iSchool Capstone

#CancelShushCulture

Project tags:

community engagement & outreach

information behavior & user research

In Spring of 2020, UW Libraries closed its doors leaving students to adapt to new ways of studying and researching in an entirely virtual environment. When the Libraries re-opened, student use failed to return to pre-pandemic numbers. To investigate, we interviewed UW Fine Arts students to discover if their values aligned with their branch library’s. Unsurprisingly, after years of virtual college experiences, student values now reflect a strong need for socialization and community building from their libraries. It is our hope that these findings will allow UW Libraries to re-align their service model to meet these previously unvoiced needs.

Project participants:

David Frappier

MLIS Online

Katherine Mercer

MLIS