1. More Than Just Shelvers: Student Workers In The Library Nadia Mahernia, Learning Spaces Co-ordinator Susan Murray, Head of Library Service

2. Content  University Ethos  Library Roles  Special Collections  Student Ambassadors  Peer Academic Writing Mentors  Interns  Future Plans  Benefits/Issues  Things to think about

3. University ethos  Liverpool Hope has made a commitment to provide as much on campus employment for students  Hope Works through our Employability Hub co-ordinates recruitment  Students register their interest and are matched to roles  Covers a whole range of roles e.g., catering, student ambassadors, resident tutors, graduate advocates, etc

4. Library Roles More recently more roles have been added:  Student Ambassadors  Internships (for recent graduates)  Special Collections Workers  Peer Academic Writing Mentors All are paid roles and some are year round roles Traditionally employed students as shelvers

5. Special Collections Student Workers Working with the Special Collections Librarian undertake a range of tasks:  Processing new materials  Stock moves  Checking stock for duplicates  Cleaning books using our museum vac

6. Library Student Ambassadors Job role at The Sheppard-Worlock Library  Providing custodian support (monitor users and visitors entering the building)  Support student use of the library and learning spaces facilities and equipment (distribution of keys for lockers, issue laptops, pin numbers, photocopiers)  Referrals Job role at the Creative Campus  To staff the student study space and cover the library lunch hour

8. Why do students apply for this role?  Fund their Education  Improve their CVs and Career Prospects  Improves skill set (budgeting/managing time)  Experience  Gain application and interview experience  Flexibility  Meet other students 2002 employed 2 staff members as security 2003 staff security team expanded to 6 2009 employed student library ambassadors 2010 Student Study Space opened 2011 HCA entrance opened History of the student ambassadors of our students in 2012 were either in employment or full-time study within six months of their graduation. 92%

9. Impact of student workers Student Workers in the work place  Quick to adapt  Flexible workforce  Students assisting other students  Building relationships with library assistants Managing Student Workers  Accessible  Flexible  Cover  Time consuming Lederman, D. (2009) The Impact of Student Employment [online]. Insidehighered. Available from: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/08/work#sthash.YrUmgxCf.wcDZSFiw.dpbs. [Accessed 23 June 2014]. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/08/work#sthash.YrUmgxCf.wcDZSFiw.dpbs “students who work less than 20 hours a week on campus reported a net positive gain in grades, while those who worked off campus felt a significant negative effect” "creating meaningful work experiences for students on campus is a key element in an overall strategy designed to foster student achievement and success“ A study led by Gary R. Pike, an Associate Professor at Indiana University-Bloomington, explains in an article on insidehighered.com titled “The Impact of Student Employment”:

10. Peer Academic Writing Mentors  Introduced new service at the end of November  7 masters/postgraduate students employed  Independent role  Workshops and one-to-ones  Weekly meetings (time to offload and share good practice)  Support from academics Managing Mentors  In-depth training and constant development  Monitoring and support system in place  Professionalism  Not as flexible or quick to adapt Why do students apply for this role?  Knowledgeable in specific area or experienced  Enjoyment and satisfaction from the role  Develops skills  Meet new students  Improves CV  Paid role “Mentor very approachable, extremely helpful and patient. I felt comfortable and him to be non-judgemental. I think the service is excellent, having one-to-one support. I have gained confidence and I feel less anxious about the essays ahead. Absolutely brilliant ” Out of 82 students 72 students rating the service extremely helpful, 9 students rating it helpful and 1 student was undecided.

11. Interns  University initiative offering up to 60 three month paid internships each year (central fund)  Aimed at recent graduates  Run January – March  Central induction and training programme e.g., job applications, personality tests, etc.  Departments are invited to bid for internship  Panel chooses successful bids  Library has always had an intern allocated

13. Intern Library Roles  Because time limited tend to be project based  We use them to do the things we’d like to do but don’t always have time to do  Allow someone concentrated time to research and undertake the task  Always deliver something at the end of the internship

14. Successful Intern Bids 2012 2012 Review of referencing styles and bibliographic software  Report with information on styles used in subjects and student feedback  A review of bibliographic softwares available and the pros and cons of each  Partly as a result of this the Liverpool Hope Harvard style developed for 1 subject is now used in 2 Faculties

15. Successful Intern Bids 2013  Create a set of more visual guides using Prezi  Surveys to find out what students need guides on & usability testing on format  Working with library staff to create Prezis and the web pages  Training for librarians on using Prezi

16. Successful Intern Bids 2014 Special Collections Intern  Nugent Care Archive  Extended by 3 months (library funded)  Dissertations cataloguing  De-duplicating a donation to be added to stock  Intern was successful in obtaining 12 month Special Collections internship at Liverpool and is planning to undertake masters in archive work

17. Future plans  Potential Intern Projects 2015 - Special Collections: Talbot Library - Education Kits Review  Ambassadors: -This year hired a larger number of part time posts -Introduced an new online booking system for the ambassadors to oversee -Introduced Headcounts -Questionnaires -Collecting more feedback (large questionnaire) -Usage of ipads and collecting data  Mentors -Expand the service -Create more online resources

18. Benefits  Free staff to do other tasks  Extend library opening hours & enable a second entrance to be used  Set of ‘guinea pigs’ e.g. usability feedback on our web pages  Source of more honest student feedback

19. Issues  Staff time to manage such a large number of student workers –Timetables, timesheets, recruitment  Availability –Examination periods, vacations etc.  Staff turn over

20. Things to think about …  Contracts  Disciplinary - Staff code or do they have their own?  Training needs and support  Monitoring - Writing mentors to be observed by Faculty Librarians  What tasks can they do while on a service point or if no appointments booked - Tasks assigned, can they do their own work?