Submission deadline 9/15/21, 8 PM US ET.
Finding UNITY in the Community: LibGuides as Tools of Inclusion
Jessica Riedmueller, Dr. Taine Duncan, and Hannah Hanshaw, University of Central Arkansas
What do Lady Gaga and LibGuides have in common? It sounds like the start of a joke, but the answer is the University of Central Arkansas’s Gender, Sex, and Sexuality Community Resources guide. This presentation is the story of a regional resource guide created to connect University of Central Arkansas students with supportive community organizations and services that became national news, permanently linked to a glittery Lady Gaga quote. The political turmoil following a single promotional Facebook post emphasized weaknesses in our University’s support for our LGBTQ+ community, but it also highlighted how we can use our guides as tools to encourage an inclusive environment, in defiance of the state politics that seek to oppress and exclude.
Product Covered: LibGuides
Jessica Riedmueller (she/her) is the User Experience and Assessment Librarian at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. She is passionate about accessibility and inclusion in library spaces with a particular focus on matters of gender and sexuality. She's published some rather eclectic research on Flannery O'Connor, William Wells Brown, and library escape rooms. Prior to her library career, Jessica worked for 5+ years in corporate marketing and two very memorable years as a pharmacy technician. Jessica is a voracious reader of horror novels, has a music playlist ready for any situation, and has watched Battlestar Galactica all the way through at least four times. She resides in central Arkansas with her cat, Barry.
Taine Duncan (she/her) is Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion and director of the Interdisciplinary Gender Studies Minor Program at the University of Central Arkansas. She has given over 60 presentations on philosophy, from peer-reviewed international presentations to community presentations for engaging philosophy outside academia. She is the co-editor of the Journal: Philosophy in the Contemporary World and serves on the board of the Asian Studies Development Program Alumni Association, which hosts an annual conference. She is currently working on two authored books and one edited book. She is committed to bringing philosophical thinking to real-world practice and engagement.
Hannah Hanshaw (she/her) is the recruiter and an academic advisor for UCA’s College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences, although people commonly refer to her as the “Director of Additional Duties as Assigned.” In her previous role at UCA’s Torreyson Library, she managed social media and worked on library events and outreach. Hannah has presented at the Arkansas Library Association Conference and is passionate about supporting students from underserved backgrounds, with a special place in her heart for LGBTQ+ students in particular. She is also pursuing her Master’s Degree in College Student Personnel Administration at UCA, and loves very few things more than her rabbit and two cats.
University of Central Arkansas
Library Type: Academic Library
Demographic Served: Traditional and non-traditional students, masters and doctoral programs (primarily professional doctorates such as Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Nursing), as well as faculty.
Population Size: approx. 11,000 FTE
Library Staff Size: 40 staff and faculty
Plan for Fall 2021: primarily in-person with some virtual instruction. Very few hybrid classes, if any