In today’s rapidly changing information environment, librarians are faced with the increasingly difficult task of maintaining the college library’s central role in improving students’ information literacy. Building Bridges: Connecting Faculty, Students, and the College Library addresses this problem by considering the ways in which librarians can work with faculty and students to improve the effectiveness of library- and research-related assignments. Comprising a good deal of background information on information literacy, examples of successful and unsuccessful assignments, and copious advice on improving assignments and faculty–student–librarian collaboration, this book serves as a valuable resource for new librarians or librarians seeking new ways to interact with faculty and students.

The book is divided into five parts. Part 1 focuses on a general discussion of information literacy and the role of effective assignments in improving information literacy. It provides a discussion of the problems encountered when attempting to incorporate information literacy education into the curriculum and presents a brief overview of the history of library instruction models.

Part 2 considers the need to work closely with faculty members to improve the quality of individual assignments and of the curriculum. This section includes a detailed analysis of the assignment lifecycle and the interaction of the major participants in the assignment process. In addition, it focuses on the challenges librarians face when interacting with faculty members accustomed to having complete control over assignment design, implementation, and assessment.

Part 3, the largest section of the book, focuses on developing effective library assignments. It begins with a discussion of some of the common reasons that assignments fail and considers the use of information technologies and the impact of the Internet on student research habits. Next, the author addresses specific assignment types, including essay assignments and research papers, and concludes with a discussion of citations, information ethics, and the specific challenges of assignments conducted in an online environment. Part 3 contains numerous examples and list of do’s and don’ts for librarians to consider as they face the real-world scenarios on a day-to-day basis. This is perhaps the most useful section of the book.

Part 4 considers two types of library assignments that typically fail: tours and scavenger hunts. In addition to a discussion of the pitfalls and limitations of such assignments, this section includes ways in which these types of assignments might be improved. Part 5 presents a discussion of information literacy instruction conducted in the library and in the classroom, addressing the challenges and opportunities inherent in each.

In conclusion, Building Bridges: Connecting Faculty, Students, and the College Library provides a thorough overview of the role of assignments in information literacy education. As the author concedes, experienced librarians already may have encountered many of the problems and opportunities covered in the book. However, new librarians should find the book to be an excellent resource. With its emphasis on improving the success of assignments through improved faculty–librarian collaboration, this book will be beneficial not only to librarians but to receptive faculty members who can be persuaded by their librarian colleagues to read it. By improving faculty awareness of the many ways in which librarians can improve the quality of library assignments, this book can serve as a valuable tool in the quest to improve information literacy education.