Endnotes: The Journal of the New Members Round Table, 7(1), p.32-33

Becoming an Embedded Librarian: Making Connections in the Classroom. Michelle Reale.
Chicago: American Library Association, 2016. 128 pp. ISBN 9780838913673.
Reviewed by Stephen Arougheti, Arizona State University
In Becoming an Embedded Librarian, Michelle Reale, the English department liaison librarian at
Arcadia University, recounts her experiences embedding within English thesis courses. Reale
draws upon her experiences to challenge librarians to reinvent their practice and shed the
auxiliary relationship to faculty. Librarianship is a profession in transition; as times change, so
must the practice. The theme of relationships, especially those that librarians foster with faculty
and students outside the library, is a constant throughout the book. In addition to being a
theoretical and practical how-to-guide for embedding in the academic classroom, Reale’s book
provides encouragement and inspiration for others interested in the rewarding practice of
embedded librarianship.
The book begins with a focus on a longstanding identity crisis confronting academic librarians:
the difference in how teaching faculty and librarians perceive the role of an academic library.
Misconceptions from faculty about the role and function of librarians inhibits connections,
creating barriers to collaboration. Reacting to perceived passivity to counteract stubbornly
persistent misconceptions about the profession, Reale encourages self-promotion and “personal
branding” by librarians to bridge divides and form partnerships with faculty beyond the library
and in the classroom. When discussing her philosophy of personal branding, Reale notes, “I have
always believed that the best advertisement for what we do is to do it, and engage in it the best
way possible every single day” (p. 71).
Embedded librarianship is a practice that aims to correct the ineffectual “one-shot” instruction
arrangement common to traditional library teaching. While most one-shot instruction sessions
are not enough to reinforce skills and instill long-term retention of knowledge, embedding in the
classroom affords librarians direct exposure to students’ experience, perspective, and practice.
One of the book’s strengths is that it presents the first-person narrative of an embedded librarian.
Reale does more than create a how-to-guide for librarians to embed in the classroom: she tells a
story with herself at the center. With candor and insight, she relates her failures and successes,
emphasizing process rather than achievement: “Embedding, by its very nature, can be planned,
but not scripted. In other words, one learns as one goes along, but it is better to set goals and
methods that will encourage success, though of course, not guarantee it” (p. 53).
The concise and well-organized chapters are arranged in an accessible structure, each tailored to
a specific component of embedding. After first introducing and analyzing the issue, each chapter
concludes with a tangible list of strategies for the reader and a summation of final thoughts that
reinforce important points. Whether you are new to the practice and concepts or possess
experience as an embedded librarian, Becoming an Embedded Librarian offers value to all
librarians with a passion for moving themselves out of the library. As the title highlights, the
target audience is librarians interested in embedding in the classroom. However, as Sandra
Crenshaw (a professor in whose course Reale was embedded) acknowledges in the foreword,
teaching faculty may also find considerable value in the book as well: “What happens is
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amazing. The shared struggles of the students, teacher, and librarian…evolve into a more
complex, stronger community…” (p. xi).

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