Internship Policy

The FAU Libraries support the teaching, scholarship, and professional development of graduate and undergraduate students by serving as a venue for internships. Internships are time-limited, unpaid*, structured professional work experiences that allow students to apply knowledge gained in their studies in a workplace environment. Internship requests are considered based on their alignment with the Libraries’ Strategic Goals and mission and the University’s efforts to develop responsive programming in support of the State Board of Governors’ Performance Metrics.

Internships at the FAU Libraries may occur at any branch location and fall into two primary categories: 1) currently enrolled FAU undergraduate and graduate students (including FAU High dual-enrolled students), and 2) degree-seeking graduate students from schools of Library and Information Science.

Internships may be offered physically (health and safety requirements permitting) or virtually. The Libraries will review each internship proposal on a case-by-case basis, depending on the availability of staffing and other support mechanisms. The FAU Libraries reserve the right to decline an internship request based on availability of staff and resources.

The following are examples of possible internship opportunities. Additional mutually beneficial opportunities involving other departments may be explored, as time, staffing, and resources permit.

Examples of internships (not exclusive)

The Special Collections Department offers students the opportunity to learn about rare materials, archives, and public history. Interns will be introduced to a variety of basic archival skills such as processing collections, answering research questions, working with social media, preparing exhibits, etc. For more information, please contact Victoria Thur vthur@fau.edu (561-297-3787)  

The Research and Instructional Services Department provides graduate students seeking an MLIS degree at an ALA-accredited institution with real world experience working in an academic library. Internships are hosted in a library department based on the student’s area of interest, but all interns will receive a series of orientations to every library department, so that they develop a holistic understanding of how the library’s functional units are interconnected. For more information, please contact: Ken Frankel frankel@fau.edu (561-297-0079)

Internships in other library departments may be considered. Please contact the Libraries Senior Leadership team (libslt@fau.edu) for more information or to make a request.

*The FAU Libraries may work in coordination with other University units to provide paid internship opportunities, as funding, staffing, and other resources permit.