Creative Instructional Design: Practical Applications for Librarians. Edited by Brandon K. West, Kimberly D. Hoffman, and Michelle Costello. Chicago: ACRL, 2017. 384 p. Paper $72.00 (ISBN 978-0-83898-929-6).

The title of this book might lead readers to expect a manual filled with examples of jazzy learning objects; however, the content goes far beyond that, broadly defining instructional design as “intentional, sound instructional or programmatic creation, delivery, and assessment that takes into account the audience, course, or program context, and shared learning goals” (p. ix). Why does instructional design in this larger sense matter for librarians? The way that libraries define themselves has shifted from materials to services, so the quality and relevance of instruction classes, online content, programs, and outreach initiatives are increasingly critical to their success.

This book’s stated purpose is to present real-life examples showing “how librarians are applying the theoretical perspectives of instructional design in practical ways” (p. xi), and it does so admirably. Written by librarians responsible for instruction, outreach, instructional design, and related specialties, the twenty-five chapters are generally brief but thorough and include notes and bibliographies.

In the first section, librarians describe how they have used instructional design principles to inform, construct, or evaluate information literacy initiatives. For example, Meggan Press of Paul Smith’s College, in “Perfect Pairings: Instructional Design Meets Required Library Instruction,” and Kathleen A. Langan and Dianna E. Sachs of Western Michigan University, in “Mapping Information Literacy to a First-Year Writing Curriculum,” provide accounts of successful transformations of instruction programs. Kimberley Davies Hoffman of the University of Rochester presents similar successes in the book’s concluding chapter, “Leading Change: Using Instructional Design to Refocus an Information Literacy Program.”

The second section details ways that librarians have used design in online library instruction and services. Chapters such as “Employing the ADDIE Model to Produce Instructional Videos and Support the Development of a New Partnership” by Christina Heady and Joshua Vossler of Southern Illinois University Carbondale and “Designing Stories: A Storytelling Approach to Tutorial Videos” by Julia Feerar of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are good examples from this section.

The final section offers descriptions of innovative programming and outreach efforts. A few examples are “Recalling Liminality: Adapting Instructional Design for New Faculty Orientation” by Kelly J. Grossmann and Michelle Guittar of Northeastern Illinois University; “Film for Four: Teaching the Libraries through Film Production and Instructional Design” by Michelle H. Brannen and Ingrid J. Ruffin of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and “Structuring the Unstructured: Plan Your Library Makerspace with Instructional Design,” by Sharonna Ginsberg of the State University of New York at Oswego.

The editors have assembled a solid collection of case studies that will inspire readers of varying experience with instructional design to adopt similar ideas at their own institutions.—Joan Plungis, Reference and Instruction Librarian, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio