Academic libraries of all types are struggling with staffing shortages driven by budget cuts, hiring freezes, and frequent turnover. In this presentation, librarians representing a small private institution (Anderson University) and a public R1 institution (Clemson University) compare and contrast their experiences navigating long-term staffing shortages and examine the ramifications of these challenges on library staff and operations. The presenters also share practical, adaptable strategies attendees can implement at their institutions to mitigate burnout and support staff well-being during periods of extended understaffing. Areas of focus include cross-training, evaluating priorities, leveraging in-house talent, and maintaining realistic expectations.
Renna Tuten Redd has served as the Interlibrary Loan Librarian at Clemson University since 2015 and oversees resource sharing and document delivery services as well as off-site storage management. Her other current library projects involve participating in the PASCAL (Partnership... Read More →
Join a panel of scholarly communication professionals to discuss the role of librarians in shaping the academic landscape through education and the dissemination, preservation, and accessibility of scholarly works. We will focus on: 1. Open Access Initiatives: How are librarians advancing open access publishing models and ensuring researchers have access to free and equitable knowledge? 2. Scholarly Communication Education: What are the best practices for educating faculty, researchers, and students on scholarly publishing processes, copyright, and licensing?
Assistant Head, Acquisitions & Scholarly Communication, USC Columbia
Amie Freeman is the Scholarly Communication Librarian with the University of South Carolina Libraries' Digital Research Services department. She holds a BA in International Studies and a MLIS from the University of South Carolina. Amie oversees Scholar Commons, UofSC’s institutional... Read More →
Scholarly Communication Librarian, Clemson University
With over 29 years of experience in Library and Information Science (LIS) and more than 8 years in Scholarly Communication services and instruction, Prof. Amal Mostafa has recently joined Clemson University Libraries as a Scholarly Communication Librarian. Previously, she served as... Read More →
Thursday June 18, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT Virtual Room C
In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a final ruling under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act establishing the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for digital accessibility. The ruling requires state and local government entities serving more than 50,000 people to make their web content and mobile applications fully accessible by April 2026. For large research institutions, this mandate presents an enormous challenge: how do you ensure accessibility across hundreds of licensed databases, thousands of e-journals, multiple digital repositories, and countless web pages?
Assistant Head, Acquisitions & Scholarly Communication, USC Columbia
Amie Freeman is the Scholarly Communication Librarian with the University of South Carolina Libraries' Digital Research Services department. She holds a BA in International Studies and a MLIS from the University of South Carolina. Amie oversees Scholar Commons, UofSC’s institutional... Read More →
What happens when your library receives unexpected news of a significant collections budget cut? How does a severely understaffed department even begin to identify over half a million dollars in savings within three months? With a looming transition to Revenue-Based Budgeting, as well as cuts to the Department of Education and other avenues for research funding, Clemson University Libraries faced a crisis of cutting five percent of the healthy collections budget. The presenters will outline their framework for conducting collections assessment and identifying within a condensed timeframe. In addition to frequent team communication and collaboration with departmental liaison librarians, strategies included utilizing a Renewal Decision Matrix developed by the Associate Dean for Collections & Discovery and a shared Serials Review spreadsheet that calculated cost per use for each resource. Ultimately, over one hundred serial titles and nearly 30 databases were identified for cancellation.
If you are considering starting a new makerspace or expanding the services in a current one, this presentation is for you. This presentation will discuss considerations for designing a makerspace in an existing space as well as newly constructed space. Attendees will benefit from our experiences designing in both conditions. There will be an equipment overview of makerspace technologies including: 3D printing, laser cutting, garment printing, poster printing, vinyl cutting, and sewing machines. We will explore methodologies and audience considerations for equipment selection and potential pitfalls that will save both your time and budget. Makerspace partnerships, programing, workshops, and special projects will also be discussed. We'll discuss outreach opportunities and strategies that have created successful partnerships between the makerspace and faculty as well as university at large. There will also be an overview of the makerspace operations, budgeting, staffing, and assessment will also be discussed.
