Library Champions act as an important link between students and Libraries & Collections. Through engaging with the libraries' work, they help bring the views of students across the university into decision-making and ensure their needs are understood in the development of library services, collections and spaces.
Any student can join the programme at any time during their studies, to receive invitations for different activities throughout the year. Depending on the activity, Library Champions can gain valuable experience to add to their CV, use the scheme to apply for a King’s Experience Award, or receive vouchers or pay in return for their time and insight.
Opportunities will include:
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Collaborating with library staff on projects to improve our services, collections or spaces.
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Taking part in user experience research or focus groups.
We are very keen to include a wide range of voices in the Library Champions programme, and particularly welcome students from underserved communities such as disabled or First-Generation students – but everyone is welcome.
You do not need to be a regular library user to get involved.
Sign-up to become a Library Champion
If you have any questions, please contact: ML-LC-ServiceDevelopment@kcl.ac.uk
Looking back: Library Champions 2023-24
From December 2023 to June 2024, Library Champions contributed a range of activities, including:
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What makes a good reading list - Statement of Purpose
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In 2023 our Library Champions told us their main priority for reading lists was clarity: of their overall purpose, how to use them, and what to read and when. In 2024 we took this feedback and turned it into reality by collaborating with nine students to create a statement of purpose for online reading lists at King's, to help provide a more consistent and equitable experience for our students. Library Champions participated in a 2-hour workshop and a 1-hour feedback session with library staff.
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What makes a good reading list – Conference presentation
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As a follow-up to the 2022-23 Library Champions project, “What Makes a Good Reading List”, two of the original project students joined library colleagues in preparing and presenting on the group’s findings at the WHELF (Wales Higher Education Libraries Forum) online conference 2024..
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Review of Open Education Resources at King's
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Integrating Open Education Resources (OERs) into courses can reduce the financial burdens not only on King's students, but for students globally. To inform the next phase of our work to create and use OERs, we recruited eight Library Champions to help us understand how much they are currently used at King's. Students took part in a 3-hour workshop and a 2-hour reading list audit session.
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Useability testing of King’s Library Search interface
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Five Library Champions took part in indiviudal, 1-hour, in-person, useability testing with library staff to help us learn what works well for students in Library Search, and what needs improvement. We discovered various opportunities to make things easier for library users, e.g. around terminology and navigation, and are now prioritising these in our next project phase.
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“Guerrilla” user interviews at St. Thomas’ library
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King's new library space at St. Thomas’ Hospital is somewhat different from other King’s libraries: It’s unstaffed and part of a social study hub for King’s students and staff, as well as NHS staff working at St. Thomas’, with a café amongst the books and very open, modern aesthetics. To find out what users think of this innovative space, we trained and deployed five Library Champions to carry out in-person user interviews, “guerrilla”-style (spontaneous and brief). They found out much for us feed into improvement plans, e.g. appreciation of the cafe and seating options, as well as requirements for IT equipment and accessibility.
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