Final Reflections

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end  

Seneca, mid-1st century Roman philosopher

The introductory course of my master's in library and information science program ends and the rest of my program begins.  My introductory course, Intro to the Information Profession, has laid down a foundation for me. 

We covered a multitude of topics.  That is the mark of excellence in an introductory course.  Expose the students to the major as a whole.  Spend time on the philosophy of the profession.  We started our course in just that way.  Our first discussion threads consisted of: What is information? What is a librarian? What is a library?  What is professionalism?  My definition of a library and a librarian, especially, grew over the semester and has become much more inclusive of a variety of settings and job descriptions.  

Our discussion board was an arena of growth for me.  I am continually amazed at what I learned over the semester from my classmates via the discussion threads.  I expected to learn from my professor and from my readings.  I did not expect to gain as much as I did from the discussion board.  I am in awe of the gifts and talents of my classmates and will continue to be in touch with them throughout my studies. 

I have to admit I was skeptical of the value of a team project in an online class.  How can one work together as a cohesive team on the internet?  (I know I sound old when I say that :)  But, I was proved wrong, once again, and find that the team projects were some of my favorite assignments this semester.  The "Think Tanks" did exactly what was intended.  Find resources, propose ideas, question, re-do, post for the class to see, think! discuss! re-think!  The team blog took me further into web page design then ever before and for that I am grateful for my teammates and their talents and patience.  My teammates and I learned from and leaned one another over the semester and I know I will call on them as I proceed through my classes.  I now recall Dr. Maatta explaining the reason for and the value of using this model of online teamwork based on her experience of continuing this forum in her professional career.  

As the semester draws to a close, I find my mind opening up to new possibilities.  My definitions of what a librarian does and where libraries are have expanded.  Where do I fit in? It may be in a public library and it may not.  It may look entirely different from what I first envisioned.  And that is exactly as it should be.  

The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
Malcolm S. Forbes (1919-1990)

Revisit Assumptions, Assertions about LIS

The semester is winding down and it is time to revisit my assumptions and assertions about the library and information field I shared at the start of the semester.

1) Librarians are intelligent, service oriented people.

2) Librarians must stand strong against those who would ban books and other materials.

3) Libraries are valuable community assets.

When I first shared these assumptions and assertions, it was merely based upon my personal experience with librarians and libraries.  After my first LIS class and the readings and research we did for it, I feel I have more knowledge to back up my beliefs.

Librarians are intelligent, service oriented people:  While the intelligence factor may be impossible to measure across an entire profession, writings read across this semester underline this assumption.  The readings assigned were varied but many could be used as evidence of the intelligence of librarians across the decades.  Some fine examples include:

Ranganathan's five laws of librarianship states:

Books are for use

Every reader his book

Every books its reader

Save the time of the reader

The library is a growing organism
(Haycock and Sheldon, 2008)

These laws are as relevant today as they were when they were written.  One needs to only expand the definition of books to include resources and it's set for 2014 and beyond (Haycock and Sheldon, 2008). The final law which states of the ever growing library speaks to the changing nature of libraries.

My LIS leader assignment taught me much about the history of children's librarianship.  It also provided evidence for my belief in the intelligence and service of librarians.   Over the past century, few people have influenced children’s literature and library service more than Anne Carroll Moore.  Children’s librarians nationally and internationally knew her as the grande dame of children’s services, who first introduced those services to the New York Public Library.  For editors, publishers, and authors, Moore’s name was associated with the standards that laid the foundation for the newly emerging fields of children’s librarianship and children’s publishing (Cummins, 1999).   She believed in children and their right to their own books and library service.

Librarians must stand strong against those who would ban books and other materials: I still feel strongly about this and the responsibility librarians have for freedom of access.  However, my ethics assignment and feedback from Dr. Maatta taught me that work in ethics is never cut and dry.  Ethical decisions will always be tainted by one's own beliefs and the influence of the community in which you serve and must be handled as such.  Merely quoting the American Library Association's Code of Ethics and believing you have handled the situation is an oversimplification of the solution.  Thoughtful, thorough research and discussion with other professionals will serve me better in the future if and when I encounter ethical dilemmas in the library.

