Hello fellow readers, library users, late-nighters, caffeine drinkers, and all types of students! Have you ever wondered about more ways to get involved with our University Libraries? Read on to found out more about the Wider Reading Volunteer position!
As an undergraduate I had the opportunity to work with my University Library – an experience I found very fruitful. When I saw on the Guild Volunteering Page a chance to curate my own collection with the Sydney Jones Library, my application was sent immediately.
But I needed an idea. What kind of collection was I going to curate?
I was very blessed to land myself in an incredibly multi-cultural flat for my time here in Liverpool. Together, we represent 6 different countries: Azerbaijan, China, India, South Africa, Thailand and the UK. As we learnt to live together, we realised how much we complemented each other. As the resident UK national, I noticed how much my flatmates had to adapt, and how much they missed from their home countries. The thought occurred to me: “how can we bring a piece of home to our international students?”
This was the starting point of the project ‘Home from Home’. The purpose of this collection was threefold: to expand the library’s collection International Reads, to give internationals another space to recommend their favourite books, and to provide more comforting and culture-informing books to students and staff at the University of Liverpool.
In my application, I sent an explanation of my idea. After having met with the librarians and agreed upon the project, I began the process of curating a new collection.
My first two sessions in the library offices involved fire-safety and general Liverpool University Staff introductory tutorials. I also met the wonderful library team, who work daily to ensure that students and staff have all the necessary information and knowledge to learn and research.
Following this introduction was a lot of my own research: what were the acclaimed international books that we lacked in our wider collection? What did international students want to read?
Part of this involved getting in contact with the marketing team, and designing and running an Instagram promotion to engage our international students. All these responses were considered when creating the collection, with recommended books being included in the project.
This whole process took many hours sitting in front of my laptop, or in front of one of the library office computers, and much emailing. I was very grateful to have one of our library team, Fabiola, guide me through each stage.
OverDrive Marketplace is a place where libraries can build custom collections of eBooks, audiobooks and more. After researching and creating a list of possible books for the project, the next step was utilising OverDrive Marketplace to buy and curate the collection.
I began the project towards the end of November and finished around the end of April. During term time, I came into the office two hours a week, checking in with the library team. I would like to thank Fabiola, who so steadfastly helped me throughout this period.
Over these months, I have learnt a variety of new skills:
Curation and creation of a library collection
Research into international book trends
Management of time, scope and budget
IT Skills in software like OverDrive Marketplace
Designing posters and promotions in Canva, and in social media.
In total, this has been a wonderful adventure. I have gained knowledge of and experience within the library field, created something new from scratch, and I got to know a lovely set of people. It has been rewarding also to help enlarge the International Reads collection, engaging with international students from around the world.
For anyone who is considering a career in the library sector, who wants to support the Liverpool Libraries, or who wants the opportunity to do something different, I recommend you consider becoming a Wider Reading Volunteer! Check out the Guild’s volunteering page for more information, and for chances to volunteer across job sectors, gaining useful skills to show off on your CV.
The collection is now available for Liverpool University Students on Libby for free: download the app or go to the website and sign in! Even if you are leaving Liverpool soon, the Libby collection remains available for you to peruse throughout the summer months.
This collection showcases a number of internationally known and best-selling authors, including: Akwaeke Emezi, Albert Camus, Amitav Ghosh, Banana Yoshimoto, Han Kang, Khaled Hosseini, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Yu Hua, and many more. There are total of 48 titles to explore in Libby, with some audiobooks available as well.
There are currently physical displays set up in the Sydney Jones and Harold Cohen Libraries, consisting of a world map and a mini bookshelf displaying the variety of the books now available to students and staff. It has been great to see the engagement with both these displays, and the Libby online collection, over the first two weeks this collection has been live.
If you haven’t yet interacted with the physical displays or with the online Libby collection, I encourage you to! The display in the Harold Cohen includes a board for further book recommendations, and it would be amazing to hear all your responses.
It remains for me to say: happy reading and have a great summer!
By Hannah Treece, MA in Egyptology
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