All are Welcome : Empowering Student Workers to Make the Library an Inclusive Hub

Abstract

The University of Illinois - Chicago boasts a campus on which there is no racial or ethnic majority, but this diversity alone does not determine whether students feel welcomed into campus spaces, including the Richard J. Daley Library. The Library recently used these students demographics, patron surveys, an internal staff observation log, and student refresher training to increase student worker engagement. The primary goal was to create a more welcoming environment for a more positive academic experience through customer service. , , To achieve this, we aimed to empower student workers by connecting them to the mission of the library and the experience of patrons through story-based training. We also sought to better acknowledge our diverse student population and identify and reduce factors that decrease the sense of inclusivity in the library., , The strategy and key findings from this multi-level customer service assessment can be used successfully in any library with high-turnover positions.