In Case of Free Time
Posted March 29, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
Due to some marvelous twist of fate, I indeed have some of this coveted free time mentioned in the title, even in the midst of three classes, two part-time jobs, and an internship. Phew. Did I mention that the twist of fate was marvelous? Of course, a fair amount of said free time is spent taking care of important things (i.e. homework & blessed, blessed sleep) along with the everyday banalities of life. But how else to fill in those special gaps of nothingness? Here’s how it looks for me: I still read for pleasure. Honestly, I’ve found it impossible to stop! I tote books around to read on my train or bus commute, and I’ve joined a couple of different book clubs in the area. I was a little shy to jump in at first, but they’ve helped me be motivated to read new things regularly, and I’m also getting to meet some great new people. FYI- the Meetup app is an awesome way to get plugged into groups like this! Speaking of great…
Travelling and Books
Posted March 28, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
As I mentioned in my last post, I am in California! It is currently a balmy 72 degrees outside, and I am enjoying the break from winter (although it has apparently warmed up in Massachusetts since I left). One of the (very few) benefits of a long six-hour flight from Boston to San Diego is that it gives you a long, uninterrupted period of time to read. As a future librarian, I obviously love to read and am a hardcore bibliophile, and I always am grateful for any opportunity to read. Unfortunately, my life has been pretty busy lately, so I haven’t had much time for leisure reading in the past few months, but as I said, the flight gave me some time to catch up. Here are some of the books that I read (or in one case re-read) on my flight, all of which I recommend to you: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle Admittedly this was a re-read, but I love this book to pieces, and I had not picked this…
New Student Orientation and Meeting People- Make Friends!
Posted March 27, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
If you get the chance to attend Simmons, try and go to the new student orientation. It’s a great opportunity not only to see the campus and introduce yourself but to meet fellow students who are new to the program as well. This has been a lifesaver for me, mainly because I moved up here not knowing anyone. There were only four of us at the Spring orientation, and we all ended up being in the same classes. I feel that this has made us into a little pack this semester where we help each other in a variety of ways. One way, being new students and new to Boston, we can chat about challenges we encounter living in Boston. Most of these conversations have to do with the MBTA system and apartment searching. I’m currently grilling my friends from the ‘burbs about what they like, don’t like, and how the commute is, because, in case you didn’t know, Boston is a wee bit expensive guys. Look for roommates if possible! The other super important…
Conference Thoughts
Posted March 26, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
So, let’s talk about conferences. I knew that librarians had conferences before I came to library school. While I worked at an academic library in Virginia, I went to two of them. One was for the state library association, and the other was some kind of interlibrary-loan specific conference. Somehow this did not prepare me for how many library/archives conferences there would be happening in New England. As library students, we get plenty of emails about them and hear a lot about why we should be attending them. Students are even encouraged to submit papers and be presenters. Conferences are a great opportunity but they are difficult to attend. Most of them are a good distance from your home, necessitate overnight stay, require missing class or work (and in my case, lots of babysitting), and charge registration fees. Simmons and sponsoring organizations make a good effort to mediate these demands by offering professional development reimbursements, travel awards, and scholarships for students. These efforts are nice but they also require some time and work on the…
My Simmons Journey
Posted March 22, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
It’s officially spring time, but you wouldn’t guess it if you were to peer outside the window right about now. There are heaps of snow on the ground–remnants of our fourth nor’easter this month–and the sky is grey and overcast. I’m curled up at home and sipping on a mug of spiced tea, and today I’d like to share a little bit about how I got to Simmons in the first place and where I’m tentatively heading next. And by next I mean figuring out what classes I’m taking in the fall semester. Nothing too long-term at this point! I’ll be honest. I applied here on a whim. I was at a juncture in my life where I needed to make some kind of radical change, and I thought to myself, “Why not dig up that childhood dream of yours to be a librarian and see if you can make that happen?” I was giddy at the idea, and then my rational brain chimed in to tell me that while that was cute, I had…
