Sharing for the Greater Good: A High School and Community College Partnership to Cultivate Information Literacy in a Rural Community

Authors

  • Jacquelyn Ray Blue Mountain Community College
  • Delia Fields Hermiston School District

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1908

Keywords:

Oregon, Oregon libraries, academic library, libraries, librarians, northwest, information science, information literacy, social media, writing, library trends, books, donors, library funding, Oregon library association, quarterly, Oregon library association quarterly, American library association, ala, ola, reading, library success, success, evolving roles, OSU, Oregon state, University, web services, public, new discipline, changes in libraries, career, careers, library careers, library career, professional journal, scholarly, photo, academic, circulation, Portland, Multnomah County Library, innovative, inventive, solution, oregon librarians, librarian, political, politics, political action, association, civics, civic education, inspiring, engagement, role, participation, skills, create, creating, resources, develop, source, evaluate, evaluation, evaluating, history, pigs, salt lick, cows, rural, small, big, ideas, eastern, southern, Pendleton, elementary, literacy, Oregon College Savings Plan, project, ocsp, evidence, working, kids, children, lsta, grant, imls, Intermountain Education Service District, Milton-Freewater, Hermiston and La Grande, school, district, assessment, toys, results, Blue Mountain Community College, bmcc, classes, information, open education resources, oer, sources, immersion summit, il, Council of Writing Program Administrators, acrl, framework

Abstract

“Mind the gap” is a phrase heard umpteen times when riding the London Underground subway system. That same advice was heeded in eastern Oregon, where it prompted an Information Literacy (IL) collaboration project between a high school and a community college librarian who forged a “dynamic duo” in an attempt to bridge noticeable gaps in the information literacy skills of their students.

Students in both high school and college struggle with aspects of information literacy. These knowledge and habit “gaps” are wide ranging—from initial question asking, to entering the scholarly conversation and finding their voice, to evaluating the myriad resources at their fingertips to seeking help when needed. Narrowing these gaps is a daunting task, but the desire to address these critical needs for our students is what prompted Delia Fields, Hermiston High School librarian, and Jacquelyn (Jackie) Ray, Director of Library and Media Services at Blue Mountain Community College (BMCC), to join forces this past year.

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Author Biographies

Jacquelyn Ray, Blue Mountain Community College

Jacquelyn Ray currently serves as the Director of Library and Media Services at Blue Mountain Community College. Her interests are (for better or worse!) wide-ranging but center around student learning; her hope and goal is to help students find and cultivate their voice in their creative and/or scholarly pursuits. Jackie is also interested in the library’s role in remedying social justice issues; she coordinates Oregon Humanities “Conversation Project” events at her college and she works closely with Open Education Resources (OER) efforts to support equitable access to educational materials for all students.

Delia Fields, Hermiston School District

Delia Fields is the teacher librarian for secondary schools in the Hermiston School District. Covering two middle schools and the high school in her hometown, she earned her BS in Technical Journalism from Oregon State University in 1988 and was a reporter in Alaska for several years before moving into the field of education and moving back to Eastern Oregon. She received her BEd at the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1995, teaching middle school humanities for 18 years and then earning her MLS from Portland State University in 2013. She is a regional representative with the Oregon Association of School Libraries and loves helping students find that gateway author.

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Published

2018-02-28

How to Cite

Ray, J., & Fields, D. (2018). Sharing for the Greater Good: A High School and Community College Partnership to Cultivate Information Literacy in a Rural Community. OLA Quarterly, 23(3), 40–47. https://doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1908