Student Library Advisory Boards: Best Practices

Successful Student Advisory Boards: Best Practices
Presentation at ACRL Conference, Portland, Oregon, March 25–28, 2015
Meg Scharf, Ameet Doshi, and Bob Fox

Highlights:

• Set clear expectations.
• Take campus culture into consideration.
• Determine who should participate from the student side and the library side. Include the library director as a member of the group whenever possible.
• Consider recruiting students from the following groups:
  • Student government
  • Student organizations
  •  Scholarship winners
  • Members of the honors college
  • Power users
  • Students with complaints about library services
  • Disabled students
  • International students
  • Greek students
• Create clear agendas for meetings, complete with notes from the previous meeting.
• Hold meetings in the nicest space available in the library.
• Treat members in high regard. Provide them with insider information, food, and swag.
• Make sure to thank members at the end of the year and at the end of their time of service.

Best Practices for Sustaining a Student Advisory Board

Suzanne Helbig, February 1, 2010

Highlights:

• Recruit students from all class years (undergraduate and graduate).
• Strive for a mix of majors, ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds.
• Include students who aren't yet familiar with library services as well as students who are.
• Keep the application process simple.
• Highlight to students the benefits of participating on the SLAB: leadership skills, helping other students, marketable experience, etc. 
• Ensure that the rules of the SLAB are clear and that everyone involved knows them.
• Ask student members for the best meeting dates and times and try to accommodate and schedule ahead of time. 
• Share the results of the SLAB's efforts with members of the board so that they see their value in action.
• Provide recognition for board member's contributions (certificates, gift cards, awards, etc.)