Building a Regional Library-Led Case Competition: Reflections from Librarians and Vendor Partners

Libraries are increasingly involved in supporting and facilitating case competitions, leading to competitions that emphasize decision-making and understanding of a larger ecosystem of information. This paper examines existing literature on the topics of librarian support for case competitions, the growing trend of library-led case competitions, and the expanded role of libraries in support of entrepreneurs, students, and faculty in entrepreneurial programs. The conversation is expanded through a discussion of the Midwest Entrepreneurship Case Competition (MECC), a library-led case competition that prioritized the participation of undergraduate students and grew from a local to a regional event. Vendor engagement, case development, competition format, timeline, and execution are shared and analyzed. Reflections from three stakeholders, including a first-time case competition planner, case competition judge, and vendor partner, enumerate MECC’s benefits to librarianship and student learning, approaches to information literacy, and opportunities for hands-on engagement in the development and marketing of tools. This research demonstrates the value of library-led case competitions as interventions for building transferable business information literacy skills and mechanisms for shaping and furthering collaboration among libraries, librarians, students, and vendors.