Our library team recently re-envisioned the ways we work together to implement outreach initiatives and events. One outcome of this work has been the creation of a new cross-team “Outreach & Engagement Committee.” I’m a firm believer that everyone in the library is an outreach ambassador and has a role to play in outreach planning and implementation (no matter the job title …we all share in the responsibility for library outreach everyday through the relationships that we nurture and build). Led by our awesome Outreach & Engagement Librarian, Meggie Lasher, the committee framework is providing us a terrific structure to collaborate, imagine, and implement a variety of creative outreach and programming.

Most recently, the outreach committee created and led a “Ghost Story Tour” event that brought folks from across the community together for a night of spooky story telling! Members of the library team were assigned ghost stories gleaned from local lore and stationed at corresponding sites around campus (for example, I was stationed in front of the college’s guest house and assigned a spooky story about a haunted boarding house). Community members met at the library and were arranged into small groups for a spooky guided tour across campus.

Library outreach events such as this help connect community members to one another and to the library’s staff, resources, services, and spaces. It’s all part of engaging with our community to build relationships and create a welcoming, warm, and inclusive learning environment.

Glow-sticks and candy treats made the night extra special and sweet!