Kentucky pack-horse librarians
Posted March 15, 2012 by fox32
Converted bakery trucks are fine, a restored International Harverster Metro would be neat, but how about Appalachian mountain riders as your bookmobile service? As a feature of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the 1930’s that was the case. Thousands of people lived in the crooks and hollows of Kentucky’s mountains. Without newspapers, telephones, or radios, they were almost totally isolated from the outside world. Since there were not paved or even gravel roads, the only way in was by foot, horse, or mule. People followed creek beds and mountain paths to their tiny communities and homes in the hollows. Small one-room schoolhouses nestled in coves and mining camps were almost entirely removed from the outside world. These schools barely had enough textbooks for their students. Some had no books at all. In face of the daunting essential needs, food, clothing, medicine, employment, funding for libraries seemed a very low priority. Without enough money to feed their bodies, how in the world could money be found to “feed their minds?” asked First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt….
An Archives Kid behind the Circ Desk?: Gaining Meaningful Experience at the Social Law Library
Posted March 14, 2012 by dunhame
Today marks six months that Ive been a Patron Services Assistant at the Social Law Library. I have to say, Im still surprised at the fact that my venture to Boston led me behind the circulation desk of a law library; as an archives concentrator with no prior interest in law or law librarianship, it seems like quite the anomaly! As unexpected as it is, Im quite grateful for the opportunities and experiences I have had at Social Law. When I was making plans to move to Boston and attend Simmons, I was hesitant at the prospect of working and going to school at the same time. Many of the graduate school workshops I attended as an undergrad emphasized that, for a graduate student, school is your job, and warned that working during grad school would be too overwhelming. Im glad I realized that this advice was usually geared toward students pursuing academic degrees rather than professional ones. In the library science field, gaining experience in and outside of the classroom is incredibly important. Not…
Spring Break and the Older Student
Posted March 13, 2012 by Julie Steenson
No bikinis for this forty-something .trust me, this is a good thing! For me, spring break was an opportunity to catch up on housework and have the time to go to NY to visit my adult daughter. I had told myself that I would get ahead on schoolwork, and while I did do some, there was no getting ahead. After six intense weeks, my brain needed to ease up, and my non-school life needed some of my attention. If you read my first post, you saw that I had some misgivings about returning to school as a full-time student. I would like to revisit those initial thoughts now, halfway through the semester. It has been so invigorating to be in school. While I sometimes feel like I am drowning in a sea of acronyms, I am learning so much. When I started the program full-time, I had quit my job, figuring that school, home, family, a long commute, and volunteer work would keep me busy enough. That was a good plan! When my volunteer work evolved…
The Grand Canyon of Libraries
Posted March 12, 2012 by Sarah Barton
Last week was Spring Break, and instead of crashing crazy parties in Cancun I traveled through northern Arizona and southern Utah. Having never been anywhere in the Southwest, I had no idea what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised by the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Zion National Park, and the red rocks of Sedona. Now that I am at GSLIS, my travels prompt me to think about the libraries that support the places I visit. This may sound silly, but I really do love when I see a library in an unfamiliar town. Or, even if I don’t see the library, it is interesting to check out its website afterward. After spending two days in Springdale, Utah (population 457; a small, touristy town right outside of Zion National Park), I was not surprised to find that its library staff consists of three people and that without a library card, internet access costs $1 for 60 minutes. After two days in Sedona, Arizona (population 10,031; an artsy, touristy, and outdoorsy city), I was not surprised to…
Two Weeks In
Posted March 11, 2012 by Maya Bery
The crowning experience of the SLT program is the two practica, which are carried out at the elementary and high school levels (though starting this fall, middle school will be an option as well). In addition to a mountain of paperwork and a log that could possibly qualify as a lethal weapon due to its sheer weight, part of what we are meant to do is learn the ins and outs of being a librarian. This includes not only shadowing our cooperating practitioner, but writing our own lessons, collaborating with teachers, planning activities, creating displays, doing our three minor projects, and, of course, teaching. Yesterday marked the end of my second full week (though this week was a little off-kilter), so I thought it might be interesting to give you all an idea of what happens at a practicum at the beginning stages. In the past two weeks, I have: Introduced myself to the students and found out about what countries some of them have lived in Written and taught the first lesson of my…
Get out there -easy if in Somerville
Posted March 8, 2012 by fox32
Unless you are working full-time and taking 3 classes while commuting from Maine, I bet a lot of the readers are also volunteering in some kind of library-related function. “Friends of the Library” groups are great for this, and as a connected, energetic, knowledgable library student you are perfectly placed to led your enthusiasm to your local public library. Even if public librarianship is not your aim I would encourage it. You don’t need to sit on the board (though nice little line item on the resume…) but just being an upright and breathing volunteer can be useful. If you live in Somerville (or Cambridge or Medford) let me mention that the Friends of the Somerville Public Library are looking for extra volunteers and having a kick-off meeting on March 21st; why not attend? See the Facebook link. If you don’t care for FaceSpace, there is an EventBrite link as well; friendsofthesomervillelibrary.eventbrite. For those GSLIS students with little to no library experience this seems like an absolute no-brainer. Hope to see you then.
