In May 2009 I finally took the plunge into being a graduate student to pursue a career as a school librarian. This was an option that I considered on and off for several years. However, it never seemed to be the right time to go back to school. Now that I am in my fourth semester at Syracuse University, I realize what a great decision I made. As I go through my courses and learn about the options and possibilities that are available in librarianship I am encouraged and inspired.

I am currently a teacher and I’ve always enjoyed working with a wide variety of students. By becoming a librarian, I see an opportunity to not only reach a large student base, but to also have the chance to do curriculum planning with other educators. Two areas of school librarianship that I find particularly appealing are collaboration, especially as it relates to technology, and increasing library usage through programs such as cafés.

My first ten years of teaching were spent as a special education teacher. That experience gave me a great understanding of learning styles. A number of those years were spent teaching in an inclusion class where I learned the importance of collaboration. As a new librarian, it is my hope to combine my experience with planning and communicating with other educators together with the technology skills I have recently learned in graduate school. There are so many great tools available now for educators and students. Web 2.0 tools like blogs, wikis, and social networking sites can be transformed into powerful platforms for student expression. It will be my focus as a librarian to help not only students master these tools, but to aid teachers who would like to infuse their lessons with technology.

Another area I hope to impact when I become a school librarian is expanding the role of the media center to increase the number of students who frequent the library. One way to do this is by making the library a destination place within the school. This can be accomplished in a number of ways such as creating cafés, gaming programs, or book clubs. The main idea behind all of these programs is to be in tune with the students, faculty, staff, and administrators who use the library by assessing user needs and wants. Many students only visit the library when required to do so for a class. I would like to reach those students by changing the perception of the library. Just a few changes can make all the difference–  like adding some comfortable furniture, making snacks and drinks available, or even adding some games or clubs to the mix. Once a librarian is able to get students to walk through the threshold of the library doors then the introduction to literary material and library services can begin.

Knowing what direction you want to take in life is not always an easy task. I truly feel that I have finally found my niche though. As of Fall 2010 I will only have three courses left to take before I can apply for my certification and I have to say that I am anxiously waiting for the day when I can say that I am officially a school librarian. 

Last year I actually enjoyed one of the professional development days I attended. We met on a department level and were asked to prepare a mini lesson to teach to the rest of the department. It was great! I learned so much and really incorporated some of the lessons into my own curriculum. This is why blogging for educators can be so valuable. It is like being able to continually engage in professional development that is meaningful. As an educator you can be exposed to the ideas and thoughts of other educators– ones whom you would never normally come into contact with.

I think that an introduction to blogging and RSS feeds would make for a great professional development day. Maybe educators could spend the day learning how to set up a blog… maybe we could explore blogs and exchange some new ideas…. either way it would be a day well spent rather than a day that makes you wish you spent the day somewhere else..

In IST 663 (Integrating Motivation and Information Literacy), we learned how to create lesson plans using IM-PACT, which infuses relevancy and motivation into lesson plans. I have been teaching for a number of years, and I found this  method to be very useful. It really made me look at my audience and helped me to plan lessons that had relevance and meaning for students. I am proud to say that a BuILder and a IM-PACT lesson plan that I wrote for this class are on the S.O.S. for Information Literacy website.

 Dr. Ruth Small and Marilyn Arnone were the instructor for this class and even though I am a distance student, we were able to meet both instructors at the beginning of the semester for a 2 day residency. They were both dynamic speakers and were so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the field of library science. It was a pleasure to be in their class.

IST 605 (Information Resources: Users and Services) was the other class that I took this past Fall. I have to say that I really learned a great deal in this class. Probably the items that have stuck with me the most are evaluating websites, evaluating a wide variety of resources, and learning the importance of a reference interview.

* The poster session for IST 511– a great learning experience

* My group project in IST 668– I learned how to work in a group without ever meeting the people in my group– also learned how to use Google docs.

* Annotated bibliography– I have written many papers, but never had to do an annotated bibliography — another good skill to have learned.

* Most of all, I learned that I chose the right degree program at the right school!!

Today was my last day of summer residency at Syracuse University. The very last part of class today was spent in the library doing a poster session.

The poster session was a group project that was based on a current issue facing libraries today. My group chose to work on the issue of institutional repositories for scholarly writings, an issue that is facing academic libraries. Our task as a group was to take this subject, do research on it, and then report on it in an unbiased manner. We took the main pros and cons of our findings, and put them onto our poster board.

There were 14 groups in total and each one worked on a different library topic. There were quite a range of issues that our class took on. Here is a sample of the topics:  restricting access to books in public school libraries, what groups should be able to meet in public libraries, embedded librarianship, adding e-books to a library collection, and using Second Life in libraries.

The poster session was quite a learning experience. During the hour and a half session, the members of each group had to be available to present the poster. We had to greet people, answer questions they might have, and also provide them with literature that would explain the topic more in depth.

I think that our group did a good job of representing the subject of institutional repositories. We had many people stop by and ask questions and we were able to answer most of the questions, thanks to the research that we had done as a group.

I really learned quite a bit over the course of the week. I liked how the course was set up. It was a good combination of information about being a librarian mixed in with presentations from librarians in all different parts of the field. It really did show me how diverse this career path can be and also how important it is to be an advocate for change and advancement.

