If you thought being a librarian was just licensing content and shelving books, then think again. Stacey Greenwell, of the University of Kentucky Library, is redefining the role of a librarian at every turn, blending instructional design, IT, and practical research into an impressive range of tools for students and researchers. The present-day library has become the architect of digital literacy and AI readiness.
Stacey’s early experience was in a public library, which in practice included being the solo IT support, included making use of computers donated by the Gates Foundation. “I don’t even want to relate how hard it was to figure out, you know, how to get that website live, you know, by myself at the public library.” So when she switched to an academic library, with a full-time IT team, she made the most of learning from them.
Subsequently, after a lot of course creation, she took a doctorate in instructional systems design: “I’m creating all this online content. But what foundation did I really have to be doing this teaching and to be building these online objects? I got really interested in the idea of going back to school and learning about instructional design and studying learning.”
For her, instructional design came as a natural extension to the work she was already doing. Today, she coordinates the instruction librarians at the University of Kentucky, for example, building courses together using Canvas, an open-source learning management system (LMS). In this institution, the instruction team is based in the library.
Her introduction to authoring was simple: She suggested some updates to a title she used for an academic libraries course, and the author responded by inviting her to become the co-author for a revised edition. As Stacey says, “sometimes be careful what you ask for!”
In addition to her writing, Stacey co-edits a journal, Practical Academic Librarianship, launched 2011. This journal is diamond OA, that is, there are no fees to authors, and no cost for reading. The editorial work is done by volunteers, and the journal is hosted free by the Texas Digital Library. One aspect of this journal is an “in practice” column, with a focus on case studies of what works and what doesn’t in the library.
Stacey is today known for promoting and using the I-LEARN pedagogical methodology, introduced by Delia Neuman in 2011, originally for library skills with K12 students, but now used over a wider age range and for several subjects. Information literacy is one topic, but with the rise of AI, the library has taken on providing AI literacy materials as well.
Looking back at her own student days, Stacey sees a vast difference:
I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a student today. you know, I still remember when you went out and you were going to meet friends if they weren’t in the appointed place and time. You were basically doomed for your plans because what do you do? You start calling answering machines, and leaving messages ,and hoping you can catch up with your friends. So many of these things I think are taken for granted now that were once more challenging for us, whether writing a paper, or meeting your friends at the mall.
Arranging a meeting may be simpler today, but learning still remains a fundamental challenge. I can’t help feeling that today’s students are fortunate to have Stacey Greenwell to provide guidance on searching and finding information.
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