What It Means to be Blended
Posted March 7, 2012 by Julie Steenson
Blended and Online classes offer amazing opportunities to learn from practicing professionals who genuinely want to share their knowledge and experience with the next generation of library professionals. What could be better than learning from real world librarians! Being my first semester, I had no idea what a Blended class actually entailed. I knew there would be some face-to-face meetings and other meetings online, but I wasnt sure what that actually meant in practice. Face-to-face is what it implies a class meeting on campus in the traditional sense. My blended class combines face-to-face meetings on Simmons West (Mount Holyoke) campus with synchronous online sessions. Synchronous means that we all log in at class time either from home in our PJs or some of us choose to log in together in an empty classroom or in the GSLIS West office. While PJs are appealing, I enjoy the group gathering as it has allowed for some excellent peer interaction and good company with my morning coffee.
The Big Move (Part 2)
Posted March 6, 2012 by dunhame
To continue my account of my move to Boston, Im here this week with the second installment of The Big Move. I left off last week setting myself up for quite a task, which is to tell my stories and offer some tips regarding finding a place to live in Boston and using public transportation. In the interest of not overwhelming you with a term-paper length piece, Im going to back off from that and stick to discussing housing only and saving the wondrous MBTA for another week. One of the most intimidating elements of my planning phase leading up to moving to Boston was trying to find a place to live. I was living in Missouri at this time, and I didnt have the means or the time to schedule a trip to Boston to look at apartments in person. In fact, I didnt travel to Boston at all until it was time to move. This means I was 100% reliant upon this good ol Web of ours in my apartment hunt. I began,…
My Vow to Browse
Posted March 6, 2012 by Sarah Barton
When I visit a library with the sole intent of choosing my next book, I tend to become borderline robotic. In fact, last week I embarked on Mission: Obtain this months Book Club selection. I looked up the call number online, went to the library, grabbed the book, and left. I was in the library for no more than two minutes. If a million dollars was sitting on the shelf below my book, Justin Bieber was manning the reference desk, or the periodicals were on fire, I didnt notice. I was on a mission. Must.Get.Book. (Spoken in robot voice). That high-speed library mission got me thinking about the last time I entered a library without a specific book in mind. I decided it was probably sometime in fifth grade. These days I usually know, or at least have an idea of, what I want, and look at nothing else. Must.Get.Book. In a library full of infinite browsing possibilities, my robot-like obstinacy keeps me focused exclusively on what (I think) I want, which can be both…
The Joys of Public Libraries
Posted March 4, 2012 by Maya Bery
For someone who grew up going to the public library on a near weekly basis and then spent two years overseas in a library wilderness, moving to Boston has been nothing short of a heavenly experience. As a Boston resident, I am entitled to borrow books from any of the branches within the Boston Public Library system (extensive in its own right), and I am allowed reciprocal privileges through the Minuteman network as well. What this means is that I basically have any library between here and New Hampshire at my disposal, through the wonders of the OPAC and interlibrary loan. In addition to the countless hours of personal pleasure the BPL and Minuteman libraries have afforded me, they have also played a central role in my GSLIS academic career.