Instructional Outreach to High Schools: Should You Be Doing It?

Abstract

Academic librarians have recognized the need for and the benefits of instructional outreach to high schools, but faced with budgetary challenges, increasing workloads, and other pressures, librarians sometimes struggle to determine if and how they can work with high schools. This paper will seek to provide practical direction in considering these questions. Using the library high school outreach program at Kent State University Informed Transitions as a sample case, this paper will share observations, discuss practical considerations, and offer recommendations that will serve to guide academic librarians in determining what role they can play in providing instructional outreach to local high schools.