Online Classes
Posted March 21, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
Simmons SLIS has a variety of ways you can take classes. They offer classes on the ground at the Boston campus, SLIS West (South Hadley, MA), and the Eric Carle Museum (Amherst, MA), blended classes with some sessions on the ground and some online, and fully online classes. The flexibility in class scheduling is something that is unique to Simmons and was one of the factors that helped me select Simmons as the place to get my graduate degree. As I mentioned in my first blog post, I am going the online route this semester. One of the great things about taking online classes is that you can do it from anywhere. Well, anywhere that has a Wi-Fi connection that is. One of the reasons why I decided to go to school online was because I am new to Massachusetts and I wasn’t sure if I could get from my home, which is about 20 miles outside of Boston, to classes in Boston in the snow. The way the past few weeks have gone, with…
Free Books and SLIS Resources
Posted March 20, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
One thing I am really enjoying about the Children’s Literature program here at Simmons is the ample opportunity for free books. The SLIS classrooms are in the same building as The Horn Book Magazine, which is a bimonthly literature magazine that was established here in Boston. They always have a cart outside their door that has free materials to take such as Advanced Reader’s Copies (ARCs). It’s a great way to see what new material is being written about. Even if you do not pick up any of this material to take home, it is a great resource to have for browsing. Along with the Horn Book book cart, there is also the Book Nook. It is a small space on the third floor just outside the offices where you can sit and enjoy a book from the rather extensive collection of new Children and YA books on the shelves. This is a non-circulating library, but you are always welcomed to come in a choose a book to sit and read anytime you like. These…
Here a Library
Posted March 16, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
This may not come as a surprise to you, dear readers, but ever since I started at SLIS I have gotten really, really into all things library-related. Who would have thought? I’ve been most enthralled by the idea that there are so many different types of libraries that exist. My own experience with libraries before coming into the program was primarily through public and academic institutions, so it’s exciting to see how much else is out there. I’ll give you a few examples… I was visiting a good friend of mine in North Carolina last week during spring break, and we passed a sign on the highway pointing to the Billy Graham Library. A quick search told me this particular library, a blend of religion and history thematically, was designed to look like a dairy barn mirroring Graham’s upbringing on a farm near Charlotte. We later drove through the University of North Carolina School of Arts campus in Winston-Salem where I caught a glimpse of the gorgeous Semans Library. Yes, this is an academic library,…
Library Science Realization
Posted March 14, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
I’m only halfway through my first semester of library school and I’m loving every minute of it. However, making the decision to go to library school wasn’t an immediate realization for me. When I was in undergrad, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life- I just knew I didn’t want to work in the medical field or be an engineer. I chose my major and minor, communications and English, because I thought they would pair well with my love of reading and writing. It was not until I met with a career counselor during my second year at UNC Chapel Hill that I started to consider pursuing an advanced library science degree. Most of the people in my major were planning on getting their MBA, getting a law degree, or working in social media and all of those careers did not really sound appealing to me. I knew I could do those jobs, but my goal was to be happy in whatever career I ended up pursuing. During the meeting,…
Why I Chose Simmons
Posted March 13, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
I came across Simmons when reading a snippet on Kristin Cashore’s blog. She mentioned she got her M.A. at the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College and I thought, “Any school that incubated and turned out this type of creative author has to have something special going for it.” I was currently an undergrad at Texas State University and put Simmon’s in my “Some Day” folder I have filed away in the back of my head. Fast forward five years and I am half way through my LIS degree at University of North Texas. I took a children’s literature class and during my first research paper I knew I wanted to learn exclusively about children’s literature and all that encompassed it. I did enjoy the LIS program, but I thought, if I am going for my dreams, I am going all the way. I researched more into the school, requested packets of information (which I received in abundance) and did a little outside research about different authors who attended the program. I…