$10,000 Grant Will Help the Library Recover from the Coronavirus Pandemic

Rider University’s Moore Library has been selected as one of 200 libraries nationwide for the American Library Association’s American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Libraries opportunity, an emergency relief program to assist libraries that have been adversely affected by the pandemic.

With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Rider University will use funds to anchor itself in the community as a strong humanities institution. The competitive award comes with a $10,000 grant that will help the library deliver excellent programs and services related to culture, history, literature, and other humanities subjects.

More than 370 libraries applied for the grant, according to ALA. View the full list of selected libraries.

The participating libraries, selected through a competitive, peer-reviewed application process, include public libraries, academic/college libraries, K-12 libraries, and tribal, special and prison libraries. The recipients represent 45 states and Puerto Rico and serve communities ranging in size from 642 residents in Weir, Kansas, to the city of Los Angeles. Libraries were chosen with an emphasis on reaching historically underserved and/or rural communities.

Librarian Dr. Sharon Whitfield stated, “The pandemic exacerbated Moore Library’s growing issues to support humanities curriculum through library materials and programming. Yet, the library remains committed to being a supportive place and providing a vehicle for students to engage in out-of-classroom learning experiences. What better place to offer these experiences than the university library, where faculty, staff, and students of all disciplines can come together to engage each other and synergize around important humanities topics. This grant will allow us to continue to offer humanities programming.”

Rider University’s Moore Library will use the grant funds to offer immersive topical exploration in the following areas: Holocaust/Jewish Studies, Black/African American History, the Refugee Experience, the Racial Justice Movement, and Homelessness/the Houseless. Each topical exploration will begin with a virtual reality experience using Oculus headsets. “Our hope is to launch our first topical exploration in April”, said Dr. Whitfield. During the first topical exploration, virtual reality headsets will transport attendees to Anne Frank’s Secret Annex. For more information about the topical exploration of Anne Frank, go to: https://guides.rider.edu/holocaust/annefrankVR

“Libraries have faced significant hardships throughout the pandemic —from budget cuts to staff furloughs to building closures — especially in our communities of the greatest need,” said ALA President Patty Wong. “This crucial support from NEH will enable our beloved institutions, and the dedicated people who run them, to rebuild and emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever.”

American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Libraries is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021."

For more information about the immersive topical experiences, please contact Dr. Sharon Whitfield (swhitfield@rider.edu) or Prof. Melissa A. Hofmann (mhofmann@rider.edu).

By Jane Jiang

Union County College has a very diverse community. To celebrate Lunar New Year — Year of Tiger, the Library held a Paper-Cutting Workshop for all students and faculty. Many people attended and enjoyed themselves. Attendees learned about Asian culture and customs, which are very different from American culture, and they agreed that it’s good to know about other people and cultures. Many wanted to know more, and some professors asked if the library can bring more events like this to their classroom.   

Jane Jiang is the Director of Libraries at Union County College, and can be reached at yu.jiang@ucc.edu.

By Jessica Chamberlain, Joyce DeStasio, & Sarah Hanlon 

Stockton University’s Richard E. Bjork Library was established with the founding of the university during the 1971-1972 school year and has been a constant presence on campus for the past 50 years. During this time, the library has undergone many changes, but one thing that had become stagnant in more recent years is the library’s social media presence.

In 2021, graduate student worker Jessica Chamberlain started working at the library in Special Collections. Within the first few days of employment, Jess asked her supervisor, Special Collections Librarian Heather Perez, if the library had an Instagram account. To Jess’s surprise, she was told that the only social media presence for the library were outdated, seldom-used Twitter and Facebook accounts. Jess created an Instagram to highlight Special Collections activities and services. Around the same time, the library’s new Public Services Librarian, Joyce DeStasio, became the head of the library’s equally new Outreach Team. Coming from an advertising and marketing background, Joyce asked why Bjork Library itself didn’t have an Instagram account. After some discussion, they agreed that the existing account should be transitioned to one for the library in its entirety. 

In the first meeting of the Outreach Team, Jess and student worker Sarah Hanlon pointed out the additional need for a TikTok account to round out the library’s social media presence. Being the only students on the team, Sarah and Jess took on the task of generating TikTok content. Although Sarah and Jess were frequent TikTok users, they did not identify as content creators by any means — but they pushed through the initial cringe of being on camera, and now proudly have many videos on the library’s TikTok, including one that has over 222,000 views! 

@stocktonu_library Instagram (left) and TikTok (right) grids

In one of her first tasks as team leader, Joyce organized a social media plan. This included posting frequency, audience, goals, and content ideas for each social media platform. The team considered deleting our Twitter and Facebook accounts, seeing as students mostly use TikTok and Instagram, but decided to keep them active for the time being. However, the team would focus on the two more popular platforms. The goal of the TikTok account is to be relatable to a Stockton student audience while simultaneously highlighting the library’s resources and spaces. On Instagram, the group would share photos of the library, graphics of updates and announcements, trends, library events, updates on our services, opening hours and closings, staff highlights — and re-shares of library TikTok videos, of course. As a low effort way to “keep the Facebook lights on,” Instagram posts were set to automatically share to Facebook. The Facebook and Twitter accounts would also be used for sharing press releases and articles related to the library’s scholarly publications or collections and exhibits.

Thanks to the library’s reinvigorated outreach efforts, the librarians and staff are becoming more intentional about connecting with students via social media and the library is continuing to grow across social media platforms. The outreach team’s intention behind the creation of the TikTok and Instagram was to meet the student body where they already are. By creating interesting content and interacting with Stockton’s students’ and organizations’ many social media accounts, Bjork Library hopes to continue generating student engagement on a variety of levels.

Follow us on TikTok and Instagram @stocktonu_library to stay on top of our latest content!

Jessica Chamberlain is a graduate student worker at Stockton University. She can be reached at Jessica.chamberlain@stockton.edu.

Joyce DeStasio is the Public Services Librarian at Stockton University. She can be reached at joyce.destasio@stockton.edu.

Sarah Hanlon is a student worker at Stockton University. She can be reached at hanlons@go.stockton.edu.

The CUS/ACRL-NJ Newsletter is edited by Joan Dalrymple, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Bergen Community College; Katie Maricic Cohen, Interlibrary Loan, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Ramapo College of New Jersey; and Liz Siecke, Reference and Instruction Librarian/Serials Coordinator at Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Editors Joan Dalrymple and Katie Cohen pose for a picture during the Summer 2015 Marketing and Communications Committee Meeting at Monmouth University Library.