Growing Adult Readers: Promoting Leisure Reading in Academic Libraries

Renée Bosman,John Glover,Monique Prince

doi:10.31641/ulj150105

Abstract

This article provides an introduction to the recreational reading promotion tools at VCU Libraries, including a book review blog, book swap, and bulletin board, as well as the libraries’ involvement with VCU’s summer reading program and Richmond’s citywide “One Community One Book” initiative. Policies and operating procedures will be examined, and these services will be discussed in the context of other libraries’ offerings. We will also discuss why there is a need for these services–which have traditionally been the purview of the public library–on a college campus. Reading among American adults is in dramatic decline, and the academic library is a natural setting in which to combat this trend. The Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries’ literacy outreach efforts serve to promote and strengthen lifelong learning and student engagement, two goals outlined in the VCU strategic plan.

Highlights

Virginia Commonwealth University is an urban public university and Virginia’s largest research university, enrolling almost 32,000 students in Richmond, Virginia
Glover & Prince/Growing Adult Readers: Promoting Leisure Reading in Academic Libraries research, scholarship and creative activity with a decided focus on the student experience” (p. 13)
During the strategic planning process, and in anticipation of a renewed focus on the first year experience, the James Branch Cabell Library created a new position in the fall of 2003, the Undergraduate Services Librarian, to develop programs that enhance the undergraduate library experience at VCU and advance University efforts to recruit and retain undergraduate students

Summary

Introduction

Virginia Commonwealth University is an urban public university and Virginia’s largest research university, enrolling almost 32,000 students in Richmond, Virginia. A variety of efforts cater to the needs of student users, including Book reMarks, a book recommendation blog, the Cabell Library Book Swap, participation in Richmond’s Go Read Richmond city reading programs and VCU’s University College Summer Reading Program, displays, and browsing collections. The purpose of these programs is to encourage students to think about the campus library in a new way. There will always be those students who love being in the library and who succeed in navigating its physical and online spaces For those students, our hope is that they will expand their use of the library to include their recreational reading needs as well as their academic pursuits. This article will explain the origins and motivations behind the VCU Libraries’ outreach efforts, as well as describe literacy outreach efforts in general at academic libraries

Literature Review

Findings

Conclusion