May 2017 255 C&RL News In today’s digital environment, connecting with students in a meaningful way can be difficult. Our recent whiteboard project at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) was a successful way for us to engage students in the physical space of the library. UCA’s Carnegie classification is “Master’s Colleges and Universities (larger programs)” and had a total enrollment of 11,487 students for the fall 2016 semester. For the fiscal year 2015– 16 our gate count was 482,934 students. The UCA Library operations are managed by 11 faculty members and 30 staff members, plus the assistance of 35 student workers. UCA students use the library as both an academic and a social place. While we constantly remind them about our electronic resources, we do not often highlight our physical resources, such as study rooms and comfortable furniture. We can easily count database usage and book checkouts, but sometimes it is a challenge to understand how students are using the physical space in the library. Our library has no room to grow physi- cally, so we wanted to make the most effi- cient and effective use possible of the space that we do have. The whiteboard project afforded us an unobtrusive way to engage with students while also offering a way to understand their use of the physical space. Student-use whiteboard project In the first iteration of our project, we mounted whiteboards to the walls in our large group study rooms. However, we quickly discovered that the students need- ed more space as their scrawlings contin- ued onto the glass windows of the study rooms. In response, we painted the large study rooms with whiteboard paint. Upon receiving positive feedback from the stu- dents, we painted the smaller study rooms, as well. As we built new study rooms, we automatically included whiteboard walls. Once we saw the popularity and success of the whiteboard paint in study rooms, we extended into the rest of the library study spaces, purchasing mobile magnetic white- boards that could be wheeled around the library. As we all know, student engagement is just as much about the digital environment as it is about the physical library space. In- corporating the whiteboard project into our social media is important to us. While we discuss specific engagement efforts below, we were able to entwine the student-use whiteboards and social media by creat- ing #UCALibraryArt, allowing us to share student art we found throughout the study rooms. Sometimes these are simply doodles that we find. Other times, students attempt Karen Pruneda is instructional services technician, email: kpruneda@uca.edu, Amber Wilson is education and outreach librarian, email: amberc@uca.edu, and Jessica Riedmueller is instructional services librarian, email: jriedmueller@uca.edu, University of Central Arkansas © 2017 Karen Pruneda , Amber Wilson, and Jessica Riedmueller Karen Pruneda, Amber Wilson, and Jessica Riedmueller Writing on the walls Engaging students through whiteboards mailto:kpruneda%40uca.edu?subject= mailto:amberc%40uca.edu?subject= mailto:jriedmueller%40uca.edu?subject= C&RL News May 2017 256 to encourage and motivate other students through their art. For example, one student drew a picture of Dory from Find- ing Nemo that said, “Just Keep Studying . . .” and we wanted to share that with all students. We also feature aca- demic work such as math problems, chemical equations, conjugated verbs, and anatomy dia- grams. Library engagement whiteboard We kept a few of the mobile whiteboards near a high-traffic area in the front of the library that could be used to gener- ate interaction or to display impor- tant library infor- mation. We often pose light-hearted questions on the mobile white- boards such as the popular, “What mythological crea- ture would you want to be?” or “What’s your fa- vorite old-school video game?” This ensures that students are al- ways checking the boards and will see any new services or infor- mation we want to share with them. Sometimes the only engagement we ask them for is to make a tally mark indicating their opinion on something like “Who do you think will win the NCAA Basketball Final Four?” A simple choice is likely to garner engage- ment because it is quick and easy, although some- times we still get written comments on such questions. At the beginning of a semester, we feature tips and in- formation for new users such as how to check out items, how to print, how to access our on- line resources, or how to get help from a librarian. We also share new ser- vices and products offered in the library on whiteboards throughout the year. We usually leave magnets with our social media accounts, website, phone number, and our “Ask Us” link on the whiteboards. Social media p r o m o t i o n o f whiteboard im- ages has had a m a r k e d i m p a c t on UCA Library engagement and awareness of ser- vices and events. We often tag re- lated departments on campus with the whiteboard posts to extend our reach to those other departments. Whiteboard images posted on social media fall into several categories: publicity of library Example of a fun UCA whiteboard poll. Dory drawing on UCA whiteboard. May 2017 257 C&RL News services, events, whiteboard questions and answers, student art, or contests. In terms of whiteboard publicity, we have informed students about Banned Books Week readings outside the library, and read- ings by the creative writing department. We also used our mobile whiteboards to create displays. For example, for African American History Month, we used magnets to display photos of individuals at UCA from our ar- chives. We asked students to go on our social media to learn more about each photo, and then revealed the information on the board the following day. Students responded well to these proj- e c t s . F o r i n- stance, when we celebrated National Poetry Month students wrote poems or phrases