What are guiding questions?
Inquiry is a foundational practice of research, education, and ethical community engagement. In order to express our curiosity and interests and center our values, we have created questions that are intended to guide our work for the year. Guiding questions are similar to a theme in that they help us make decisions and maintain focus for our work. However, they make clear that we don’t have the answers – our communal work is that of learning from one another.
Our work is moved forward by committee and can only be accomplished through an extended network of individuals. Guiding questions assure that each of us understands what we aim to learn as a group while we make progress on individual tasks.
We seek to establish a culture of learning and believe that providing guiding questions is one way to do so.
2023-2024 Guiding Questions
- Where do libraries fall within the conception of student community? How do students want libraries to support them in their efforts to build community?
- What communication channels are we using for different library stakeholders? What are some limitations of these communication channels?
- How do you prove your library’s value to faculty and/or college administrators? How do you go about building connections with faculty and/or college administrators?
- What fun projects/events/initiatives is your library doing that you’re proud of?
2022-2023 Guiding Questions
- How do you find meaning in your role/work? How do you disengage in extraneous work that you don’t find meaningful?
- How do you feel about the idea of “quiet quitting?” Does periodic reassessment of how much time that you devote to work versus other important factors in your life (e.g. family, health, etc.) automatically constitute abdicating your job responsibilities?
2021-2022 Guiding Questions
- How has the pandemic changed our understanding of the value of our work and which workers are most “essential” to our organizations?
- How has the culture of our workplaces and our profession supported or undermined our health and wellbeing?
- How can we negotiate the conflict between our personal values and our practical responsibilities?
2020-2021 Guiding Questions
- What factors shape our professional values and beliefs for better and for worse?
- How can our work serve as a vehicle for social change?
- How do systemic oppression, and racism more specifically, shape library and archives work?