The importance of understanding the community a library serves in order to best support their information needs is universally applicable in the library profession. This session introduces two separate research projects examining specific student groups in theological libraries. Rebecca Donald, Director of Library Services at Trinity International University, will share lessons learned from interviewing students of color about their experiences with the library. She’ll discuss listening to understand how the library can be more welcoming and thinking about how librarians can work toward anti-racism. Cindy Lu will discuss her doctoral research on the outsider mentality of theological students from China, whose lived experience of practice and learning in unregistered, underground Christian communities in China informs their complicated interactions and relationships with library staff. She’ll address how librarians can support these students’ academic study, build trusted relationships, and rethink approaches to reference services, front-desk staffing, and library orientations to be more inclusive and equitable. These two studies illustrate the varied demographics of student populations in theological libraries while addressing the common ground of actively taking steps to understand user populations in order to design appropriate services and foster supportive learning environments.