Libraries are valuable community assets:  My studies throughout the semester supported this assertion even more strongly than I first assumed it would.   In fact, the definition of library and community expanded as I studied.  Upon first declaring the above assertion, public libraries were my focus.  Upon spending a semester in my first LIS class, I have come to remember that there are a variety of libraries. There are public, academic, school, and many, many special libraries.  Each library unique and important to their community.  Many hours this semester were spent discussing, dissecting, and researching how to best serve the patrons of the libraries we serve or may serve some day.  The pew internet research center shared the following article on this very topic: Libraries and Learning Communities (Libraries, 2011).  I know I have just begun my study into the importance of the relationship between libraries and communities.

My assumptions and assertions still stand, but they now stand with a broader, sturdier base.

References:

Cummins, J. (1999). Moore than meets the eye. (legendary children's librarian Anne Carroll Moore). School Library Journal, (7). 26.   Available from: Academic OneFile, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 1, 2014.

Haycock, K. and Sheldon, B.  (Eds.). (2008).  The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Rainie, Lee. (2011, October 18).  Libraries and Learning Communities. Address at the Interent Librarian Conference.  Accessed at http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2011/10/18/libraries-and-learning-communities/

Professional Blogs

Librarians-in-training can gain insight into the library world by reading blogs written by librarians in the field.  One can easily find one or 50 to follow!  (I don't recommend trying to follow that many, however.)  But, I do suggest that you take a look at several to try them on, as it were, and see what is happening in their world.  Living in an age of instant access comes in handy sometimes.  We might as well take advantage of it and virtually visit several librarians and their libraries and see what we can learn.

I follow several blogs for personal enjoyment in my free time and I also read several blogs each week at work.  I follow YA literature reviewers to help me in my selection of books for my small library.  I also follow professional organization's blogs such as ASLC.  I have played with the idea of writing a blog myself, but this journal is my first attempt.  I have a new appreciation for how much time and effort goes into writing a blog that offers the right mix of substance and humorous anecdotes that would cause others to jump for joy to read!

Free image by Pixabay 

The blog written by Abby the Librarian caught my attention immediately.  She graduated with her MLIS degree in 2006 and started blogging in 2007.  She is a youth services librarian in a public library in Indiana and I was hoping to learn a few things from her.  She has not disappointed me! She shares her ideas freely with her readers and I have already implemented several of them at my library.  I have used some of her preschool story time programs and tips to bring in after school kids for programs.  In looking at her blog as a whole, you see she blogs most often about literature for all ages of children birth through teens and sharing ideas for programming for preschool-middle school.  She is well known in the youth services circles and occasionally has guest posts from other bloggers.  She writes about the highs (author interviews and presenting at ALA)  and lows ("When to call it quits with a program") of youth services librarianship.  I plan to keep following her as I enjoy her writing and more importantly, she makes my job easier.  

The second blog I started following this semester is written by an academic librarian who is the library director in a small, liberal arts college library.  Jessica Olin started writing her blog in 2011 as she wanted a place to communicate directly with library science graduate students and new professional librarians (Olin, 2014).  Because of this desire to connect with new librarians, she named her blog: Letters to a Young Librarian.   I enjoy following her blog because she does address topics that those of us that are new to the profession want to know about (even if we didn't realize it yet!).  She writes with candor and humor and also invites guests to write on a regular basis.  All of those factors lead to an interesting and informative read.  It reads as part advice column and part day in the life of a librarian.  It does lean more heavily towards an academic librarian but she is sensitive to that fact and covers things more generally and invites guests from other types of libraries for balance.  It is difficult to pinpoint what she most often writes about, but I guess one could say she writes about what it's like to be a librarian!  :)   Some of my favorite posts have been: To shush or not to shush , Small libraries are big with me,  I got a job, now what?, and Visiting other libraries to name just a few.  I will continue to follow Jessica's blog as well, as I find it informative and I always learn something new. 

References:

Johnson, Abby (2014, April 5).  About this blog.  Retrieved from http://www.abbythelibrarian.com

Olin, Jessica (2014, April 5).  About this blog.  Retrieved from           http://www.letterstoayounglibrarian.blogspot.com

Professional Journals

Journals provide a place for professionals in a particular field to publish their latest research or share new, original observations about their area of expertise.  Some are peer-reviewed, some are not.  They provide chair-side "instruction" and "food for thought" for colleagues in the field.

