Written by Spring 2025 Ask a Librarian Intern Sam Ward

When you first start out as a graduate student getting your Master’s in Library and Information Science (MLIS), you don’t necessarily go into it thinking you will have the opportunity to intern at an Ivy League school. However, thanks to the Ask a Librarian internship program, that is exactly what I was able to do! This has been an incredible opportunity that I want to share more about in this post.

Specifically, my internship focused on learning about and leading library instruction programs, and my experience this semester gave me better insight not only into academic libraries as a whole but also how the practice of library instruction benefits from an approach of inclusion, accessibility, and fostering connections with students to better understand how libraries can best serve them.

Reference Work: Navigating a New Academic Digital Space

As someone who has previously worked in public libraries and now works in a prison library, I was used to helping patrons out in person. However, the virtual reference aspect of the Ask a Librarian internship gave me the extra challenge of simultaneously learning how to transfer these prior skills to a very different context—working in a digital space like an online chat—as well as learning how to navigate the online aspect of Columbia University Libraries’ (CUL) resource-rich environment.

Every system is a little bit different, so learning more about the setup of systems like CLIO, subject and course guides, and other resources also gave me further insight into the decision-making process for managing such a large system of information. Virtual reference for CUL also gave me a better understanding of the needs of our patron base through the questions they asked, and the exercise of repetition with each inquiry (answering nearly 300 this semester!) helped me get better and better in my techniques to find answers and resources efficiently. All the students I interacted with were working on such interesting papers and projects, so it really was a pleasure to help them find the articles and resources they needed to continue that work.

Developing Workshops Through Inclusive Instruction

The other aspect of my internship was learning about library instruction for academic libraries and applying my newfound knowledge by leading three different online workshops. Like with reference work, I’ve had some prior experience doing in-person workshops for public/prison libraries, but this provided a very different context than I was used to. Mainly, I had a new group of patrons I needed to first consider the needs and prior experiences of in order to develop workshops that best suited them.

My first steps included learning through observation by attending workshops like “How to Find News” and “Let’s Use CLIO” hosted by librarian Emily Schmidt and “Citation Management with Zotero” hosted by librarian Kae Bara Kratcha. They both were excellent examples of what online workshops look like when you root your instruction in inclusive practices and a deep understanding of what students really need to get out of these sessions.

This phase of my internship also included a deeper exploration of inclusive instruction in the context of libraries through readings like What Inclusive Instructors Do by Tracie Marcella Addy et al. and “Intimacy and Interruption in Remote Library Instruction” by Leila Walker and discussing them with my mentor Ben Chiewphasa. All of this combined gave me greater insight into aspects of instruction I had never considered before, and I immediately saw a difference in my teaching style not only in the workshops I hosted for CUL this semester, but also in the workshops taught at my main job as a prison librarian.

An Interconnected Network of Resources

This all accumulated in the end result of hosting three workshops for CUL:

• “Let’s Use CLIO”
• “Database Demo: Elevate Your Search Technique for the Academic Space”
• “We Have the Libraries at Home!”

What I especially loved about the experience of developing these workshops was that the information gathered and techniques applied to teaching the material in-part came from various resources developed by CUL librarians as well as interactions I had with several of them. In turn, I was able to pour right back into the library system by teaching these workshops for students and alumni as well as develop materials which now live in Columbia’s Academic Commons (linked in the workshop titles above).

At the heart of this experience has been a deeper understanding of the fact that well-run libraries truly do rely upon the collective efforts of their staff as well as the broader academic community they serve, and I’m happy to see my work contribute to this database of open-access information others can use in their research and projects. It could even be that a future intern of this wonderful program will look at these materials, and it will help spark some ideas for their own projects that continue the cycle of learning and creation in academic library spaces.

About the Author: Sam Ward (she/they) is an MLIS student at the University of Alabama with an expected graduation date of December 2025. She has experience in public libraries both as a library assistant and a youth education coordinator, and she currently works as a librarian at a men’s state prison. This past spring, she participated in the Ask a Librarian internship program at Columbia University, working with Ben Chiewphasa, Social Sciences and Policy Librarian, on the “Learning About and Leading Library Instruction” project. After completing her degree, she plans to pursue a career in academic libraries supporting students starting their higher education journeys. You can follow her work at justbeyondthepages.blog.