Writing Our Story: Community Building in an Academic Library Using Portable Whiteboards

Abstract

Portable whiteboards are ubiquitous in academic libraries and popular with the students and staff alike, both as study tools (students) and low- to no-cost, minimal effort assessment tools (staff). This case study discusses one Georgia academic library’s use of these whiteboards for student engagement after COVID-19, in a project named #ProjectWhiteboard. The purpose of this activity began as a low effort way to obtain feedback from students during the fall of 2021, after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and the libraries were seeing more traffic, and later became a fixture in the library as a community-building initiative. This project is ongoing and is being completed in multiple locations of an academic library.