Mary Tobin LIBS 6991 April 26, 2014

Final Reflections Essay

On January 23, 2012 I wrote my Initial Impressions Essay, sharing my thoughts on libraries, librarians, and ethical dilemmas. Now, just over two years later, I am a librarian. At the beginning of this school year, although I was hired as the media coordinator at Topsail Middle School in July, I was not ready to say that I was the media coordinator. It still felt a bit surreal. The process of going through my internship this semester and applying the knowledge and skills I have gained over these 13 courses has led me to this place where I am now confident in my abilities and I truly do feel like the librarian/media coordinator of my school. My experiences over these courses and the internship have served to confirm most of the impressions I expressed in that initial essay. Librarians wear many hats in the workplace. This is certainly true. Our responsibilities vary depending on our setting, and even can vary greatly depending on the particular location even if the setting is similar (school to school) but there is no doubt at all that every librarian wears many, many hats. During my internship I have helped students, recommended books, solved computer problems, reset passwords, ordered books, processed books, repaired books, ordered furniture, set up Chromebook carts, reconfigured iPod carts, managed 15+ calendars, attended conferences, instructed student assistants, learned Destiny, fixed mistakes Ive made in Destiny, collaborated with teachers, skyped with students, learned dozens of acronyms, completed the schools fixed asset inventory, supervised many

clubs, and more. I always try to do it all with a smile. The students deserve a positive experience when they come into the library and the person they encounter can make the difference in whether they come back or not. A good librarian needs to be organized, self directed, enthusiastic, helpful, and intelligent. Acceptance and a non-judgmental attitude are important as well I have had the opportunity to put this into practice on a daily basis during the internship. The only area in which I really struggle is organization. LIBS 6026 was crucial for a person like me who is not naturally the most organized person. Learning how the library is organized and the concepts behind that structure was invaluable. Over the course of the internship and my first year, I have had the opportunity to see how I use my space and how the students use the library. Going forward into next year I will arrange my workspace in a manner that will best suit how it is used. This task would not have been possible at the beginning of the year. It has taken this period of use and observation to see how it will work best and how I can set it up to maximize my space and resources. So, while I may appear rather messy this year, I am confident I will be much more organized next year. The other qualities that I identified in a good librarian, such as helpful and self directed, I feel come naturally to me. It has been a great year and I believe that over the course of the year and the internship I have proven to my principal and co-workers that they made the right choice when they hired me. The courses I have taken during these two years have prepared me well for the job. I was able to thoroughly examine my collection and make a plan for my budget, as I learned in LIBS 6018 and 6031. I have a very informative web site which I update and add to on a weekly basis, the importance of which was stressed in LIBS 6042. I am also adopting a wide range of web 2.0 tools for use with students.

An area in which I feel weak is my first-hand knowledge of enough of the books in my library. I have read a lot of them, but not nearly enough. As a student going through the program and not knowing in which grade level I would work, it was hard to read all that I would have liked. I learned so much about childrens literature in 6135 and young adult literature in 6137, and this summer I plan to build on that foundation even more by reading, reading, reading all summer long. Through my internship I have also realized that it is important that I read what the kids like. It may sound obvious, but some of the most popular books in our library are not those to which I would be naturally drawn. An example that I just read is The Maze Runner. This is not a book I would have selected, but it is very popular with the kids and is on next years Battle of the Books list. I loved it! I can now recommend it confidently and am almost finished with book two of the series. It is also alright to not like some of the books the kids are reading, and it makes for fun discussions/debates with them. Divergent.blech. The kids love trying to convince me otherwise, and the conversations are priceless. These interactions contribute to the overall atmosphere in my library of a welcoming place where discussions and debates are encouraged. The greatest ethical dilemma facing libraries today, and in the past, is censorship. When I wrote this I related it to the materials that we make available in our school libraries and the judgment calls that must be made when making selections. During the internship, I faced questions several times regarding materials and their appropriateness for middle school students. What is appropriate for an eighth grader may be less so for a sixth grader. A teacher requested some books that deal with LGBT issues, because she has students in her classroom that she feels need this support. The most requested book I had from students was Thirteen Reasons Why, which deals with teen suicide. I ordered it, but I read it first before putting it in circulation. It is a great book, perfect for this age group. The counselor questioned that opinion, until she read it.

Now she agrees. I have handled book requests on a case by case basis, and will always err on the side of providing access to the materials the students and teachers request. As I have learned through all of my courses, providing access to information is what we do. My transformation over the courses and the internship has been amazing, fun, challenging, stressful, tiring, exciting, and oh so worth every minute and penny. I am confident that the knowledge and skills I have acquired through this program have prepared me well for this career. I am also confident that the work I am doing does make a difference in the lives of the kids who come through my library doors. I have the best job in the whole school I am a librarian!