Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Collaborations for Student Success: How Librarians and Student Affairs Work Together to Enrich Learning (Beta Phi Mu Scholars Series)

Libraries are exploring new roles and new partnerships on college campuses in order to improve students' experiences and enable learning outside the classroom. But other than faculty members, who are librarians' potential partners? The student affairs professionals are responsible for everything from residence halls to service learning to career exploration and make up one of the fastest growing groups in higher education - they are the experts in student development and the student experience. However, librarians and student affairs professionals are largely unfamiliar with each other's roles in student learning. By using multiple focus groups, Long describes the experiences and perceptions of librarians and student affairs professionals at several four-year, residential colleges and universities. He identifies ways librarians and student affairs professionals share common values and can approach partnerships successfully - but also the barriers that result when these two groups don't fully understand each other's roles in student learning. This book is the perfect road map for librarians and student affairs professionals alike who are seeking partners for campus collaborations. Review Librarians frequently partner with faculty for instruction and research support, but this volume invites librarians to broaden their horizons. Long (associate dean, Illinois State Univ.) describes the benefits of collaboration with student-affairs professionals as both groups share a common goal: student success. This is not a collection of actual collaborations, although many suggestions are provided. The first half of the book explores the impetus for the research, the literature, and methodology. Long devotes considerable space to describing where the two professions diverge, their "distinctive barriers," and this adds valuable insight. Particularly compelling is chapter 4, "The Librarians' Stories," which provides excerpts from focus groups accompanied by analysis of librarians' primary functions and perceptions of student-affairs roles. Chapter 5 similarly presents the student-affairs professionals' perspectives, which sometimes differ from others' expectations of what those perspectives are--with the result of keeping the two groups isolated from each other despite their overlapping priorities. Subsequent chapters specify ideas and recommendations to bridge these gaps. Long was previously a residential life librarian, embedded in the division of student affairs. His real-world experience, combined with this convincing case study, makes for an invaluable contribution to the literature. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Professionals.--CHOICE In this very fine book based on an award-winning dissertation, Dallas Long describes the important possibilities, opportunities, and necessities of collaboration between academic librarians and Student Affairs professionals. Of great significance, we learn that our perceptions of each other frequently get in the way of meaningful collaboration. I highly recommend this book for anyone working in libraries or Student Affairs interested in reaching out to each other in order to make a stronger difference in the lives of our students.--Dane Ward, Ph.D, Dean of University Libraries, Appalachian State University Long provides a primer on the work of librarians and student affairs professionals, showing their complementary missions and highlighting possibilities for collaboration. Long's most valuable contribution is identifying barriers to such partnerships, including those created by the perceptions librarians and student affairs professionals have of one another's work.--Melissa Wong, Adjunct Lecturer, School of Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Co-editor, Environments for Student Growth and Development: Libraries and Student Affairs in Collaboration About the Author Dallas Long, Ph.D., is the Associate Dean for University Libraries at Illinois St