Public Spaces in Macedonia and Boston
Posted April 16, 2014 by Maggie Davidov
When I lived in a country that had a strong socialist history, I spent a lot of time in one of the remaining relics from that equalizing time: the dom na kultura. This translates from Macedonian to the house of culture. It’s a place where people come together for concerts, art exhibits, dance recitals, poetry readings, and other such endeavors. This is a public space that can be used by anyone. You can book the space and it, and all of it’s resources are available to you. I happened to take dance classes there as well as hold a photography exhibit. It was one of my favorite places. I remember walking down the main street on a Wednesday afternoon when the director of the dom na kultura saw me, crossed the street and thrust a postcard into my hand, “COME!” he said with such enthusiasm that I could not refuse. The postcard advertised a band named “Amniotic Fluid” (no joke) that was playing that night. I went. It was the most intense jazz trio I…
Simmons Neon 5K
Posted April 15, 2014 by Jill Silverberg
This past Saturday, me, my sister, and close group of friends came together to participate in Simmons Neon 5k. For most of us, this was the first time any of us had run a significant distance in a long time. Although I used to run competitively, I haven’t run a race since my senior year of high school, so going into a race like this was both exciting yet nerve racking. A part of me really wanted to run the race as fast as possible but I knew that that would be a pipe dream; there was no way I was in any shape to run a 5k in about 25 minutes. So, I decided to aim for something else; finish under 30 minutes and do it without walking. Even if I did have to stop, I knew that both my friends and my sister would be there to support me. On the day of, the six of us met on the course with mixed emotions. My sister and I were excited to get started, the…
Making Membership Worth It
Posted April 14, 2014 by Alec Chunn
I voted in my first ALA election today. So, consider this entry my big “I voted” sticker. I’m actually quite proud of myself. No joke. For once, I didn’t let those thoughts in my head of “I’m not a real librarian” get to me. Because, if you’ve read my previous entries, you’ll know that I am. We all are here at Simmons. Anyways, since I didn’t really know most of the people on the ballots, I had to skim through everyone’s bios to see who I thought were the best candidates for each position. The best part, though, was when I did know someone (go Em Claire!). It kinda got me thinking about the strong likelihood that some of the people I’m in library school with now will someday be on that list. I may someday be on that list. And you never know who’s going to remember you, or whom you’re going to remember. I’m certainly going to take that to heart. This extends beyond the Simmons community. I will probably meet a lot…
Dear Boston at the Boston Public Library
Posted April 13, 2014 by Gemma Doyle
On Saturday I went to see the Dear Boston exhibition at the Boston Public Library, which opened on Monday and will remain there until May 11. The Marathon bombings that happened last year are obviously all over the news in Boston right now, but nothing in all the interviews I saw or stories I read really affected me as much as seeing the items that people left at the bombing memorial in the days and weeks after it happened, including the hundreds and hundreds of pairs of running shoes. The exhibition is at the public library but was coordinated between the Boston City Archives, the Boston Art Commission, the New England Museum Association, and the BPL, which shows how amazing our resources really can be when we pool them between informational institutions. I have worked in a lot of public libraries and one thing I have been somewhat disappointed about when I’ve interned in local archives is the lack of outreach. I don’t just mean the button making “fun” outreach that I mentioned in my…
Sightseeing, Ducky Style
Posted April 10, 2014 by Alec Chunn
My parents were in town last week, so I had the pleasure of doing lots of touristy things. Probably the biggest thing I did was go to a Red Sox game (which for a Seattle Mariners fan like me does, in fact, constitute tourism). I also did many smaller things. The best small thing: going on a Duck Tour. (1) Because I happen to really love ducks, and (2) Because our tour guide wore pajamas and pretended to be friends with Christopher Walken. I don’t remember his name, but I do remember that he was awesome. There’s nothing quite like seeing the city you live in from an outsider’s eyes. Sure, walking around and familiarizing yourself with somewhere new is liberating and can be deeply personal. But there’s also something incredible about being a voyeur. At least in terms of tourism. On a tour, you get to listen to someone explain their love for the city–their favorite parts and favorite stories–while you simply keep quiet and watch, asking questions when queries arise. On the Duck…
LISSA’s role in GSLIS
Posted April 6, 2014 by Gemma Doyle
