Student Stories

I joined ScholarSpace in January 2017 hoping to refine and share my interest in the Adobe Creative Suite with University, and while I have had that opportunity, I have also learned so much more.

Most University of Michigan students are well aware of the boundless opportunities offered by the Library within the pages of our books and in the depths of our digital resources. What may be unfamiliar to students are the numerous opportunities to engage with the Library beyond the stacks and databases. The Library Student Engagement Ambassadors, a group of eight undergraduate students with varying majors and interests, have been hard at work all semester bringing the campus community exciting events and a student perspective on Library resources.

As a Library Environments Support Team member-- everything I do, centers around delighting the students and faculty and creating environments conducive to sharing, learning, growing, and accessibility. From observing how many people use the book drop box, to helping to create a workshop dedicated to having students envision their perfect “Library of the Future.”

The UM Library Student Engagement Ambassadors are a group of Undergraduates who work for the library to engage peers through programming and social media. They will use the Student Stories Blog throughout the year in order to share their experiences and the student perspective.

The library is more than a place to read, study, or research. As the Graduate Intern for the Library Student Engagement Program I have found that library to be a place that stimulates creativity, fosters self-efficacy, and even creates a bit of fun. To me, the library has become a place for growth, where engaged learning is not merely in a classroom, but also in the place that prepares students for the classroom. As the program assistant for the Library Student Engagement Ambassadors, I see this transformative learning firsthand, and even better, I experience it alongside the students I mentor.

This past week, the Michigan Library Engagement Ambassadors went to the Hamilton Crossing Community Center for their Family Reading Night event.

Throughout my work as a UM Library Engagement Ambassador, I have begun to feel like I am a part of something greater than myself and am proud to contribute to such an important part of the University as a whole. This experience has shown me that the library is not only a place for books and research, but it is a kingdom of opportunities, learning, and growth.

Walking up to the tables and chairs set up on the 1st floor of the UGLi, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had heard of Café Shapiro but had never attended one before, or any event like it. For those who don’t know, Café Shapiro is an event held in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library that features original student poems and short stories. Students are nominated by their professors to read their work at the event, and anyone can come and listen.

Starting last October, I worked as the University of Michigan Library Student Engagement Ambassador. With six other wonderful ambassadors, we aimed to actively publicize library resources and services to the campus community through events and social media. We functioned in two different teams: the programming team focused on creating and planning events while the social media team concentrated on publicizing by making posts on Facebook and Twitter. The system was flexible enough to chime in and share ideas on both parts through our whole group meetings. I soon noticed that viewing the library from a student’s perspective could be effective.

Insider view of the Shapiro Design Lab from the Library Student Engagement Ambassadors. The Ambassadors had the fantastic opportunity to tour the Shapiro Design Lab and find out all about what different facilities and capabilities they have there. We even got to try out some of the equipment, which was pretty cool!