Many academic librarians wonder how to get more students into campus libraries. At the University of Florida’s (UF) George A. Smathers Libraries in Gainesville, we’ve had success by bringing the library to students.
In 2021, we created the peer-to-peer Undergraduate Library Advisors (ULA) program, where four students help to spread awareness of library resources and services among UF’s nearly 40,000 undergrads. Our goal was to make sure students knew that our six vibrant campus libraries offer myriad academic resources—as well as student wellness resources and opportunities to discover, explore, and create.
In 2024, ULA member Sophia Medina devised a new student engagement project to help meet this challenge. She recalled attending a past convention with friends and seeing in the program book that the local library was hosting a reading room. They visited during a free hour between sessions, and browsing and reading turned out to be a great way to spend the time.
With this in mind, Medina created a pop-up library reading room at a comic con–style annual convention on campus called SwampCon. A play on the nickname of UF’s football stadium, the Swamp, SwampCon is a free student-run event that celebrates Japanese arts, fashion, gaming, pop culture, cosplay, and performance arts.
Medina discovered that many students were not aware of the library’s collection of manga, graphic novels, and related resources, such as LibGuides about comic books and science fiction. The pop-up reading room featured a collection of more than 70 items she handpicked from several campus libraries. It presented an ideal opportunity to centrally promote UF’s collections to a broad student audience.
Convention attendees could browse the reading room or relax with a book. The curated mix included well-known titles as well as deep cuts that fans were happily surprised to learn were available in UF libraries.
Our library staffers were available to check out materials to students on the spot. We had fliers to help students locate these collections in our library branches later, plus informational brochures about other offerings across the campus libraries.
The reading room demonstrated the power of embedding library resources within student-centered spaces.
The reading room demonstrated the power of embedding our library resources within student-centered spaces and reinforced the importance of aligning library programs with students’ interests. This experience has strengthened the libraries’ efforts to create unique ways to connect with students and change students’ perception of the library—from a hub solely for academic support to a student-life center holistically dedicated to their well-being and success.
We founded ULA soon after campus operations returned to normal following the shift to online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cohort members are in their second year or higher. Selection is based on students’ experience with content creation and outreach, connections to student organizations, and interest in library work. Jasmine Simmons, student success librarian, oversees the program with colleague Patricia Takacs, political science librarian.
After six weeks of training in information literacy and library services, cohorts plan, host, and participate in student engagement activities at the library; represent the library at campuswide events; and create promotional materials. As Medina did, each ULA member devises a passion project: a new promotional or instructional resource for students, or a new student engagement event.
The SwampCon reading room serves as a model for peer-led outreach that bridges gaps and helps ensure that students are aware of and able to access library resources. It taught ULA to engage students beyond traditional settings and to position the library as not separate from student life but part of it.
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