MidAmerica Nazarene University Mabee Library

MidAmerica Nazarene University’s (MNU) Mabee Library will formalize and disseminate an existing model that reframes undergraduate library employment as an intentional environment for vocational exploration and formation in academic librarianship. Developed through several years of practice at MNU, the model helps undergraduate library workers interpret their employment as apprenticeship within the professional culture of the academic library rather than simply campus work. Students participate in authentic library practice, collaborate with academic librarians, and engage in structured reflection, mentoring relationships, and peer learning. This community-centered implementation project will produce an open educational resource (OER) toolkit that enables academic libraries to adapt and implement the model in their own student employment programs and strengthen recruitment pathways into academic librarianship.