Judith M. Nixon, professor in the Humanities, Social Science and Education Library at Purdue University, recently published a tiered study of journals in the library and information science discipline in the College and Research Libraries journal.  Librarians who are not publishing will find the ranked lists useful as a quick summary of the most influential journals in the field (Nixon, 2014). I found it to be a most helpful guide for this project of comparing and contrasting journals and will continue to use it in my research throughout my studies.   She further explained that to develop the tiered list, a set of criteria was selected.  The first criterion was peer review; both tier one and tier two would be peer-reviewed titles.  There are a few journals, such as Library Trends and Library Journal, of high scholarly level that are not peer-reviewed.  These journals, which invite authors to write on specified topics are considered by our promotion committee as of the same value as peer-reviewed titles and so are included in the same category as peer-reviewed (Nixon, 2014).

The two journals I chose to look are:

College and Research Libraries

Editor:

Scott Walter, M.L.S., Ph.D.

The College & Research Libraries journal was founded in 1939 by A.F. Kuhlman specifically for college and university librarians.  He felt the needs of the college librarian were too numerous, too complex and too specialized to be dealt with effectively...in a journal which seeks to address itself to the varied interests of all libraries (Walter, 2014).

The journal continues to be a scholarly journal for academic and research librarians.  C & RL includes articles in all fields of interest and concern to academic and research libraries.  Well-written manuscripts on all aspects of academic and research librarianship will be considered.  The focus of the journal is on reports of original research.  Writers seeking publication are instructed to seek peer review.  It is a refereed journal that uses double-blind reviewing in choosing articles for publication. (C & RL Author Guidelines).  An important arena for college and university librarians seeking publishing.  It is published bi-monthly and starting in January 2014 became an all access all digital format with no printed publication.

Public Libraries  

Editor:
Kathleen Hughes
Public Library Association

Public Libraries is a journal that is published six times per year.  It is the official journal of the Public Library Association and devoted solely to public libraries.  Each issue includes important industry news, PLA and ALA updates, columns and feature articles that offer strategies and ideas for public librarians.  A go-to-read for public librarians. 

Public Libraries journal welcomes manuscripts of interest to public libraries and library staff.  They are reviewed by a feature editor and others knowledgeable about the topic.  Writings they seek:

Feature articles: generally 10-20 pages

"Verso" pieces: opinion pieces

New items for "Tales from the Front"

Items for "News from PLA"

Vendor announcements

Reviews of professional literature 

( P L Editorial Guidelines, 2014)

Compare and Contrast 

The two journals I looked at are alike in that they both serve a very specific audience.  A very focused audience.  I think that is a good thing.  At least one of the professional journals on a librarian's regular reading list should be a journal explicitly for their field of work.

It is easier to see how the two journals are different.  The College and Research Libraries journal reads like the scholarly university journal that it was founded as and still is with its studies of resources, teaching pedagogy and details of research.  The Public Libraries journal as a trendy, feature article read filled with advice/examples of the latest great thing to come along in the public library world.  It is also apparent that it is the information guide for the association.  The issue right before the biennial meeting focuses primarily on the upcoming gathering.

A librarian in training would do well to read and keep up to date with both types of journals.


References:

College and Research Libraries. (2014, March). Instructions for authors. Retrieved from http://www.crl.acrl.org/site/misc/author.xhtml.

Nixon. J. (2014). Core journals in library and information science: developing a methodology for ranking LIS journals. College and Research Libraries, 75, 66-90.  Retrieved from http://www.crl.acrl.org/content/75/1/66.full.pdf.html.

Public Libraries editorial guidelines. (2014).  Retrieved from http://ala.org/pla/publications/publiclibraries/writeforpl/editorialguidelines.

Walter, S. (2014). Re-introducing college and research libraries: do we still need "another library journal?. College and Research Libraries, 75 (1), 3-4.  Retrieved from http: //crl.acrl.org.

                                                   free image from Pixabay images

  

Intellectual Freedom

Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association 

One of my duties where I work is to review, order and read Young Adult literature.  One of my assignments in my graduate class is to read a challenged or banned book.  For this bibliophile, it is a match made in heaven.

