Book Reviews

Melissa A. Wong and Laura Saunders. Instruction in Libraries and Information Centers: An Introduction. Urbana-Champaign, IL: Windsor & Downs Press, 2020. Online.

Within the literature for library and information science (LIS) practitioners, there are a number of books published about information literacy and library instruction ranging from practical instruction cookbooks with activities and lesson plans, to books more focused on critical information literacy. Practitioners and students who are interested in reading about library instruction and teaching information literacy have many choices, but those who are new to the topic may not know where to start. Laura Saunders, an associate professor at the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University, and Melissa A. Wong, an adjunct instructor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, wrote Instruction in Libraries and Information Centers: An Introduction as an open access textbook that is designed to teach and prepare anyone interested in library instruction, particularly library school students taking coursework in this area. For those who feel shy or intimidated about learning theory, Sanders and Wong take great care in breaking down each theoretical concept and providing ample examples throughout the book. The authors include reflective exercises that allow readers to pause and reflect on the reading. They make learning theory much more accessible and digestible to students and those who are new to these concepts. Each chapter provides the key theories and cites foundational scholarship in education and LIS; so, if there are particular areas that one might want to learn more about, they can explore the further readings.

The book is organized into five sections: Introduction to Instruction in Libraries, Foundations of Teaching and Learning, Instructional Design, Teaching across Venues and Modalities, and Program Management. The introduction begins with a fascinating historical overview of library instruction, positioning librarians as teachers and explaining why library patrons have needed instruction on how to access and use library materials. Saunders and Wong then define information literacy, taking a historical approach and exploring how the definition has shifted over time, as well as its application in the libraries and archives field. They also take note of other movements in the field to discuss critical approaches to information literacy, how various professional organizations like AASL, ACRL, and IMLS have used information literacy to guide instruction librarians and how understanding patron perspectives of information literacy can also guide the work of teaching librarians.

In the Foundations of Teaching and Learning section, Saunders and Wong lay out some of the fundamental learning and educational theories. They break down general learning theories and principles like Behaviorism, Humanism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, Social Constructivism, and more. Knowledge of these core learning theories allows for the teacher to be intentional with their pedagogical approaches, and this section grounds the reader in these core theories. In the rest of the section, the chapters call out more specific ideas like active learning, critical pedagogy, and accessibility and universal design. Having chapters on both critical pedagogy and accessible and universal design suggests a promising and encouraging future for the training and education of teaching librarians. By including these ideas as foundational, the textbook points toward a more inclusive approach to library instruction. The authors prompt the reader to consider things like power dynamics in the classroom, implicit bias, and accessibility, and they provide strategies for inclusive teaching. This book is a step toward making these concepts core to LIS education around library instruction and pedagogy, rather than reducing them to specialized or outsider approaches to teaching and learning in libraries.

The third section of the book serves as a primer for instructional design through the framework of backwards design. Backwards design is a key component to understanding how to teach, design lesson plans, and construct instructional materials. This section gives the reader everything they need to know about how to prepare for and to teach a synchronous class. Wong and Saunders cover identifying audience needs, creating learning goals and outcomes, assessment of learning, and planning instructional strategies through breaking down the different modes of instruction. The authors include sample lesson plans, strategies for evaluating and improving your instruction, and the fundamentals of reflective practice. Throughout this section, there are examples of instructional materials and examples of how this design process is applied in a library instruction setting.

The section on Teaching across Venues and Modalities covers the various ways that library instruction is taught. Saunders and Wong break down how to teach online for both synchronous and asynchronous instruction, from credit-bearing courses to point-of-need instruction that occurs through reference interactions and research consultations. They offer solid ways for the reader to plan for engaging sessions and lesson plans for synchronous sessions, as well as ways to create dynamic online learning objects through an evidence-based framework. Many instruction librarians had to shift to entirely online instruction due to COVID-19, and this portion of the book is particularly useful for guidance on best practices for that modality.

The final section of the book covers instruction program management, including ways to market and do for library instruction and how to manage and coordinate library instruction. They walk readers through program management using backwards design principles, scaffolding learning outcomes, curriculum mapping, and program evaluation. This section gives a bird’s-eye view of how to approach and manage a library instruction program, offering both a programmatic perspective and a nuts-and-bolts explanation of the day-to-day work required to coordinate instructional services in a library setting.

This text is a much-needed addition to the LIS literature in the area of library instruction. It is an extremely thoughtful and comprehensive text that gives readers a starting point to understand everything that one would need to know about library instruction. From why librarians teach, to the educational theories that inform the profession’s approach, to the formats in which library instruction is taught and how library instruction programs are managed, this book provides historical context, key concepts, and activities to prompt reflection. It is clearly written by authors who are themselves thoughtful teachers and written in a way that is easy to understand. The thoughtful prompts and activities woven into each chapter allow the reader to take notes and reflect, which makes reading about theory a little less intimidating. The extremely pragmatic examples of how these ideas are applied in a library or information setting make this book a must-read for any library school student or anyone interested in learning about library instruction.—Annie Pho, University of San Francisco