Unrealised Potential: A survey of students as partners in Australian university libraries

Abstract

Student partnership, a growing phenomenon in higher education, has transformed the way universities collaborate with students. Yet to date the academic library has rarely been examined as place for student and staff partnership to thrive. In this paper, we present findings from a national students as partners benchmarking survey conducted across Australian academic libraries, with responses from library staff representing 35 universities across six states (n=210). Our findings highlight that while many library staff see the potential benefits to student partnership, this potential is largely unrealised. Our findings further tackle the commonly perceived barriers to partnership specific to the library context, such as staff understanding of student partnership and its corresponding practices as well as challenges and barriers to student engagement. We conclude with a recommendation for more reflection in academic libraries on how to create a connected and relationship-rich culture of partnership.