About the author

Molly R. Flaspohler currently serves as Special Projects

Librarian at the Carl B. Ylvisaker Library located on the
campus of Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. Over the
past 20 years, she has held various positions within this
library, including that of Library Instruction Coordinator
and Chair of Reference Services. In her present role,
Molly provides library instruction, reference services and
departmental liaison support to the members of Concordia’s
Division of Language, Literature and Culture (English,
French, German and Spanish and Hispanic Studies) as well
as the Women’s Studies program.
After obtaining a BA degree in English at Gustavus
Adolphus College in St Peter, MN, a Master’s of Library
Science degree from the School of Library and Information
Science at Bloomington, IN, and later, a Master’s of Liberal
Arts degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead,
MN, Molly began her professional career as jack-of-all-
trades. In her first library position, she was responsible for
cataloging, reference desk service and library instruction. In
1994, she became Concordia College’s first Coordinator
of Library Instruction. In this role Molly taught hundreds
of undergraduate library sessions and began several
collaborations with teaching faculty which continue today.
Ultimately, she was responsible for the Library’s earliest
attempts at integrating library instruction into the College’s
first-year composition courses in a more cohesive and

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Engaging First-Year Students in Meaningful Library Research

systematic way. In 2005, Molly became the Chair of

Reference Services. Though her primary responsibilities
shifted to supervising student workers and paraprofessionals
in the provision of excellent reference services, her work in
the classroom remained a significant component of this
position as well.
During 2007–08, Molly served as a visiting Associate
Librarian at the University of Washington, Bothell/Cascadia
Community College Library in Bothell, WA. This position,
held as part of a year-long sabbatical leave, afforded a rich
opportunity to work within a much larger university library
system and to observe and engage in interesting, innovative
ways to present undergraduate library instruction. After
returning to Concordia, Molly soon applied for and was
accepted into the Association of College and Research
Libraries’ well-known Teacher Track Immersion Program,
which she completed over the summer of 2010.
Over the years, Molly has served on numerous College
committees and task forces, including the College’s First-
Year Experience Task Force (2003), the First-Year Curriculum
Committee (2004), two terms on Concordia’s Faculty Senate,
Curriculum Review (Team I), and the College Strategic
Planning Commission (2002). Presently, she is a member of
Concordia’s campus-wide Assessment Committee. She is
active in her profession as well, having presented at library
conferences such as the Minnesota Library Association
Annual Conference (2004), LOEX (2007) and LOEX of the
West (2008). She has also published articles in peer-reviewed
journals such as Reference Services Review, Communications
in Information Literacy and The Journal of Academic
Librarianship. Molly maintains memberships in the
American Library Association and the Association of College
and Research Libraries.

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 About the author

The author may be contacted at:

Carl B. Ylvisaker Library

Concordia College
901 8th St. So.
Moorhead, MN 56562
USA
E-mail: mflaspoh@cord.edu

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