Another Semester Begins…

Posted September 7, 2012 by Maya Bery

It’s hard to believe the semester’s start is already upon us.  Just yesterday, it seems, I was luxuriating in the post-semester haze of sleep and excitement for a full summer that stretched in front of me, gloriously empty.  Well, it didn’t quite work out that way (for the better), but I’m back and ready to take on my second round of practicum teaching (HS level), and my VERY LAST GSLIS CLASS EVER! Ahem.  It’s the last of the required “core” classes, Evaluation of Information Services, which should hopefully prove interesting as well as giving me my annual exposure to people outside the SLT program.
Yet, even though the semester hasn’t officially begun yet, things are already in motion.  The fabulous new officers of the MSLA-SIG group are hard at work, preparing for the back-to-school introductory meeting, I will be on campus in two short hours to share my practicum experience, tips and tricks learned to the newest crop of first-time practicum students, and my own practicum meetings with my cooperating librarian and practicum supervisor are close at hand.
It’s also been wonderful hearing of all my GSLIS friends who graduated and got jobs (amongst my personal acquaintances, the rate is 100%, which is both fabulous and indicative of the extremely high quality of Simmons’ GSLIS program.  I’d also like to mention that last year, by the end of the summer, 100% of SLT graduates had secured jobs in the field). This last part is especially heartening, because if you’ve been paying any attention to the library world over the past two-three years, it’s been a pretty dismal picture indeed.  The pressure on our libraries (of all shapes, sizes and types) is still very much present – on August 14th, the Huffington Post reported that 58 elementary schools in the District of Columbia would re-open without school libraries.  That’s a tragedy.  But it is encouraging to see that slowly but surely in some parts of the country at least (including Massachusetts), hiring is picking up again and schools are recognizing the need for trained school library media specialists.
So, since this entry will be posted on Friday, the second official day of classes, let me be the first to welcome you back! To new students, welcome to Simmons and to Boston, and to prospective students, I hope these blog posts give you an insight into what makes the Simmons GSLIS program so outstanding.