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The chapter seeks to address a current gap in the literature: envisioning and justifying community outreach projects and turning such insights into best practices for managing such projects. Drawing heavily on informational interviews, the article highlights the importance of defining shared missions and strategic plans, identifying partners, researching needs and expectations, building trust and partnerships, setting and fulfilling communication expectations, offering tangible benefits to the partner, and evaluating outcomes. While focused on health sciences librarians and their community partners, these practices are broadly applicable to many library outreach programs and can enhance credibility, approaches, and impact, while increasing funding opportunities and users while creating sustainable collaborations.

In its simplest form, community engagement is a process whereby an organization works with the groups and individuals it serves to transform a shared vision into actions that ultimately benefit them. This chapter presents a framework to assist library managers and administrators in reimagining their outreach efforts from a community engagement perspective where users actively shape their shared experiences with the library. Although there are resources that discuss how libraries can structure these initiatives through the ACRL Library Marketing and Outreach Interest Group, the Public Library Association, and publications such as Marketing Libraries Journal, some of the literature surrounding community-based work is not as directly tied to outreach. By reading this chapter, libraries will find information related to defining their role within their communities, outlining strategies for collaboration, conducting needs assessment, gap analysis, asset mapping, and identifying a variety of outreach activities and their accompanying assessment strategies.

With outreach responsibilities on the rise in academic libraries and budgets declining or remaining stagnant, finding outreach initiatives that support the university in creative ways are on the rise. This study seeks to compare outreach initiatives by academic librarians to a project conducted by the author.

Academic librarians with responsibilities in outreach, marketing, and promotion were targeted in a survey sent to listervs in the Summer of 2011. A total of 21 academic librarians described successful outreach initiatives. A small response rate reflects the target audience.

The survey revealed a wide range of outreach initiatives that compare funding: library, university, grant, and other. The author's project greatly exceeded the cost of all other initiatives.

The research identifies survey flaws and a small reach to the targeted audience. Suggestions for future research include a modified survey to the Association of Library Communications and Outreach Professionals.

Technology advancements and budget restraints have put pressure on outreach librarians to provide successful programs with less funding. Many colleges and universities across the nation have inserted outreach into public services positions.

The literature produces limited research about successful outreach initiatives over the past five years where economic duress has been nationwide. Outreach librarians will find inspiration in the collected outreach projects undertaken at 21 colleges and universities across America to create projects with limited funding.

The purpose of this paper is to identify good practice in conducting outreach for homeless people, and hence to provide recommendations for future library outreach projects.

The authors examine of four case studies taken from the library literature, and conduct six semi‐structured interviews with outreach and/or inclusion librarians from library authorities in South and West Yorkshire.

The recommendations include: developing partnerships with relevant organisations; removing proof‐of‐identity requirements for joining the library; disseminating the results obtained in projects; using book deposits and mobile library stops; training library staff to ensure that they are aware of relevant issues; building trust in the target audience; ensuring that outreach is tailored to the specific needs of different groups of homeless people; and using a range of methods to evaluate project effectiveness.

Identification of themes common to the published case studies and to the interviews provides a reasoned basis for the recommendations that are presented. These recommendations provide, for the first time in the UK, clear guidelines for future outreach projects for homeless people.

This paper seeks to present a history of the initiations of an outreach or satellite reference service and analysis based on experience with the project.

The methodology involved an online survey, e‐mail queries, and in‐person surveys.

A successful program was initiated in one site, but a second site failed to thrive. Evaluation of the second site led to the creation of criteria by which to judge future sites.

This article contains a survey which is not statistically valid, which offers anecdotal insight into current reference outreach practice. A method of creating an outreach program is offered, along with pitfalls associated with that method.

This article offers a method of evaluation for physical sites external to the library that may be potential sites of reference services.

Builds on current practice in engineering libraries and creates a more concrete method for initiating these sites than currently exists in engineering library literature.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to use a web-based library game as an outreach tool at events. Games in higher education are a trend that libraries have used for information literacy but less frequently for outreach. Although there are relatively few examples of the use of games in academic library outreach events, games have the potential to be excellent outreach tools by engaging students and presenting them with the opportunity to change their perceptions of the library.