us- ing the magnets that other stu- dents later add- ed to or altered. The lower half of the board e n c o u r a g e d s t u d e n t s “ t o take or leave a poem” thus creating a shared poetic space. We have also engaged with national cam- paigns such as the ALA’s #LibrariesTransform Campaign, which provided students with the opportunity to note how libraries transformed their lives on the magnetic whiteboard with printed word bubbles. We took photos of these statements and shared them on social media. Suggestions for other libraries Occasionally, it is difficult to strike a balance between letting students have free rein with the whiteboards and keeping content appro- priate for a university library. When we rolled out the whiteboard walls in the study rooms, we had a lot of inappropriate drawings both on the whiteboard areas and the light switch plates, which were not whiteboard surfaces. While these problems occurred primarily during the first few weeks, it was frustrating. We appreciated the students’ enthusiasm for the whiteboards, but we were not hap- py about policing the content. Any library considering implementing whiteboards as a way to engage and interact with their stu- dents should be aware that stu- dents often find unsuitable con- tent funny and be prepared to monitor this. When writ- ing questions on the white- boards, it’s im- portant to think of unintended consequences and the type of responses that might be g e n e r a t e d . Sometimes if a question is very earnest or expected, students may attempt to inject some humor. Humorous, light-hearted, poignant, or timely questions tend to be most successful in eliciting stu- dent responses. To avoid any implication of censorship, we will often erase the entire board or wall that has any inappropriate content instead of just singling out one drawing or message. Other considerations for effecting a white- board project include upkeep on the walls as the finish wears off, fixing or replacing wheels on the mobile whiteboards, or the (continues on page 268) Student work on UCA whiteboard. C&RL News May 2017 268 Saturday, June 24 Instruction Section. Soiree, location TBD, no registration required, 5:30–7:30 p.m. Contacts: Sue Franzen, srfranz@ilstu.edu. Literatures in English Section. Social, loca- tion, TBD, no registration is required, 6:00 p.m. Contacts: Meg Meiman, meg.meiman@gmail. com and Piper Martin, pmarti17@uwyo.edu. University Libraries Section. Social, Mu- nicipal Bar & Dining Co., no registration re- quired, 5:30–7:00 p.m. Contact: Sara Holder, shholder@gmail.com. Sunday, June 25 Community and Junior College Librar- ies Section. Awards and Dinner Meeting, The Berghoff, pre-registration is required, 6:00–9:00 p.m. Contact: Sandy C. McCarthy, mccarthy@wccnet.edu. Distance Learning Section. Award lun- cheon, pre-registration required, 1:00–2:30 possibility of permanent markings due to the use of unauthorized markers. To avoid this last pitfall, we keep a large supply of several different colors of whiteboard markers and make them readily available to students. However, we some- times have difficulty meeting requests for markers or have had to ration them when our supply budget has run low. The cost of upkeep on both the walls/boards and mark- ers is something that we have committed to for the foreseeable future, as students now expect us to provide these things. One final consideration might be to start this as a small project, maybe just focusing on whiteboard content in a small part of the library, before doing it on a large scale. In addition, it takes some time to main- tain the mobile whiteboards, which are used as a shared intellectual space for library information and monthly activities. It can be time-consuming to add information, materi- p.m. Contacts: Rebecca Nowicki, Rebecca. nowicki@ashford.edu, and Brandon West, westb@geneseo.edu. Science and Technology Section. Din- ner, location TBD, pre-registration is re- quired, 6:00–8:00 p.m. Contacts: Rachel Hamelers, rhamelers@muhlenberg.edu, and Beth Blanton-Kent, bwb9f@eservices.virginia /edu. Western European Studies Section/ Slavic and East European Section. Boat cruise, pre-registration is required, 6:00– 9:00 p.m. Contact: Adan Griego, griego@ stanford.edu. Monday, June 26 EBSS Communication Studies Commit- tee. Media tour of NBC 5 Chicago’s news- room, 454 N. Columbus Dr., Chicago, IL 60611, pre-registration is required, 5:30–7:00 p.m. Contact: Chimene Tucker, cetucker@ usc.edu. als, and questions to the boards. We often write a question for students to answer on the boards, and it’s important to think about who will monitor the boards and create the questions. In our library, various individuals have taken on the task of posting questions in a fluid system. Sometimes the board fills up quickly, so it might eventually be a good idea to designate certain individuals who will create questions, and develop a process for reviewing the questions, or a Google Doc for suggested and planned questions. Overall, the whiteboard project has been very successful for the UCA Library. We have seen marked increases in both our social media following and engagement with students. Though we have incurred some maintenance and upkeep costs, we are excited about continuing the project. (“Writing on the walls,” continues from page 257) mailto:srfranz%40ilstu.edu?subject= mailto:meg.meiman%40gmail.com?subject= mailto:meg.meiman%40gmail.com?subject= mailto:pmarti17%40uwyo.edu?subject= mailto:shholder%40gmail.com?subject= mailto:mccarthy%40wccnet.edu?subject= mailto:nowicki%40ashford.edu?subject= mailto:westb%40geneseo.edu?subject= mailto:rhamelers%40muhlenberg.edu?subject= mailto:bwb9f%40eservices.virginia%20/edu?subject= mailto:bwb9f%40eservices.virginia%20/edu?subject= mailto:griego%40stanford.edu?subject= mailto:griego%40stanford.edu?subject= mailto:cetucker%40usc.edu?subject= mailto:cetucker%40usc.edu?subject=