This article describes an approach to guiding science and data librarians in their development as teachers, and it outlines practical skills that are important for effective teaching in the context of science information and data literacies. The authors designed and delivered two workshops for science and data librarians. In each workshop, participants explored foundational learning theories and practical tools for teaching more effectively, including lesson planning, writing learning outcomes, designing classroom activities, assessing learning, managing the classroom, and reflecting on teaching. The workshop has evolved to introduce critical pedagogical approaches as well. Based on the content of these workshops, participant feedback, and the authors’ experiences, we detail practical, on-the-ground strategies for designing and facilitating effective information and data literacy instruction for STEM audiences. As partners in science education, librarians need practical educational opportunities to hone their teaching skills and develop a teacher identity.

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Effective communication across departments in academic libraries can be challenging, but the literature discussing this issue and potential solutions is sparse. In an attempt to address these issues, we implemented a library-wide Journal Salon at our institution not only to facilitate learning and knowledge sharing, but also to create the opportunity for staff from different departments to come together to discuss research and trends in our profession. In order to evaluate the impact of the Journal Salon, we surveyed participants to: learn how they had been keeping up with library research, learn more about how cross-departmental communication had been occurring prior to our endeavor, and to understand the perceptions of the impact that the Journal Salon has had thus far. We found that the majority of participants feel that barriers to communicating with colleagues outside of their department do exist, and that those who have been successful in navigating these barriers have done so by making an individual, interpersonal effort. While changes to communication structures take time, the survey responses suggest that our Journal Salon is a promising venue to facilitate interpersonal connections between staff who might not otherwise have the opportunity to interact on a regular basis.