The Information Literacy Class as Theatrical Performance: A Qualitative Study of Academic Librarians’ Understanding of Their Teacher Identity

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how academic librarians understand, conceptualize, and describe their teacher identity. The role of the academic librarian has greatly changed due to the advent of information technology. Traditionally, they were generalists, who were responsible for selecting and maintaining library collections. Academic librarian roles have evolved into web developers, information literacy (IL) instructors, emerging technology innovators, marketing and outreach coordinators, open education resources (OER) advocates, and scholarly communication experts. This research investigates the academic librarian as teacher phenomenon, how they describe their professional identity as teachers, the skills, knowledge, and competencies they teach, and their beliefs of how they are perceived by faculty. The author conducted interviews with six participants via Zoom. Using in vivo and descriptive coding, the author analyzed the interview data and three broad themes emerged: philosophy, identity, and perception. This study contributes to the literature of the importance of IL as a key facet of academic librarians’ professional identity, their instructional role on campus, the increase in their teaching responsibilities, and how they describe their professional identity as teachers. Further, this research contributes to academic librarians’ teaching practices and may inform LIS program administrators to update their curriculum and offer more courses on instruction, pedagogy, and learning theories. The study also illustrates a disconnect between academic librarians’ lack of instructional preparedness and an increased demand for teaching among academic librarians.