PARTNERSHIPS
Connections Through Community
8TH GAITHERSBURG BOOK FESTIVAL
Another successful year in which we participated at the book festival with our Multilingual Storytelling Time where USG students read in their native languages to children attending the festival. Languages read were Amharic, Farsi, French, Portuguese, Spanish and sign language. Gaithersburg, MD, May 19, 2018.
STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD
The library partnered with CSEF (Center for Student Engagement and Financial Resources) and Auxiliary Services to combine our respective student advisory groups into one student advisory board. This has improved, and not duplicated, our efforts to reach out to students. The members of the student advisory board have provided valuable input about library services and were especially helpful in the library’s strategic planning process.
WORKING WITH DATA: PANEL PRESENTATION
This event was produced in partnership with USG’s Center for Academic Success (CAS), the Office for Advancement and Community Engagement, and two student groups: the Information Science Society and Ladies in Tech. The library hosted a panel discussion to give current and prospective students the chance to speak with early-career data scientists and research analysts. Panelists Pal Doshi of EY, Yixing Han of GeneDX, and Gonzalo Rivero of Westat offered their perspectives. Nearly 30 students and community members from 6 different USG degree programs attended online and in person.
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY – SHERIDAN LIBRARY
In Summer of 2018, the Montgomery County campus of Johns Hopkins University (JHU MC) permanently closed its library, which was the only JHU library in a 20-mile radius. While our facility is open to the public, meaning JHU patrons could use our space and computers, our collection only circulates to registered borrowers. However, both JHU and the University of Maryland, College Park are members of the Chesapeake Information and Research Library Alliance (CIRLA), whose reciprocal borrowing agreements make graduate students and faculty eligible for registration at all CIRLA libraries. Working with the JHU Director of Columbia & DC Libraries, and the UMD Director of User Services & Resource Sharing, we developed an easy way for JHU patrons to use their existing ID’s as library cards for the USG and UMD collections
UMBC PUBLIC HISTORY INTERNSHIP
The library continued its successful partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Public History program. This internship program allows students to acquire new skills while collaborating with librarians in the development of themed exhibits, by researching topics and creating exhibit materials.
MD TECH CONNECT
The library played a leadership role in planning the third annual MD Tech Connect held at USG on December 8, 2017. The library collaborated with staff from the Division of Library Services & Development (State Library) in the MD Department of Education and the chair of MD Lib Tech (a community of practice around library technology in Maryland) on this event.
At the 2017 MD Tech Connect, themed “It’s More than Technology, It’s the Story,” participants learned and shared knowledge through affinity group sessions and a tech expo. They gained new insights from a keynote address by Ben Bizzle, founder and CEO of the marketing and web development firm, Library Market, and a panel discussion related to accessibility and privacy issues.
For the 2018 MD Tech Connect, the library was not as integrally involved in the planning, but hosted the event at USG on December 6, 2018.
GRADUATE RESEARCH & WRITING BOOTCAMP
Working with the CAS, the library reached 78 students in 4 sessions of the Graduate Research & Writing Bootcamp in summer 2017 and 111 students in 3 sessions in summer 2018. The students came from 10 different graduate programs at USG. This interactive workshop provided graduate students with tools to find and manage sources for their research, ways to strategically read at the graduate level, insights on interpreting and critically analyzing data and the methodologies described in research articles and an introduction to the statistical software SPSS. They also developed skills in technical and scholarly writing.
WRITING AND STATISTICS/RESEARCH METHODS TUTORS IN LIBRARY
In fall 2017, the library collaborated with CAS to have a statistics and research methods tutor offer drop-in consultations in the library two days a week throughout the academic year. This built upon our successful collaboration of having a CAS writing tutor available in the library for drop-in or scheduled appointments, which continued during the 2018 and 2019 academic years.
UMBC PSYCHOLOGY
In May 2019, the library hosted a student research poster event for the UMBC Psychology class “The Psychology of Aggression and Antisocial Behavior.” As the event sponsor, the library collaborated closely with UMBC Psychology professor Karen Watkins-Lewis.
SUMMER RISE
Summer RISE is an initiative led by the Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) Partnerships Unit in collaboration with USG, offering MCPS high school students the opportunity to participate in a three-week, career-based learning experience. Library staff worked with student interns introducing them to new technologies and their applications.