Associate University Librarian, Coastal Carolina University
Jennifer Hughes has been employed at Kimbel Library, Coastal Carolina University for over 20 years. Most of her experience has been in Access Services, and she currently serves as the Associate University Librarian. Jennifer received her MLIS from the University of South Carolina... Read More →
In 2025, Clemson Libraries' Digitization Services unit migrated its digitization project management workflow built in the software platform Trello to the software platform Wrike. This transition allowed the department and its cross-functional collaborators to review essential steps of digitization workflows and leverage the move to a new system to better manage both large-scale digitization projects and small requests. Based on this experience, this presentation will provide attendees with a software-agnostic framework for determining requirements for and selecting a project management platform. The presentation will provide an example of a real-world process used to develop collaborative library workflows in a newly adopted project management platform and outline governance structures necessary to maintain a cross-functional project management system.
Students are increasingly using generative AI for a variety of educational purposes including research, writing, and citing. Because of this, librarians at Coastal Carolina University decided that AI literacy should be integrated into a long-running, for-credit, information literacy course. This session will provide an overview of how AI literacy was integrated into the course, topics that were addressed, activities and course materials that were used, and how the course materials were received by students. While the presentation focuses on lessons created for a credit course, the material can be adapted to one-shot sessions. As a librarian who is new to generative AI, this presentation is geared towards other beginners who are interested in exploring this topic.
Springshare has released a new product called "LibSites" that allows for the creation of custom library websites using drag-and-drop functionality. Representatives from the Furman Libraries will demonstrate how they are using LibSites to re-envision their website. The presentation will include a brief demo, pros and cons of the software, and a sneak peak of their newly redesigned site built in LibSites.
Mature LibGuides implementations benefit from routine clean-up. After the initial "ugh" when considering how overwhelming the project could be, developing and implementing a strategic approach makes the maintenance efficient and adds value for librarians and Guide users. The presenters will each share how they approached recent clean-up and will propose a model for considering a strategic approach to maintaining LibGuides. One presenter will also touch on her approach to conducting a full systemic review of the entire suite of Springshare products and will discuss how that review intersects LibGuides cleanup. Participants will receive examples of spreadsheets and other organizational tools as well as framing questions for developing a local strategy.
What if we turned source evaluation from the CRAAP test into a pirate adventure where the whole narrative was the lesson? Avoiding a Pirate TRAAP is an original OER narrative that shows what happens to two teenagers who buy the wrong information from a man named Blackbeard Joe. Join me as we look at narrative pedagogy and discuss how to teach source evaluation and information literacy with ancient pedagogy techniques - from the fables of Aesop to the parables of Jesus - as we remix storytelling and learning to make the experience both fun and tangible. We will also discuss using the Adventurfy Method, an instructional method created by Lian Warner, on creating your own learning experiences that add adventure, risk, and story. Participants will gain access to the Pirate TRAAP story and a launchpad on how to create instructional adventures in your own library.
Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) has emerged as a sensible strategy for libraries seeking to expand access to physical collections in digital environments. Grounded in the core "owned-to-loaned" principle, CDL allows libraries to lend digitized versions of legally acquired print materials under controlled conditions that mirror physical circulation, including user authentication, limited loan periods, and technical access controls. Even with the ongoing legal and policy debates, this session will center on understanding how CDL can function in day-to-day library operations, the decision-making that guides its use, and the role it can play in advancing library service missions and strengthening connections.
Academic libraries rely on data from multiple vendor platforms, yet reporting workflows are often manual, fragmented, and time-consuming. This session shares the development of a semi-automated assessment dashboard that integrates data across systems to streamline reporting and improve transparency. The presentation will outline practical steps for auditing available data, establishing a sustainable extraction process, and designing dashboards that support both internal planning and public reporting. The presentation will emphasize decision-making, tool selection, and workflow design that can scale across different institutional contexts. Attendees will learn how to leverage different tools to reduce annual reporting preparation time, strengthen shared understanding of library impact, and support more consistent data practices. Considerations related to data governance and ethical use will also be addressed.