Today we had three speakers come to class to tell us about how they use the space in their libraries. Three different types of libraries were represented today—academic, public, and public school. The common thread amongst all three speakers was that the library should have an inviting atmosphere.

Tina Nabinger, a library media specialist for Minoa Elementary School, was the first presenter. She has made her library a place for students not only to enjoy a good book, but to do a little cooking as well. I was excited to hear about this type of program. Currently, I am a cooking teacher and plan to do the same exact thing that Tina did with her library.  It was encouraging to me that she was able to find a source of funding within her community. It really shows how someone with a vision, some perseverance, and networking skills can make things happen.

Our next presenter was Lesley Pease. She is the Director of the Learning Commons at the Syracuse University Library. Lesley showed us various ways in which her library has changed its use of space over the years. One big change that they have made is to the library entrance. At one time, to gain entry to the library, you had to show identification and then go through either a turnstile or a gate. Certainly, this was not very welcoming. The new entranceway is spacious and well lit, with a big welcome sign hanging from the ceiling. Another big change is the addition of a café, called Pages. The café has been a big hit. It is a place for students to get together, have some coffee, and type away on their laptops.

Jean Armour Polly, Executive Director of the Liverpool Public Library, was the last presenter. Jean is a graduate of Syracuse University and has made quite an impact in the online world with her book titled Net-mom’s Internet Kids and Family Yellow Pages. This book, now out of print after 6 editions, contains a comprehensive list of over 3,500 family friendly websites. Jean also has some other impressive credits worth noting. She is credited for coining the term “surfing the internet” and is the co-founder of PubLib, the oldest and largest listserv for librarians.

The website for the Liverpool Public Library is www.lpl.org . It is a website worth checking out because it really shows a library that is tuned in to its community. There is really something for everyone—from book clubs, to teen nights, to continuing education opportunities, and even a weather station on the roof. Jean Polly is making sure that her library is looking toward the future.

Today our class had the opportunity to visit the Syracuse University Library. We were shown three different areas of the library that are involved with preserving books in one way or another.

The first person that we met was David Stokoe, who is a Conservation Librarian and Rare Book and Paper Conservator for the library. I learned that the goal of book preservation is to extend the life of cultural property. This is done by lessening the effects of damage and minimizing chemical deterioration. The class was shown books in various stages of the preservation process. The care and professionalism put into each book is impressive and really highlights the special expertise that is needed to work in this area.

The next area we traveled to was a room where books are conserved. Our tour guide for this area was Peter D. Verheyen, Head of Preservation and Conservation for the library. The majority of books in this area are either being rebound and returned to the shelves in the library or are being wrapped in plastic to be shipped and then stored at an off site facility. In this room there were four employees actively working on either restoring or shrink wrapping books. Again, the skill and dedication could be seen as all of them diligently worked on their various projects.

The last person that we had the honor of meeting was Dr. Kenneth Lavender, Professor of Practice in the School of Information Studies. Dr. Lavender was a Special Projects Librarian until 2006 and now volunteers his time to this department. During the time that we spent with Dr. Lavender, he went through a history of books. This was no ordinary lecture though. As he was explaining the various types of books in the collection, we also got to see some of the collection as well. Some of the works that we were shown included Le Louchier Hours from France, a first edition of Alice in Wonderland, and a leaf of the Gutenberg Bible containing the 23rd Psalm. As he presented the works to the class there were many “oohs” and “aahs” heard.

It was really a privilege to be given a tour of these different areas of the library– and for yet another time this week, our class was presented with career choices that may not have even crossed our minds when we applied to the School of Information.

A great deal of our discussion this morning revolved around the term copyright. Librarians need to be knowledgeable about the basic concepts of copyright laws, including fair use.

There are many facets of copyright law that a librarian may be questioned about. Patrons may need to know how long copyrights last on various types of products, what are the usage rights on computer images, and how fair use is determined… just to name a few.

Luckily, Dr. Scott Nicholson and librarian, Tasha Cooper provided us with some great websites to help us decipher these issues.

www.copyright.gov A government website loaded with facts about copyrights, including fact sheets and a FAQ section.

www.law.duke.edu/cspd/comics/digital.html This site is from the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law School. It is done in comic book style—very cool.

www.creativecommons.org This website makes it easy for people to share and build upon the works of others within the guidelines of copyright laws.

Today we had two speakers visit the class to talk about their careers in public libraries. The first speaker, Kate McCaffrey, is the Director of the Northern Onondaga Public Library and the second, Bev Cholcto-Devlin, is a reference and electronic resource consultant for the Mid-York Library System. Interestingly, both speakers had not planned on working in public libraries.

The unexpected career paths of these two dynamic women really caught my attention and have been part of what I have found so amazing since I arrived at Syracuse University a few days ago. There has been such a variety of people to talk to that share an interest in the LIS field. The flexibility within a librarian’s career path is very broad in scope. Academic libraries, special collections, public libraries, digital libraries, and public school libraries are just a few of the choices that are available to explore.

I am entering this MSLIS program as a school media student. It will be interesting to see how I feel at the end of the week. After all, the presenters that I listened to today certainly did not see themselves working in a public library— and now they can’t imagine doing anything different.