University Libraries Instructional Services

Libraries Instruction Policies

University Libraries' faculty provide library instruction to classes and groups in collaboration with faculty in other academic departments, to promote information literacy throughout the university curriculum. We encourage teaching faculty to consider incorporating an information literacy component into their courses.

Faculty planning library instruction should consider the following guidelines:

• Requests for library instruction must be made at least two weeks in advance to ensure librarian and room availability and to give the librarian ample time to prepare for the class.
• The instructor should be present at the time of instruction.
• When possible, the library instruction visit should be done in connection to an assignment.
• No food or drink is allowed in the Instruction Center.
• Library instruction is scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Library instruction may be requested for remote sites and for mornings, evenings, and weekends.
• No library instruction will be scheduled in McWherter Library at times when the Library is closed.
• All library instruction is scheduled through Instructional Services

Room Use Policies

The primary use of the Instruction Center is for library instruction and our policies are designed to ensure the rooms are available for that use. U of M faculty and staff may schedule non-library-instruction use of either of the rooms in accordance with the guidelines below. Students may not schedule the rooms and are not allowed to use the rooms without a faculty or staff member present.

Please review the space information for both rooms - 225 and 226 - to determine which will suit your purposes. NOTE: Room 226 laptops are available only for sessions involving library personnel. In other cases, participants may bring their own laptops or check out laptops from the library. 

Use of a room is restricted to those who comply with the following guidelines:

• The rooms are for short-term use only; semester-long courses will not be scheduled.
• Regularly-scheduled meetings or classes will not be pre-scheduled in the Instruction Center.
• The Instruction Center may be limited to library instruction use during the first 8 weeks of the semester, as this is the busiest period for library instruction.
• Requests for non-library-instruction use will not be scheduled more than two weeks in advance. Exceptions may be made if the requested date falls within the last four weeks of the semester (including Finals week).
• A University of Memphis employee must be listed as the responsible party and must be present in the room at all times. Students may not schedule the rooms and are not allowed to use the rooms without a faculty or staff member present.
• No food or drink is allowed in the Instruction Center.
• If needed, all responsible parties must arrange for training on the equipment in the Instruction Center prior to use.
• No software should be loaded onto the computers. If software is needed for the training, please inform Instructional Services at the time of scheduling so the University Libraries Systems Department may oversee the installation and removal.
• No laptops or other equipment may be connected to the computers in the Instruction Center without prior arrangement with Instructional Services.
• Rooms 225 and 226 will be locked at all times. The responsible party should ask at the RAD (Research Assistance Desk - to your right as you enter the McWherter Library) to have the reserved room unlocked.
• All instructor station equipment should be turned off and the room returned to its original order before leaving.
• All scheduling is done through Instructional Services.

If you wish to reserve ML 225 or ML 226 for non-library-instruction purposes, please use the In-Person Library Instruction Request form, also available through the Request Library Instruction link on the Libraries Instruction page.

About Library Tours

Visitors to McWherter Library may conduct a self-guided tour using The NEDyssey. Participants receive a Certificate of Completion at the end, allowing instructors and other group leaders to verify completion. 

McWherter Library guided Instructional Services tours provide an in-depth physical orientation to the complete facilities and services of the Ned R. McWherter Library. Tours are designed for "tie-in and buy-in" - spaces and resources shown are tailored to visitors' current assignment(s), areas of study, and/or interests in order to increase relevancy and retention. Tour requesters will be asked to provide details regarding this information. 

• Tours are available only to students in 7th-grade and older and should be connected with a current assignment, topic of study, etc.
• Tours must be requested at least three (3) weeks in advance and will be scheduled so that they may take place outside of peak instruction times.
• A tour visit may accommodate up to 30 people; each tour group will be made up of no more than 15 people.
• Instructional Services reserves the right to refuse tour requests if accommodations cannot be reached with available University Libraries personnel.

To Schedule a Tour

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, in-person guided tours of McWherter Library are not currently available.
To schedule a tour of McWherter Library, please email Barbara Thomas at brthomas@memphis.edu

If you have not heard from the library within two regular business days, please email again or call the RAD (Research Assistance Desk) at 901.678.2208.

Basic directional questions may be asked at the RAD (Research Assistance Desk) or Check-Out Desk (to the left and right respectively upon entering McWherter).

To schedule a tour of the full University of Memphis campus, click here.