Time to refuel…
Posted May 1, 2013 by Julie Steenson
Classes ended on Monday. Tuesday should have been a day to relax, but then there was that Call for Submissions that I had been thinking about for months, due on Wednesday…so between all the academic pursuits, my public library job, and my volunteer time at the men’s prison library, I am only now coming up for air. This semester was my most rigorous. I only took two classes, but I balanced more than usual, as my cluttered house and cobwebs will attest. My day job expanded, I added volunteering, started a regular exercise routine, and had some pet and family health issues. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to being exhausted. I am sure my family and friends are tired of my response to most invitations, “In May…can’t do anything before May.” I am not trying to scare you away. Some great results came out of this: I discovered minimalist running shoes, and my knees don’t hurt anymore. After 18 years of marriage, my husband learned to do laundry. I found my calling…
Library Laryngitis
Posted April 29, 2013 by Sarah Barton
Last week I had a case of acute laryngitis and could not speak any louder than a whisper, if at all. It wasn’t a huge deal (aside from being annoying), and actually led to some unintentionally comical and unfortunately stereotypical interactions when I was working at the library. People would come in and speak to me at a normal volume but I would respond in a whisper, thereby prompting them to start whispering. (It is a library, after all.) One woman even apologized after becoming self-conscious that she was speaking too loudly, at which point I assured her that I was the one having volume control issues. Speaking exclusively in a whisper is not particularly conducive to most occupations, but librarian is one of the few where it’s not that bad. Being a student, however, is not ideal when laryngitis strikes, as my five-minute final presentation was not particularly pleasant for my poor classmates who strained to listen to my hoarse, raspy voice. Needless to say, I am glad that’s over with. Wait a second…my…
End of Semester and the Simmons Community
Posted April 28, 2013 by lazylibrarian
I run a Tumblr about news that I feel is pertinent to women. A few times I have tagged things #simmons college, like this picture I posted that I snapped at our residential-campus café the other night. Since I have tagged a few things as Simmons or have mentioned it in my posts I have gotten more than one note from high school girls wanting to know more about the Simmons atmosphere. Unfortunately, I tell them that I am a Grad student and cannot provide much information about what type of classes they will take, what the undergrad events are like or even how roommate selection takes place. However I am always glad to be able to tell them that Simmons College has a diverse, warm and accepting culture. I see it in my limited interaction with the undergrad population, but also of course with the grad students in general and within my program. Friday night was the end of the year semester party hosted by LISSA, one of the student library association groups. It…
Do Grades Matter?
Posted April 27, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
As I check Moodle like a fanatic, waiting for the final verdict on my grades for this semester, I am reminded of a talk my professor had with my class a month or two ago when all of my classmates and I thought we were going to fail. We had all just received sub-standard grades for literature reviews. For most of us, this had been the first time we had written a literature review and its vastness was terrifying. Our professor described our journey to this paper’s end product like a walk in an unfamiliar wood: every time we turn the corner we should expect to find more woods, an ever deepening void of nothingness. As I said: TERRIFYING! My professor, who shall remain nameless, indicated that it didn’t matter what grades we got. At that point there was a collective sharp intake of breath. Grades don’t matter?! What! Of course grades matter. This is what I assume was the general mutterings or internal protestations of the group. Grades matter because we all want to…
Time Flies When You’re Having Fun
Posted April 26, 2013 by Emily Boyd
It seems like only yesterday I was starting my first day at GSLIS. This semester has flown by and left me invigorated to learn more. All four classes I took this semester have reassured me that the GSLIS program is absolutely the right place for me and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. I started this semester with no friends in the program, very little knowledge of the library profession, and no specific academic focus. Only a few months later, I am finishing my first semester with good grades in all my classes (fingers crossed!), a great group of friends, and a decision to focus on public libraries. When I first started classes in January, I had no idea how much my life was about to change. I leave for Rome in just under a month and could not be more excited. In addition to taking three classes in the fall and continuing to write for this blog, I have also accepted a leadership position in a student organization. I have been…
What’s the name of that book…?
Posted April 24, 2013 by Julie Steenson
Working in a public library, I often have requests for a book with an unknown title. These requests come in many varieties. A few of my favorites are listed below. It has a brown cover, sort of, is about this thick (patron displays width with fingers), and has an Indian on the front. Answer: The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks It is blue and was sitting right here on the New Shelf when I saw it about three weeks ago. Answer: Benediction by Kent Haruf I am looking for a book I read as a kid in the 1940s – it had a train and some kids…and they passed messages with the conductor or something… Answer: The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit We listened to an audiobook a while ago – it had some weird clock and something to do with eyes…and there might have been gypsies or something like that… Answer: The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski I love these kinds of questions. I heard today about another local library…
GSLIS is great, and everything. But let’s talk about Community.
Posted April 23, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
There have been a lot of events going on at the main Simmons Campus this week. On April 15, Boston experienced two bombs that rocked the famous Boston Marathon. Then, just this past Thursday and Friday, there was a city – district? – wide manhunt for the two suspects. I personally live in the Cambridge area, very near MIT. My husband works at the Whitehead Building, only a block away from where the valiant MIT Police Officer, Sean Collier, lost his life. I was terrified – my husband was still at work when MIT was put on lockdown – and I felt helpless and confused. Of course, eventually the manhunt was relocated to Watertown with a whole other set of terrors. But you all know the story of what went down recently – I want to talk about all of Boston’s reaction to it, and more specifically how Simmons reacted. Community is a strong word. Community, in my mind, evokes thoughts about people holding hands and having a strong bond tied to a location or…
Boston Strong
Posted April 22, 2013 by Sarah Barton
I am neither eloquent nor competent enough to put into words the thoughts, fears, feelings, and emotions that I experienced last week during and in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent manhunt. It is unfortunate that sometimes it takes something this tragic and senseless to bring out the best in people, but Boston responded with the heart and spirit of a city that will not let this tragedy define one of its greatest traditions. If anything, the marathon will come back stronger next year. Boston Strong(er).
Information Overload
Posted April 21, 2013 by lazylibrarian
The whole world knows what happened in Boston this past week. I don’t wish to ruminate on the agonies, rather focus on the lessons. As common with tragedies, there are many. One that I came across, that might seem minor in the scheme of human suffering this week, nevertheless is the one I want to focus on because of its tie-in to library science. There has been much media coverage over the “social media aspect” of the Boston Marathon Bombing and in the horrific misidentification of the suspects in the New York Post but even before the New York Post coverpage there were thousands of people on Reddit and other websites trying to solve the crime like amateur Sherlock Holmes. I do believe their intentions were good but more and more I saw links to the supposed Twitter of the suspects, their Facebook, statements such as “if this is the same so and so then they worked here” or “if this is the same guy he won this award in the year X”. We’ve already…
World Book Night
Posted April 20, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
What a week this has been! I’m overwhelmed with relief, grief, exhaustion, and patriotism. It’s been a week. Incidentally, aside from being the week of the Boston Marathon Bombing, this week was also Library Appreciation Week, and this Thursday was also Poem in Your Pocket Day. How I wanted to celebrate these holidays. Yet they slipped through my fingers, and got away from me. Today, as we breathe a collective sigh and remember what’s important in life I’d like to point out another way to celebrate books, Boston and general well being. Next Tuesday evening, as you’re walking home from school or work keep an eye out for the ladies and gentlemen giving away free books in celebration of World Book Night. While April 23rd (this Tuesday) is UNESCO’s Day of the Book as well as Shakespeare’s birthday the people of World Book Night give away books, donated by a variety of authors, to promote the love of reading. This program is only 2 years old! It’s free to sign up to be a distributer…