(via Dr. Jennifer Matthews, Rowan University)
I am inviting chapter proposals for a new edited collection, tentatively titled First-Generation College Students: Academic Library Initiatives for Student Success, that will explore current research and practice of academic libraries and their understanding of outreach and services to first-generation students in higher education. This collection, to be published by ACRL, will bring together works from scholars to offer current perspectives on the landscape of academic libraries, higher education entities such as first-generation task forces, cross-campus collaborations, and, more generally, first-generation students in higher education. It will present effective practices for fostering student success for first-generation students, academic libraries, and higher education.
The book will be divided into sections: research into first-generation college students and their needs (research studies), library initiatives (case studies), and cross-campus collaborations (case studies). Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Modification of library spaces to improve first-generation college student experiences
- Collaboration efforts between the library and other university departments, task forces, faculty, etc.
- Student success initiatives that the author(s) can demonstrate contribute to the first-generation population
- Changes to policy that facilitate first-generation college student success
- Efforts that demonstrate persistence, creation of communities, development of well-being initiatives geared explicitly toward first-generation students
- Improvements in academic library customer service efforts, programs, and initiatives directed towards demystifying this space
- Information-seeking behavioral trends of undergraduate or graduate first-generation students
- Digital literacy and technological access
- Financial literacy and scholarship information
- Intersection of being a first-generation student and other socioeconomic factors like race and ethnicity, language, nationality and immigration status, finance, etc.
- Cultural competency and inclusivity training for staff
- Assessment and evaluation of library services
- The role of Open Educational Resources, experiential learning with makerspaces, non-traditional outreach, and marketing campaigns
Topics could appear in multiple sections of the book, but the requirements for each section are different. Research studies should explore an identified theory and might include data-based survey studies or qualitative inquiries such as narrative inquiry, phenomenological research, ethnography, or grounded theory. Cases studies will examine current practices in libraries and include institutional context, a description of the activity, assessment and modification, future steps, and recommendations to readers looking to adopt the practice.
Proposals should be between 250 and 500 words and include a CV. Submit to Dr. Jennifer Matthews, matthewsj@rowan.edu, by Thursday, October 31, 2024. All proposals should address one of the suggested topics-please reach out if you have a topic that could be a fit for the book but is not listed here!-and identify whether the chapter is a research or case study and if it involves a cross-campus collaboration.
Following the submission deadline, all applicants will be notified by January 6, 2025, of acceptance. Chapters should be between 5,000-7,000 words, and first drafts will be due by July 31, 2025. The expected publication date for the manuscript is early 2027.