The Library Engagement Ambassadors is a group of 7 dynamic undergraduate students at the University of Michigan serving as liaisons between the UM Library and the student body who help increase student engagement. Together this group and I have done so by facilitating programming events and creating digital content for social media throughout the school year.
As an aspiring future Social Media Manager, I was excited to join this program for the experience it would give me in the field of my dream career. I decided to take part on the Social Media Team, in which we were tasked with creating posts for the Library’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. In these posts, we highlighted unexplored library resources, programming events our group had coordinated, and even important dates and holidays like Pi Day.
One of my favorite social media posts was a picture of the Hatcher Graduate Library after a snow storm, which I connected to a library resource by incorporating the UM Library’s Climate Science Resource Guide. I was also excited to explore other fun and engaging types of posts such as GIFs. I used a GIF for a tweet before Spring Break with the caption “Spring Break = Study Break!” and a man putting his feet up to relax and take a break from the books. Developing this sort of content allowed me to push the bounds of my creativity and grow my knowledge and understanding of using social media in a more professional setting.
During the creation of social media posts and programming events, it was important to keep in mind sorts of information and library resources that students would find interesting and engaging. This thinking enabled me to develop the idea of offering free headshot photos to students as a programming event. Not only was I happy to receive my own free headshot image from this program, but I was thrilled to see that other students were excited about this new offering and taking full advantage of it. We plan on further expanding this event in the future.
Throughout my work as a UM Library Engagement Ambassador, I have begun to feel like I am a part of something greater than myself and am proud to contribute to such an important part of the University as a whole. This experience has shown me that the library is not only a place for books and research, but it is a kingdom of opportunities, learning, and growth. I hope that from the work of the UM Library Engagement Ambassadors that students in the University of Michigan community will realize this as well.
--Abbey Warren, Library Student Engagement Ambassador