Three Legs on the Stool: Service Learning Projects, Community, and Library

Illinois Wesleyan University’s Action Research Center launches many different service learning projects in the Bloomington-Normal community. Often these projects originate from the community, and employ the action research model that imbeds the participant-researcher in the organization or program that is being studied. The IWU library has seized on opportunities to integrate library research and critical thinking skills into service learning projects. Some are obvious - working with faculty and students in senior seminar classes to assist with research papers and presentations - while others are more subtle. Using a service learning project as a case study, the authors discuss the ‘three legs on a stool’: how innovative approaches are building a foundation for library engagement with faculty and students involved in service learning through the Action Research Center.