Rebranding the Library Through Engineering Outreach: Three Case Studies at the University of Waterloo

Abstract In 2023, with a full return to in-person learning post-Covid-19 lockdowns, Engineering Librarians at the University of Waterloo seized opportunities to explore new programming and partnerships. This paper presents three case studies of collaborations involving librarians from four different departments within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo, as well as a brief examination of key takeaways, lessons learned, and future potential. While each of these cases details a collaboration with a different department, this paper will outline how the impetus behind and the outcomes stemming from these collaborations are related: Waterloo's engineering librarians are dedicated to rebranding the Library as a key element to academic success. The collaborations include a semester-long co-curricular program, the strategic inclusion of library services into wellness programming, and an interactive multi-part stakeholder workshop. The focus of the collaborations included experiential learning, project-based learning, and wellness, and all collaborations involved librarians joining with external groups and stakeholders to broaden impact. In each of the three cases, the initial ask was not for information literacy (IL) instruction – or even for librarian support – but by identifying a point-of-need and having conversations with campus colleagues, librarians have made themselves a fundamental part of interesting partnerships. These experiences demonstrated how librarians are ideal collaborators, and partnerships are more engaging when they combine personal and professional areas of expertise. While IL was not the aim for any of these collaborations, they all became a natural fit to integrate IL skills, and have three consistent themes throughout: 1) Fostering Relationships over time, 2) Building a culture of trust, 3) Saying yes, each of which can be continue to be used when launching new interesting initiatives and projects.