Vikki Terrile

Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies (GSLIS), Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), 2023-
Assistant Professor, Queensborough Community College Library (CUNY), 2018-2023
Evening and Weekend Reference and Instruction Librarian, St. Joseph’s College, 2018
Director of Children’s and Youth Services, Queens Library, 2016-2018
Director of Community Libraries, Queens Library, 2014-2016
Coordinator of Young Adult Services, Queens LIbrary, 2008-2014
Young Adult Librarian, Brooklyn Public Library, 2005-2008
Young Adult Librarian, Queens Library, 2004-2005
Children’s Librarian, Islip Public Library, 1998-2004

Previous Courses Taught

Academic Libraries
Planning and Delivering Young Adult Services
Youth and Child Homelessness: The Role of Libraries

Invited Guest Lectures

University of South Carolina, School of Information Science, iSCI 702: Community Engagement and Service, “Libraries and Homelessness” (Fall 2023)
SUNY, the University at Buffalo, Department of Information Science, LIS 503 Special Topics in Information Library Science Diversity Equity & Inclusion, “How Libraries Can Support Families and Youth Experiencing Homelessness” (Spring 2021)
University of Tennessee Knoxville, School of Information Sciences, INSC 590: The Role of Libraries in Addressing Youth Homelessness, “Child and Family Homelessness” (Fall 2022)
University of Tennessee Knoxville, School of Information Sciences, INSC 590: The Role of Libraries in Addressing Homelessness and Poverty, “Family Homelessness and Libraries” (Fall 2021, Summer 2020, Summer 2018)

Research & Professional Interests

My primary area of research is family homelessness and its intersection with libraries and education. I began this work as a public librarian doing outreach to family shelters in New York City and have continued to investigate the provision of library services to people of all ages experiencing homelessness. My dissertation research explored how youth services librarians in the United States understand “the library” and “the homeless” as symbolic objects in the hope of explaining why targeted outreach and other services to families that are homeless are rare in public libraries. I found that even youth services librarians understand “the homeless” primarily as adults with mental health, substance abuse, and hygiene challenges, in keeping with the broader social context that allows child and family homelessness to be ignored. This project built on an earlier study that used interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore how librarians who work with families in homeless situations understand and experience that work. In my interviews with participants, I learned that the librarians felt deep professional and moral responsibility for doing this work, but felt unsupported by the profession and in their individual libraries. Additionally, the librarians both understood the causes of family homelessness in the United States and judged the families they worked with in ways consistent with prevailing cultural beliefs around homelessness and poverty. Other research I’ve conducted in this area looked at if and how homeless shelter providers receive library services from their local public libraries, how community college faculty teach homelessness as a curricular topic, and how school district homeless liaisons support students’ transitions from high school to college.

Beyond my research work around homelessness and poverty, I have interests in information behavior, especially embodied information practices. My first CUNY research grant explored how performers and artisan vendors at Renaissance Faires find and use information in their work. Findings from this study ed that the participants use embodied, self-taught information practices, and also exhibit protective behaviors around certain aspects of their work, in line with Elfreda Chatman’s theories of information poverty. These findings situated Renaissance Faire performers and artisan vendors in the larger world of contingent workers who must navigate the conflict between their own expert power and the reward/coercive power of management, which often results in information being denied or withheld. As a lifelong crafter and maker, I am also interested in how making is portrayed in popular culture. I recently published a book chapter on how making is used as acts of love and resistance by professional and amateur craftspeople in the Disney Star Wars universe, and am exploring how similar themes are revealed in the animated sitcom, Bob’s Burgers.

Selected Publications

Peer Reviewed Papers

Terrile, V. (2023). Public Library Outreach with Homeless Shelter Providers. Public Library Quarterly, 93(3), 333-351. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2023.2168463

Terrile, V. C. (2023). Finding the answers: Community college students’ non-Academic information behaviors. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 47(3), 165-182. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2021.1985014

Terrile, V. C. (2023). Gigging it in the shire: information practices of Renaissance faire performers and artisans. Journal of Documentation, 79(4), 937-954. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-07-2022-0164

Terrile, V. C. (2023). It’s Meaningful Work, but It’s “Really, Really Hard”: Librarians’ Understanding of Their Work with Families Experiencing Homelessness. The Library Quarterly, 93(3), 333-351.https://doi.org/10.1086/725066

Terrile, V. C. (2023). Teaching Homelessness: How American Community College Faculty Approach Housing Insecurity as a Curricular Topic. College Teaching, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2023.2224547

Terrile, V. (2022). Information Behaviors of Homeless Education Experts for Supporting College-Bound Students. Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention, 29(2). https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v29i2.3576

Terrile, V. C. (2022). Scenes from the class struggle in picture books: Depictions of housing and home in books for young children. Children's Literature in Education, 53(4), 526-546.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-021-09458-5

Terrile, V. C. (2020). " One Day You and I Will Let Them All OUT": Attitudes Toward Animals in Hilary McKay's Fiction. Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 45(3), 261-280. https://doi.org/10.1353/chq.2020.0031

