Welcoming Those Who Served - SUNYLA...military with them. Several veterans indicated the desire to see reference guides that are easily accessible and provide general information for

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Welcoming Those Who Served:

Library Outreach to Military and Veteran Students

Laurel Scheinfeld | Health Sciences Librarian

Kathleen Kasten | Head of Humanities & Social Sciences

Stony Brook University Libraries

Photo by Benjamin Faust on Unsplash

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★ 790,090 Beneficiaries received education benefits during fiscal year 2016 23,782 in New York(National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, 2016)

★ Student veterans now comprise approximately 4-5% of the nationalstudent body. (Mills, 2015)

Post 9/11 GI Bill - began in 2009

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Military & Veteran Students in College★ May have delayed and intermittent education due to transfers and

deployments

★ More likely to be older, transfer students, live & work off-campus, have spouses & children

○ have less time for extracurricular activities○ take more time to complete degrees and lower completion rates○ prefer online classes and PT enrollment

From: Serving Those Who Served: Librarian's Guide to Working with Veteran and Military Communities By Sarah LeMire, Kristen J. Mulvihill Publisher ABC-CLIO, 2017

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Diversity within Military Student Body★ 5 different branches of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine corps,

Coast Guard) plus some members of the NOAA and US Public Health Service

★ Active duty, Reserves, Veteran, ROTC

★ Served in War time or Peace time

★ Has deployed or never deployed

★ Served overseas or not

★ Discharge type

★ Marginalized groups: Women, LGBT, disabled, non-citizens, and minority religions

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

From: Serving Those Who Served: Librarian's Guide to Working with Veteran and Military CommunitiesBy Sarah LeMire, Kristen J. Mulvihill Publisher ABC-CLIO, 2017

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Information Seeking Behavior of Military members Hannaford (2013) Information Seeking Behavior of Junior Enlisted Army Veterans of Operation Iraqi and Enduring Freedom (Dissertation)

★ Unique culture of the military has an impact on the way individuals exchange information.

★ The major difference ….is in the Army there was “always someone to ask.”★ After the military the mentality remains but the support structure is fundamentally

different.★ A few of the veterans remarked that they felt like no one cared about their previous

experiences other than their extended families and those that had experienced life in the military with them.

★ Several veterans indicated the desire to see reference guides that are easily accessible and provide general information for services.

★ Eighty percent of the participants use the Veterans Affairs office.

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Student veterans and the academic library

Mills (2015) Robert Morris University (RMU) private, 5000 total enrollment, western Pennsylvania

46 Survey respondents (out of approx 300)

★ Use the library for electronic resources (56.5%), study space (56.5%) and computer use (65.2%)★ Checking out books and using Inter-Library Loan at fairly notable rates (23.9 and 8.7%,

respectively)★ 26.1% have asked a librarian a reference question during their time at RMU.★ High number of outside concerns, e.g. family and work commitments that prevent some from

feeling free to use the library.★ 54.4% have had some sort of college-level library instruction session or orientation.

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RMU continued….

6 In-Depth Interviews

Theme #1: Student veterans perceive themselves as other

Theme #2: Student veterans are self-motivated for efficiency and seek expertise

Theme #3: Student veterans desire and form community

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★ Clear need for academic libraries to make a particular and specific effort to reach this population.

★ This outreach is likely to be well-received.

★ Outreach need not be particularly costly in time or money.

★ Many of the long-established programs and services that libraries already have in place for nontraditional or transfer students will only require minor adjustments.