Before I went to the NEA Spring meeting a few weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to discover that LISSA would reimburse my expenses at the conference up to $300. This was great news for me, because money is always tight as a grad student. LISSA has always been one of those elusive organizations on Simmons campus for me – it crops up in conversations a lot, but I’ve never been involved in it or really known what it was. One of my fellow students, Joy Rodowicz, is involved with LISSA (and helping to plan this year’s Graduate Symposium) and offered to write some pointers about it for everyone, because as a GSLIS student (or potential student), LISSA is a valuable tool to be aware of. 1) How did you get involved with LISSA? I first got involved with the Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA) after I finished my first semester here at Simmons. I wanted to find a way that I could be more involved with the GSLIS community and saw my…
Five Reasons Why it Needs to be Spring
Posted April 1, 2014 by Jill Silverberg
Although spring technically started about ten days ago, it sure does not feel like it. In fact, while I was out running errands today, I realized that the rain turned into hail. Now I am an total fan of winter but even I know when enough is enough. Unless this seemingly endless winter is a curse accidentally placed on us by Queen Elsa from Frozen, starting tomorrow, it better start feeling like spring. Now, I know its been a while since it has even come close to feeling like spring so I’ve composed a list of five reasons why its time to open up the windows and enjoy the fresh spring air. 1. Warmer weather. Think how wonderful it will be when we no longer need to go outside bundled up in winter wear? Rather than having to wear extra socks on my feet, I cannot wait to bust out my t-shirts and flip flops. 2. The rebirth of nature. One thing that I absolutely love about spring is how everything seemingly comes alive again. Flowers bloom, trees sprout leaves, and butterflies are everywhere. Yea there are those pesky…
Tumblarians!
Posted March 30, 2014 by Gemma Doyle
I spend way too much of my time every day online. I am fully aware that it’s a problem, but not one that’s going away any time soon. It’s gotten even worse lately, as I’ve been trying to use social media to learn more about archives and archivists, and have been working on networking through Twitter and tumblr (since I’m so terrible at doing it in person.) I’m not entirely sure about the librarian/archivist community on twitter, but the tumblr community of tumblarians (tumblr+librarians) is vibrant and very friendly. (I’m libromatic on tumblr, by the way.) The wonderful thing about tumblr (and Twitter, too) is that if you’re shy and nervous about posting a lot when you’re not entirely sure you know what you’re talking about, reblogging (and retweeting) are completely acceptable ways to share ideas! If you’re not on tumblr already, and you’re looking for ways to meet people in the library/archives field, here’s how to get started. After joining the site, find people to follow. A list of library and librarian tumblrs can…
Let it Go!
Posted March 29, 2014 by Maggie Davidov
So, I’m going to come clean. I watched Frozen for the first time this weekend. I don’t want to say it changed my life, but I’m definitely in some sort of magical place. I was thinking about the last time I was in this euphoric state and I remembered it exactly. It was when I finished the book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. No, I’m not a sadist. I don’t enjoy suffering and death. It was just such a wonderfully romantic story. It filled me with hope and I think pushed me to further understand the human condition. I tell you all this because I think libraries are in a unique position insofar as they are the dispensaries of these emotionally transformative materials. Amazon is not the only peddler of these fine products. We too share these artistic treasures, and what’s more, we put a human face behind it all. We have the opportunity to share our opinions about these books and films with patrons in a number of forums: blogs, reference…
A New Kind of Storytime?
Posted March 27, 2014 by Alec Chunn
One of my greatest regrets about leaving home is that I don’t get to see my five-year-old niece, Riley, very often. But, lucky for me, I got the opportunity to video chat with her this week (bless technology!). One of the greatest challenges about video chat, though, is remembering that not everything you do can be seen. And this becomes particularly important when you’re reading picture books. Or so I’ve come to realize. Simmons faculty Megan Lambert teaches a method of reading picture books called the Whole Book Approach. This is basically just a way of interacting with the picture book as an art form. When reading via this approach, children are asked to engage in a dialogue about the text. They move from being passive listeners to active participants in the story. Though I haven’t (yet) been formally trained in this approach, Megan demonstrates it often in her classes. If you’re curious, you can learn more about this method by taking her course at the Eric Carle Museum this summer. Anyways, I tried to…