I chose to read Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.  It was published in 2013 by St. Martin's Press. It was challenged by the Parents Action League of the Anoka-Hennepin Independent School District in Minnesota.

Eleanor and Park are a match made in heaven for each other.  The most unlikely of pairs, to others. The main characters of the book, Eleanor and Park meet and become inseparable on the school bus.  She's a big red head with a unique sense of style.  Park's classmates define him as a half-Korean-half-white music and comic book nerd who wears eye liner.   They connect.  They bond over the love of music. They share comic books.  They hold hands with an intensity well defined by the author.

The book, intended for high school students, tackles big issues: poverty, abuse, race, bullying, self esteem.  It tackles everyday high school life (whether parents want to believe it or not): first love, sibling rivalry, trying to fit in, looking for love, physical attraction, pop culture. Rowell does it all beautifully.

Rowell's ability to write as high school students think and talk made it a rich experience for me and many.  I guess that's the problem the Parents Action League had with this book.  They don't want to know (or remember) what it feels like to be young and in love.

This excellent book received the 2014 Michael L. Printz award for excellence in Young Adult literature.

Mid-Semester Reflections

I have made it to the halfway point in my first semester in the School of Library and Information Science graduate school.  Time to celebrate...well, at least a little bit! My first week of school was incredibly scary for me, perhaps because I am a little older than the average student. :) (Actually, a lot older.) Not only was I facing having to work through graduate level reading and writing, I was going to need to figure out how to do it through technology that was relatively new to me.  Thankfully,  I feel more confident in my ability to navigate around in Blackboard and I have actually enjoyed my assignments.

Blogging, a new experience for me, has provided a place for me to reflect on my goals and my studies. It has encouraged me it ask, "Why did I decide to pursue a graduate degree at this point in my life?" "What are the dream and goals I hope to accomplish?" "How am I preparing myself to meet those aspirations?" Blogging has helped me to be intentional about asking questions and looking for answers.

The Bb forums, where my classmates and I pose topics, questions and discuss them thoroughly has also been a place of discernment for me.  I am always amazed at what I learn!  Sometimes I get frustrated and bogged down with the number of discussion threads one needs to read and respond to, but in the end I am always grateful for the knowledge shared and questions answered.  New ideas and new perspectives crop up each and every week.

A recurring theme for me throughout this semester has been: what is the definition of a librarian? What does a librarian do? What kind of librarian do I want to be? What are my goals?  I have found it interesting that I want to be a public librarian but the academic world intrigues me as well.  I think it is because I spent so many years teaching that I want to look and see if there's a job that combines both teaching and librarianship.  I am looking forward to my library visit to help me discern this.  I am certain it is a path that I will continue to explore throughout my studies.

Free image uploaded from Pixabay 

A tribute to Anne Carroll Moore

Dazzling poet and critic, letter writer of genius, and Brooklyn Dodgers fanatic, Marianne Moore is also one of The New York Public Library's most distinguished former employees (she worked at the Hudson Park Library in the 1920s). This poem is her sly tribute to the legendary Anne Carroll Moore, NYPL's first head of Children's Services.

Before the shelves at Hudson Park
The brownies who appear at dark
For news of sport and picture screen,
And the good leprechaun in green—
One night assembled hand in hand
The modest number of the band,
Increasing till there was no space
That could accommodate a face
Or hand or pair of brownie feet.
The consternation was complete
Because a rumor gathered weight
That their great friend—a potentate
Among all brownies who could write
And read—would soon be lost to sight,
And all detected as they stood
By their pinocchio of wood
They vowed that each in turn a sentry
Hidden close beside the entry
Should keep watch at the front door
Until Miss Anne Carroll Moore
Should be at the Hudson once more.

Text from: The Poems of Marianne Moore. Edited by Grace Schulman. New York; London: Viking, 2003. Copyright © Marianne Craig Moore, Literary Executor of the Estate of Marianne Moore, 2003. All rights reserved.

Children's Book about Anne Carroll Moore:

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise

 How Anne Carroll Moore 

Created Libraries for Children 

by

Jan Pinborough

Illustrated by Debby Atwell

Published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Website: http://www.missmoorethoughtotherwise.com/