Fifteen faculty members make up the Libraries’ Outreach, Engagement and Collections unit. Headed by Dave Vose, senior director for outreach, engagement and collections; and Matthew Gallagher, director of collection development, the group ensures that all of the Libraries’ forward-facing resources are of the highest possible quality. The Libraries’ long-standing reputation for excellence in the realm of collections and instruction are a contributing factor to Binghamton University’s place with other elite institutions labeled “R1 — very high research activity” by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
At Binghamton University Libraries, all outreach, engagement and collections faculty have librarian in their title, but the appointments are varied. While the primary function of a subject librarian is to select discipline-specific resources for the permanent collection and to liaise with campus departments, Binghamton’s instruction and outreach librarians design and implement Libraries’ educational programming.
Libraries’ sponsored events and programs amount to experiences that, for many first-time users, will define their long-term relationship with libraries in general. That daunting task takes a very special group of people. Together, Megan Benson, assistant head of outreach and engagement; Jillian Sandy, instruction and outreach librarian; and Elise Ferer, instruction and outreach librarian, draw students at every level of scholarship into the library community. This team’s collective natural talent for making skill-building fun is evidenced in the number of students who flock to the learning opportunities that they create.
Instruction and outreach librarians keep the Libraries’ campus image current. They encourage students to feel comfortable within library spaces and to develop as scholars. Institutional trust built through accessibility and interpersonal engagement is one way that libraries provide foundational support for democratic principles. By showing young people that libraries support intellectual pursuits of all types unequivocally, love and trust for libraries is passed from generation to generation.
Find the full scope of Binghamton University Libraries’ pre-scheduled spring events on the Libraries blog.