The University of North Dakota (UND) Libraries successfully connected with students at an outreach event by using a modified version of the Information Literacy Game originally developed by the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG). UND Librarians created specific technical modifications and an event workflow, highlighted here, that other academic libraries can adapt for use at outreach events to attract both students who are and those who are not typically users of the library.

The information literacy game, with some specific technical changes, is customizable in relatively inexpensive ways that allow librarians from institutions of all sizes to engage students with a game at outreach events.

Games, especially Web-based games, have not previously been used in outreach events. The literature on the use of games in information literacy sessions but outreach is an even more logical fit for gaming. This paper presents a practical, value-oriented method for academic libraries to modify an information literacy game for use in outreach.

The appearance of a paper on outreach in an issue devoted to practical achievement might strike some readers as odd. For one thing, outreach as a theoretical concept can appear far removed from the realities of librarianship. For another and despite any potential applications it might possess, the term is hedged about in ambiguity, misunderstanding and to an extent mistrust. Even in those circles where the term enjoys a fair degree of acceptance, one can be hard put to find a consensus as to what it actually means. And yet this is by no means the whole story because that outreach has had some influence upon library affairs during the past ten to fifteen years is quite certain. This paper re‐examines the concept and considers the extent to which it has spread among public libraries in the United Kingdom, both in terms of understanding and as regards the provision of services. An attempt will also be made to assess public library performance in respect of outreach librarianship.

Adults in the United States have low health literacy skills which puts them at high risk for serious health consequences. Libraries have traditionally provided programming on a variety of topics for patrons but barriers such as technology and transportation access may prevent potential patrons from attending. Librarians can help increase the health literacy skills of community members by providing health outreach programming to the communities they serve. This chapter examines strategies and specific examples that library managers can implement to facilitate technology and health literacy skills through programming in communities.

The purpose of this article is to explore the outreach programming and support services offered at academic libraries during final exams week. The article discusses the need to provide this specialized programming, and its impact on the role of the librarian, and the use of library space.

A 21-question online survey was sent to nine library listservs. Respondents were asked about their library’s planning, implementation and assessment of their programming. Participants described their library’s final exams week outreach activities and offerings.

The survey garnered 279 responses. Nearly 40 per cent of respondents collaborate with campus and non-campus partners to provide programming. Most common offerings include extended library hours; therapy animals; as well as games; and arts and crafts. Nearly 90 per cent of respondents reported utilizing virtual media outlets for communication of final exams week events. Most common challenges included lack of funding and staffing issues.

The survey results reflect the efforts of librarians and library staff members who are addressing the study break needs of students during the most stressful time in the semester.

This paper provides an overview of academic library final exams week outreach initiatives and activities at institutions located in the USA and Canada.

This article aims to describe the many ways academic library outreach practices are evolving through online formats. It underscores the implications of moving communications and resources online for educational opportunity program (EOP) students when considering these students' specific technology usage patterns and the need for face‐to‐face mentoring. The article seeks to make recommendations for libraries that intend to develop successful programming and interactions with transitional students online; and to bring to light the need for future research concerning the creation and usage of online educational support structures that specifically serve the EOP community.

A literature review discusses technology and academic library outreach programming as well as the historic and current digital divide and learning styles of EOP transitional students. Recommendations are made for how to best meet EOP student needs online to support the traditional in‐person programming in which these students succeed.

Identifying successful learning structures and potential technology usage patterns of EOP students provided the foundation for this article. Developing library outreach and programming within the online platforms EOP students access and utilize is necessary to support continued face‐to‐face interactions in an academic setting. More research is necessary in order to support transitional students in a digital format.

This article describes digital outreach efforts targeting non‐campus and campus communities, in particular within EOP transitional programming. It inquires about how to best meet transitional students in a digital format when they have historically succeeded in face‐to‐face educational interactions and settings.