Academic institutions are increasingly focusing on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. In reference to their recent White Paper, Entrepreneurship Education Comes of Age on Campus, the Kauffman Foundation notes, "Entrepreneurship, one of the fastest-growing subjects in today's undergraduate curricula, has moved from the margins of higher education to the mainstream." Libraries are well placed to support the incubation of ideas and creativity, both of which are integral to innovation and start-up culture, by opening up their spaces and expanding their services, and in fact, many already are. The speakers will discuss the shift in pedagogy taking place on campuses and the librarians on the panel will share how their libraries partnered with other stakeholder groups as well as, in some cases, outside corporate partners to support academic and community entrepreneurs. Examples include the University of Maryland's Innovation Office Hours at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Library and library-led business start-up incubators.
Program Take-Aways:
- Participants will learn how they can work collaboratively with campus administrators/other departments to leverage library’s resources to support entrepreneurship/innovation.
- Participants will gain an understanding of best practices for evolving academic librarianship to include working with academic/community entrepreneurs.
- Participants will learn about new commitment to innovation/entrepreneurship that many academic institutions are demonstrating & some of the new approaches to learning.
