
Hollands table, An assessment model for service
learning (1996) Also adapted from Smiths
Learning Communities bk 2004? P 21 Exhibit I.2
Assumptions Underlying Traditional Approaches
to Education and Recent Reform Efforts
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Discussion Point
3.  What are the potential bridges to
co-curricular activities, and how can we build
them?

Work to establish Steering Committee of
influential faculty, admin, and community leaders
Get your library director on board Attend
civic engagement open meetings Engage with
student clubs and organizations, friends of the
library, alumni Seek opportunities to form
alliances and partnerships
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Learning Community (LCOM) Cultures and
Identities, Fall 2006
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Learning Communities
Learning Communities and the Academic Library
New ways to think about learning
foster community
Creating educational coherence and community
amidst all this change has become a major
challenge for higher education. Learning
communities are one response.
Author, Sarah Pedersen, 2003 ACRL Publications
Catalog http//tinyurl.com/yqq7ua
Shared knowledge, shared knowing, and shared
responsibility are three key features of the most
robust learning communities. (Pederson, p.2-3)
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• Service Learning Activities students chose
• Donating blood (on campus blood drive)
• Relay for Life (on campus event)
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS) walk (downtown)
• Volunteered at the Evansville Rescue Mission
• Soup Kitchen (in their home town)
• Ronald McDonald House
• Nursing Home

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The students loved the civic engagement
component of the class.  WHEW!  They thought
that the assignment added purpose to the class. 
The most common service learning activity was
the donation of blood. 10 pints were donated
which equals helping 30 people.  The students
stated that they enjoyed their volunteer project
and would volunteer again. 

Thanks, Beth
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Discussion Point
4.  How can librarians establish or strengthen
collaborations with civic engagement activists
and programs, and campus learning communities to
develop such initiatives?
Sponsor common intellectual experiences that
connect students and colleagues (Ex. book,
theme) Establish thoughtful study circles with
one choice or viewpoint covered / week Attend an
ALA Moderator Training workshop (experience an
open forum) Serve as a moderator (1 hr., 2 hr.,
lunch time) Have the library sponsor
deliberative forums If in the library, prepare
displays of related library materials and
handouts Hold forums elsewhere on
campus Supplement with guest speakers, panels,
websites, bibs and online discussions Spread the
word (join a Blog)
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Connect with students and colleagues by sharing a
common intellectual experience
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Designed to revitalize the role of reading in
American public culture
http//www.neabigread.org/
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ADP A multi-campus initiative that seeks to
create an intellectual and experiential understand
ing of civic engagement
ADP Initiatives Stewardship of Public Lands 7
Revolutions Political Engagement Project
Strategies for Encouraging Voting Constitution
Day Participatory Citizenship American
Democracy and the Jury System
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http//www.compact.org/
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Discussion Point
5. What are the benefits and challenges of civic
engagement to libraries and campuses?
Benefits Promote civic literacy Increase
retention rates Boost First Year seminars,
internships/experiential learning
projects Promote Capstone courses, Writing Across
the Curriculum projects Engage students in
diversity/global learning Help grow service
learning and community-based learning Not
imposing values on students but allowing students
to discover the values of engaging in the
world (deliberation not debate) Foster community
as a learning campus Strengthen relationships
between institution and community Enhance
institutional reputation (incentives for
administers)
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Discussion Point
5. What are the benefits and challenges of civic
engagement to libraries and campuses?
Challenges Engrained traditional
education approaches Lack of incentives to
form learning communities Lack of
investment by institution (ex. reliance on
adjuncts 1 cr. course) Hard to quantify
effectiveness (FTE based enrollment growth)
Faculty disengagement from public life
Boyte Struggle
Against Positvism in Academe, 2000
Classicism, racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism
Excessive materialism Numbness to the
suffering of others
Butler, Johnnella E., Democracy,
Diversity and Civic Engagement, Academe,
Aug./August, 2000

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Discussion Point

• How can libraries harness technology in the
  interest of civic engagement to serve the needs
  of Learning Community faculty and students and
  others involved in such initiatives?

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Collaborative Learning through Collaborative
Technologies
technology platforms
?
content
Computer
Library 2.0 tools
Discussions
Group Projects
Forums (Bb/WebCT,etc.)
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Webcasting
Q A
Wikis
PDA
Vodcasting
Blogs
?
Instruction
Podcasting
IM/Chat
Listening
RSS Feeds
IPod/ Audio Device
Cellular/ Smart Phone
Sharing information
Adapted from Building Learning Communities with
RSS Feeds, Wikis, and Blogs A Magna Online
Seminar with Dr. Norman Garrett, Eastern Illinois
University , Jan. 25, 2007
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Promoting Civic Engagement
. . . melding the work of the mind with the
welfare of the world. Caryn McTighe Musil
Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Global
Initiatives Assoc. Amer. Colleges Universities,
2003
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http//www.usi.edu/library/figs07.asp
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