14 October 2018
Credo Reference has announced that Bryant Moore, first year experience librarian at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, and Xavier University’s McDonald Library have won the second annual FYE Innovation Awards. Recognising outstanding achievements in first year experience programming, the awards are sponsored by Credo Reference and Case Western Reserve University’s Kelvin Smith Library.
Credo and the Kelvin Smith Library launched the awards last year in an effort to call attention to the enterprising work being done by librarians who support first year students. Strong FYE initiatives have been shown to increase student persistence and graduation rates. The FYE Innovation Awards are a way to recognise leaders in the field and share inspiration to libraries of all types as they develop their own programmes. Every year, judges selected by Credo and the Kelvin Smith library recognise one library and one librarian to receive a prize of $1,500 and an award plaque honouring their outstanding achievement.
Bryant Moore distinguished himself through his use of fun and interactive programming to help students overcome their library anxiety while learning valuable research and information literacy skills. From playing Library Jeopardy during instruction sessions to inserting a secret challenge into the library’s online information literacy tutorial, he has made student engagement and outreach a priority. When surveyed in 2017, over 300 students listed Moore’s instruction and scavenger hunts as the most beneficial session in their first semester, leading the institution to make the scavenger hunt mandatory for all incoming students this year.
Librarians from Xavier’s McDonald Library developed a 3-credit First-Year Seminar course, in which students researched the institution’s history through primary sources. Building stronger relationships with the institution are often listed among the desired outcomes of FYE initiatives, and this course helps do that while also honing student research skills. Xavier also launched an annual research award for first-year students, with prizes. Such programmes have resulted in increased awareness of the value the institution places on strong library skills, and has resulted in improved collaborative efforts between academic staff and librarians.