American University\u27s School of Public Affairs Leadership Program Discovers the Library

American University’s mission statement tells us that “among major universities...its distinctive feature...is its capacity as a national and international university to turn ideas into action and action into service.”[1] With such a strong institutional priority placed on service learning, it is important for the AU Library to explore involvement in service learning programs. This presentation will introduce attendees to service learning at AU generally, with primary focus on the School of Public Affairs Leadership program. Under the leadership of upperclassmen, freshmen in the program explore a social justice problem in small groups. For the fall semester, each interest group proposes a solution to a social justice problem in the form of a policy memo. In spring semester, they partner with a local non-profit to implement their proposed solution. The policy memo assignment provides a unique opportunity for a subject specialist librarian to provide targeted research skills and information literacy instruction that directly relates to community action. This case study will allow us to see how this works in practice, how student learning outcomes have improved, and will explore how the model can be expanded to work with other service learning programs. [1] American University, “Statement of Common Purpose: American University’s Mission,” 1994, updated 11/8/2010, http://www.american.edu/president/Statement-of-Common-Purpose.cfm