Launching the Library Student Toolkit!

By Sahar Kasiri-Motlagh & Rochelle David

The 2024 Ontario College and University Library Association (OCULA) Council Student Representatives are excited to introduce the Student Library Toolkit, a collection of useful information concerning the world of academic libraries. Created by Sahar and Rochelle, the winners of the 2024 OCULA Lightning Strikes Award, the toolkit is meant to serve as a resource for all library and information students who are working towards their technician diploma or master’s of information degree.

As temporary members of the OCULA Council – Student Representatives serve for a term of one year – we wanted to use our time wisely and produce something that current and future library students could benefit from. Between the two of us, we hold a Master’s of Information (MI) degree from the University of Toronto and a Library and Information Technology (LIT) diploma from Seneca College/Polytechnic. Through a series of discussions, we realized that the academic library world is rather large and can be daunting to navigate. Despite its size, we felt at home in this environment because of all the knowledge we have acquired through our mentors, internship experiences, and professors. Drawing from our own experiences diving into academic librarianship, we set out to answer the question: “How can we use our knowledge to help library students navigate the vast and sometimes intimidating world of academic libraries?” The creation of a toolkit appeared to be the most obvious answer.

We are happy to announce that the toolkit has gone from a simple idea to a real resource that library students can use. Seeking information is foundational for information professionals. However, it is hard to do when you are new to the field and don’t quite know where to look. We didn’t want this learning curve to hinder library students or cause them to miss out on opportunities. Our intent for this toolkit is to have all highly relevant and impactful information in one easily accessible place. The toolkit covers a large range of topics that are valuable for all types of library students. The kit contains information about academic library journals, blogs and podcasts that students can use for their assignments or to stay up to date with the industry. It provides information about scholarships and employment tips to help students stay financially afloat while undergoing their studies. The toolkit also has information about conferences, job hunting, and much more.

You can find our Library Student Toolkit on the Ontario Library Association (OLA) website, on the Students & Recent Graduates page under Membership.

Sahar Kasiri-Motlagh is an Access/Information Services Specialist at the University of Toronto whose research interests revolve around the ever-changing needs of all library users. Sarah can be reached at sahar.kasiri.motlagh@utoronto.ca 

Rochelle David is a Toronto Academic Library Intern (TALint) at the University of Toronto Engineering and Computer Science Library and a Graduate Student Library Assistant (GSLA) at the Ontario Institute for Studies In Education (OISE) library. Rochelle’s research interests surround the experiences of racialized staff and students in the academic library environment, as well as policy development and decision-making in libraries and government. Rochelle can be reached at rochelle.david@mail.utoronto.ca.