Many academic libraries struggle to engage faculty with special collections and digital scholarship tools. At our institution, history faculty rarely visited a special collection located nearby, and use of a digital humanities platform had declined. Librarians and archivists addressed this gap by hosting a one-hour open house during the department’s fall kickoff. The event featured an interactive icebreaker, hands-on primary source stations, and a demonstration of a digital humanities tool. As a result, the special collections experienced increased class visits, research consultations, and digital tool use. This lightning talk shares a replicable model for strengthening faculty collaboration and library engagement.
Participants will: 1. Identify key components of a low-barrier, collaborative open house model 2. Brainstorm ways to design similar events at their own institutions
