San Diego State University contributed to inaugural California State University Libraries Conference

Several San Diego State University Library faculty and staff contributed to the California State University Libraries Conference, held June 3. 

Led by the CSU Council of Library Deans and supported by colleagues from the Office of the Chancellor, as well as sponsors including Sage, Elsevier, Clarivate, EBSCO, Oxford University Press and others, the inaugural program highlighted the expertise of the CSU Libraries community and promoted opportunities for collaboration across the system’s 23 campuses on issues of shared interest and strategic concern.

To minimize cost and allow as many people as possible to attend, the conference was held virtually, with some campuses sponsoring watch parties at their libraries.

Building on the conference theme, “Collaboration: Stronger Together,” CSU library faculty and staff presented original research and data-informed best practices in areas including generative artificial intelligence, open access publishing and open educational resources, information literacy instruction and assessment, digital collections and digital scholarship, licensing and resource sharing, user engagement, distinctive collections, and sustainability.

Nathan S. Evans, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs and Chief Academic Officer of the California State University, opened the conference by highlighting library contributions to educational affordability, student success, and innovation in teaching and scholarship across the system, concluding that "libraries are not only aligned with [the CSU's strategic priorities], they are integral to achieving them."

Michael Meth, dean of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San Jose State University, notes that this inaugural statewide conference will “provide an inclusive and sustainable model for professional development for CSU library faculty and staff at a moment when a commitment to continuing professional education is of extraordinary importance to our libraries.”

Collaboration was a distinguishing feature of the conference programs presented by SDSU faculty and staff, including:

• “Make It, Learn It, Share It: Collaborating Through build IT” — a presentation on the build IT creator’s space by faculty member Erik Valenzuela and staff member Mariah Finley-Gardner.
• “Helping Communities Find Good Information: A Public and Academic Libraries Collaboration” — a presentation on the ongoing “Information Issues Initiative” shared across the libraries of the San Diego Circuit, delivered by Margaret Henderson and Sarah Tribelhorn of SDSU, along with Amanda Kalish and Tricia Lantzy of CSU San Marcos.
• “Cultivating Sustainability: Libraries as Catalysts for Environmental Justice and Campus Action” — presented by Morgan Barker of Cal Poly Humboldt and Sarah Tribelhorn of SDSU.

Additional CSU Libraries Conference programs featuring SDSU contributors included:

• “Creating an Optimized Strategy for Research Production and Analysis for CSU Librarians Collaborating Across Multiple Campuses” (Cat Ellis)
• “The Radical Potential of Mid-Career Librarians” (Jenny Wong-Welch and Mara Cota)
• “Networked Connections: Building Support for the Digital Humanities Across CSU Libraries” (Pamella Lach)

Scott Walter, dean of the SDSU Library and a member of the conference planning committee, said the CSU has a unique opportunity to support professional development and collaboration through the launch of the CSU Libraries Conference.

“The libraries of the California State University have been collaborating at the strategic and system levels for years, and our faculty and staff are recognized on each of their campuses as powerful partners with colleagues in academic affairs, student affairs, information technology, and research and innovation when seeking to meet critical goals related to educational affordability, student success, innovation in teaching and scholarship, community engagement, and the transition from college to career,” Walter said. “With the launch of this program, we are building a foundation for future success not only for our library faculty, staff, and student employees, but for all members of the CSU community.”