Description: Join Bekky and Hannah in their presentation about co-creating a user-centered research support service led by student experience. By expanding access to research support and investing in student leadership opportunities for undergraduate learners, this high-impact practice is one approach that librarians at the University of Minnesota Duluth have taken to involve student stakeholders in crafting a service for and by them.

Attendees will learn about the importance of centering users in service creation, with an emphasis on the voices and perspectives of those who don’t have a formal background in library work, and the opportunities of embracing unexpected pivots in service planning and design.

Presenters: 

Bekky Vrabel

Research Support & Liaison Librarian

University of Minnesota Duluth

Bekky Vrabel is the Research Support & Liaison Librarian at the University of Minnesota - Duluth (UMD) where she provides leadership for library research support services in the Research & Learning Team. At UMD, Bekky provides specialized reference services, selects resources, serves as a liaison to faculty, and provides information literacy instruction for the History, International Studies, and Political Science departments. Bekky has worked in various library roles at Winona State University, the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, Waldorf University, and Northland College. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee with her MLIS in 2013 with a specialization in information literacy and from Northland College with her BA English and Writing in 2010.

Hannah Jones

Information Literacy Librarian

University of Minnesota Duluth

Hannah Jones (she/her) is the Information Literacy Librarian and liaison to Communication and Journalism at the University of Minnesota Duluth. As part of her role, she coordinates the library’s instruction program, leads the library’s annual information literacy assessment, and develops teaching-related professional development opportunities for liaison librarians. She graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with her MSLIS in 2023 and from Hope College with her BA in English and Women’s & Gender Studies in 2021. 

Bekky and Hannah provide support and guidance for the Research Peer-Mentors in collaboration with the University Honors Program. They are the recipients of the Outstanding Staff Team Award in 2025 for their collaborative projects including the Research Peer-Mentor program.

*Registration is Required*

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