Summary of Research

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Outreach Strategies

★ Orientation sessions for veterans to welcome them to campus

★ Welcome statement on the library website

★ LibGuide for student veterans

★ Information literacy classes framed as “research boot camps”

★ Exhibits or displays to coincide with military remembrances such as Veteran’s Day

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Outreach Strategies

★ Encourage student veterans to apply for jobs in the library to supplement their income

★ Create a guide to veteran-friendly study spaces on campus

★ Collection development ■ Combat-related and military health issues (PTSD)■ Time management, transition to civilian and student life■ Memoirs

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Other things to keep in mind

★ Spouses and children may also have delayed and intermittent education due to transfers and deployments

★ Military spouses, children, parents and siblings who are on campus are also affected by their loved one’s military service and may be interested in military issues and programming

★ Peacetime vets and service members may not feel as entitled to benefits as those who were overseas and/or involved in combat

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Initial Library Outreach at SBU: Steps to Collaboration

● Literature review to identify best practices for library and other academic services to veteran and military students

● Partnership with Office of Veteran Affairs○ Learn about the situation at Stony Brook University○ Identify priorities of the Office of Veteran Affairs○ Consider opportunities for collaboration

● Build relationship with Long Island State Veterans Home

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Insights ● Focus on diversity of veteran and military student population

● Importance of building relationships, ensuring that students feel valued

● Understand that veteran or military status is an important commonality that these students share, but that it is ultimately only way in which they may be reached

● Find ways to connect with students○ New student orientation○ Business cards○ LibGuide ○ Campus events held under the aegis of the Office of Veteran Affairs or the Veteran

Students Organization (student club)○ Review existing collections and services (information literacy, office hours, tours) to

identify those of potential value to veteran and military students

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Framework for Outreach & Support● Goals:

○ Create programming of interest to veteran and military students○ Create programming to provide an opportunity for non-veteran students to

encounter and appreciate the veteran and military experience○ Build collections to support veteran and military students, as well as research in the

area of military studies

● Presidential Mini-Grant for Departmental Diversity ○ Application in cooperation with the Office of Veteran Affairs○ Increase visibility of the outreach initiative, build collections○ Invited speaker in October 2018○ Lunch for speaker with veteran students○ Tour of Long Island State Veterans Home○ Collection to be created in consultation with a student panel (veteran and

non-veteran students)

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Future Directions● Become a permanent fixture at veteran student orientations

● Library workshops geared toward veteran and military students (online and in person)

● Dedicated tours of the library spaces

● Resource-light programming ○ Complement grant-funded speaker event○ Film screenings○ Reading groups○ Literary karaoke

● Future grant aspirations ○ Oral history project○ Need for collaboration between library units, other campus entities

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Further Reading Atwood, T., Farmer, M., McDonald, K., Miller, B., Theodore-Shusta, E., & Wood, E. J. (2016). On the Front Lines: Serving Ohio's Best. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(2), 172-180. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2015.12.011Fawley, N. E., & Kyrsak, N. (2013). Serving those who serve: Outreach and instruction for student cadets and veterans.Hannaford, L. (2013). Transitioning from the out date: Information seeking behavior of junior enlisted Army veterans of Operation Iraqi and Enduring Freedom: The Florida State University.Hudson, A. (2016). Academic Librarian Outreach to Veterans. Mississippi Libraries, 79(2), 47-49.LeMire, S. (2015). Beyond service: new outreach strategies to reach student Veterans.LeMire, S., & Mulvihill, K. J. (2017). Serving Those Who Served: Librarian's Guide to Working with Veteran and Military Communities: ABC-CLIO.Miller, R. S., Accamando, D., & Wagner, L. (2017). Collaboration between an Academic Library and Campus Partners to Connect with Military and Veteran Students. Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice, 5(1), 35-41. doi:10.5195/palrap.2017.145Mills, C. P., Paladino, E. B., & Klentzin, J. C. (2015). Student veterans and the academic library. Reference Services Review, 43(2), 262-279.National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics. (2016). Department of Veterans Affairs Education Program Beneficiaries. Retrieved from https://www.va.gov/vetdata/Utilization.aspPhelps, S. F. (2015). The Veteran Student Experience and the Academic Librarian. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41(3), 236-240. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2015.04.001Rutledge, L., & LeMire, S. (2016). Beyond Disciplines: Providing Outreach to Underserved Groups by Demographic. Public Services Quarterly, 12(2), 113-124. doi:10.1080/15228959.2016.1157565

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[email protected]@LaurelSchein

[email protected]@KateKastenSBU