Terrile, V. C. (2009). Library services to children, teens and families experiencing homelessness. Urban Library Journal, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.31641/ulj150202

Book Chapters

Terrile, V. C. (2023). Saving what we love: The hope and resistance of makers and craftspeople in Disney’s Star Wars. In E. Strand & A.H. Sturgis (Eds), Star Wars: Essays exploring a galaxy far, far away (pp. 27-50). Vernon Press. (peer-reviewed)

Terrile, V.C. (2022) Faculty inquiry at the library: Connecting social justice and information literacy. In S.P. Alvarez, Y. Kuchirko, M, McBeth, M. Tarafdar, & M. Watson (Eds.), Literacy and learning in times of crisis: Emergent teaching through emergencies (pp. 299-314). Peter Lang.

Terrile, V. C. (2021). Academic libraries supporting students experiencing homelessness and housing and basic needs insecurity. In J.C. Skinner & M. Gross (Eds.), Underserved patrons in university libraries: Assisting students facing trauma, abuse, and discrimination (pp. 123-136). Libraries Unlimited.

Terrile, V. C. (2021). The thing with feathers: Small moments, hope, and purpose in a career in libraries. In R.F. Hill (Ed.), Hope and a future: Perspectives on the impact that librarians and libraries have on our world (pp. 3-12). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Terrile, V.C. (2014). Reaching kids who are experiencing homelessness, In K. Harrod & C. Smallwood (Eds.), Library youth outreach: 26 ways to connect with children, young adults and their families. McFarland

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications (selected)

Terrile, V.C. (2021). As Communities Reopen, Remember the Library. Guest blog at SchoolHouseConnection.org https://schoolhouseconnection.org/as-communities-reopen-remember-the-library/

Terrile, V. C. (2021). The display’s the thing: A successful interactive, analog community college library display. College & Research Libraries News, 82(2).

Terrile, V. C. (2019). Critical pedagogies to combat the deficit model in community college libraries: A perspective. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 45(5).

Terrile, V.C. (2016). Public library support of families experiencing homelessness. Journal of Children and Poverty, 22(2), 133-146.

Webinars

iSchool at University of Wisconsin Madison: “Services to Families Experiencing Homelessness” April 2022
CUNY Social Justice Series: “Student Homelessness” October 2021
Niche Academy: “Family Homelessness and Libraries” September 2021
Connecticut State Library: “Family Homelessness and Connecticut Libraries” May 2021

Conference Presentations (selected)

Presenter: ALA LRRT Webinar Series: “Rethinking Research as Collaboration in Action” 2023
Panel Presenter: ACRL: “Successfully Navigating IRB Processes as a Community College Librarian” 2023
Closing Keynote Speaker: ALA SRRT Homelessness Summit: “Homelessness as a Social Justice Issue” 2022
Presenter: NISOD Fall Virtual Conference: “Teaching Homelessness: Community College Faculty’s Approaches to Housing Insecurity as a Curricular Topic” 2022
Paper Presenter (peer-reviewed): ALA Library Research Round Table Forum: “It’s Meaningful Work, But It’s Really, Really Hard: Librarians’ Understanding of their Work with Families Experiencing Homelessness” 2022
Paper Presenter: LACUNY Institute 2022: “Academic Libraries and Student Homelessness Before and ‘After’ COVID-19” 2022
Session Co-Presenter: University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education Student Research Symposium: “Conducting Educational Research with IPA (Not the Beer)” 2022
Session Presenter: Popular Culture Association Annual Conference: “Information Practices of Renaissance Faire Performers and Vendors” 2021
Session Co-Presenter: CUNY Faculty Diversity & Inclusion Conference: “Racial Justice and the Library: Faculty Inquiry in Social Justice and Information Literacy” 2021
Session Presenter: Connecting: Student Engagement Despite COVID-19 Conference: “Moving Library Services Online at an Urban Community College” 2021

Professional Service

Peer Reviewer, Reference Services Review, 2022 to 2023
Grant Reviewer, ALA American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Libraries, 2022
Peer Reviewer, Journal of New Librarianship Peer Reviewer, 2021 to 2023
Editorial Board Member, ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table Newsletter, 2019 to 2021
Advisory Board Member, Community College Information Literacy Study (IMLS Grant), 2020
Field Reviewer, 2015 Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grant Program 2014
Book Reviewer, VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) (100 reviews published), 2005-2015

Grants and Fellowships

PSC CUNY Research Grant: “The Socioeconomic Class Backgrounds of American Librarians: A Mixed Methods Study” 2023-
PSC CUNY Research Grant: “Teaching Homelessness: A Phenomenological Study” 2021-2023
PSC CUNY Research Grant: “Information Practices of Renaissance Faire Performers and Artisans” 2019-2020
Kent State University, Jacqueline M. Albers Guest Scholar in Children’s Literature Fellowship “Depictions of Home and Housing in Contemporary Picture Books” 2015-2016

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