Earlier this year, I was invited to contribute to the upcoming ACRL book project Science Librarianship and the Liberal Arts: Positions, Instruction, and Outreach. This will be an updated version of the 1992 book Science Librarianship at America’s Liberal Arts Colleges by Tony Stankus. The updated version will provide a new perspective on the delights and challenges of science librarianship in small-ish liberal arts institutions. Editors Laureen Cantwell-Jurkovic and Isabel Ryan of Vassar Libraries anticipate a Summer 2028 publication.

Science Librarianship at WFU

Out of the 1,332 degrees granted at Wake Forest University in 2025, 18.5% were science-based with Health and Exercise Science making up just about half, followed by Biology, Engineering and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Additionally, nearly 200 minor degrees were awarded in Chemistry, Biology, and Neuroscience. Sixty-four percent of science degree recipients gained employment in STEM fields. The other 32% of degree recipients enrolled in graduate schools – 13.5% of which were medicine or health programs. 1

With nearly one-fifth of students leaving WFU with degrees that lead to employment or future study in science disciplines, it’s good to know that ZSR “has a class for that” – or rather four classes that address science discipline-specific research strategies and information issues and trends:

  • LIB 220. Science Research Sources and Strategies
  • LIB 225. Engineering Research Sources and Strategies
  • LIB 270. Health Science Information Foundations and Evolution
  • LIB 290 (LIB280 starting FA27). Critical Appraisal in Biomedical Literature

Six sections of LIB270 have been offered to any major at WFU since 2023. The summative assignment developed for the class is the subject and title of my chapter, Graphic medicine zines: A humanities-based platform for health and medical storytelling, and will include details relative to its scaffolded approach design, rubrics, and examples.

The Project Management of Chapter Writing

If you know anything about my research and writing style, you’ll know that I’m a bit of a planner. With chapter drafts due November 1, I scheduled for myself three hours per week starting in September in order to complete, review, and submit the manuscript. The more I looked at my September and October calendars, however, the more of a nuisance those three hours per week were looking like rather than the well-paced, contemplative, and iterative vibe that I intended. The total of 24 working hours never seemed like such a chore even on something that I love doing. Thanks to some fortuitous conversations as a part of the RECAP Task Force, I was reminded of ZSR’s research leave options.

ZSR’s Research and Professional Leave

ZSR faculty and staff can take advantage of two leave options to enhance their Librarianship, Scholarship & Professional Achievement, or Service. Professional Development Leave for conferences, workshops, and related association work is available for faculty and staff as outlined in our Professional Development and Travel Guidelines Policy.

I took advantage of the Short-Term Leave option which allows faculty to apply to take at least two days and up to two weeks away from regular job duties to write papers, perform research, attend training, and many other activities that support developmental goals (see Section XI. 11.2 of the Librarians’ Assembly Governing Document). Three days at eight hours each day was just the right window I needed to write and review my chapter. Now I can focus on teaching, you got it, LIB270 and LIB290 during the second half of the semester and give the editors a jump on the chapter review process.

Thanks to the years of effort and continued focus by former and current faculty and staff on Librarians’ Assembly governing documents and ZSR policies that made this short but impactful exercise possible!

1 Office of Institutional Research. (2026). Fact Book: Degrees Granted. Office of Institutional Research. https://ir.wfu.edu/fact-book/completions/