Course Reflection LIS 501: History and Foundations of Libraries and Librarianship

I like to think of LIS 501 as one long discussion of the history and values of libraries. It seemed like every discussion topic lead back to another, and we all learned and grew from each other reflecting on how libraries have been used and valued in the past, both in this country and abroad, and how libraries are evolving to uphold their mission in serving their patron. I enjoyed seeing how libraries have become what they are today, and seeing how I, as a future librarian, can continue to shape the libraries I work in, and serve the community throughout my entire career.
Our final assignment in LIS 501 was to express our own professional philosophy of librarianship. Here is mine which I believe sums up what I learned in 501. Here it is with comments from the instructor.

Course Reflection LIS 570: Research Methods

Looking back at LIS 570 I can see how much information we try to cram in such a small space of time. Much of what we covered in 570 I have had covered before either in in my undergrad (specifically Psychology and Sociology coursework), or even in high school as we discussed the scientific method. However, this was the first time that I covered the material with the assumption that it was something that I could do.
We began the course with a dissuasion of different research paradigms and the different philosophies behind them, as well as ethical concerns for many types of research.
From there we worked our way through the research process, formatting a question/hypothesis/statement, conducting a literature review with a team. I had never done a team literature review before, and it was quite the experience to see that it all fit and flowed together, especially as it was the first written assignment to turn in, and therefore we were unsure of what our instructor was looking for).
Next up we designed our own research based on the literature review. Here is mine-- I am quite proud of how it turned out (For those of you who care to see the instructor's comments, here they are). We had to think both creatively to decide what to look for and how to go about getting information, and practically for what could reasonably be achieved. I decided to plan my design as if I had much more financial resources available to me than I probably would have in a practical setting, but chose practical methods for engaging my research participants.

I like to think of the later modules as a kind of cool-down period from the rest of the course. We looked at how to analyzed both qualitative and quantitative data and I enjoyed having free reign and data to play with excel. Our final project pulled from all previous modules and required us to look at the beginnings of someone else's research and critique it.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in LIS 570 because it both stretched me creatively, and also indulged my analytical side.

Job Opening-- Teen Librarian

A surprise position has opened at my own library for a teen librarian. Here is the posting.
Once again I am reminded how much competition there is for these jobs, both from new grads and highly experienced people, and with the local library world being small, most of my future competition are my friends.

Teen Movie Night

Every Friday during the School year Tualatin library hosts a Teen Movie Night. The library closes at 6, but the teen room stays open and the teens play games, and vote on the movie they want to watch. We often range between a dozen and thirty teens mainly middle-schoolers without other Friday night plans. We get many repeat teens and in teen movie night are able to build relationship s with them that carry on through the rest of our interactions in the library. I often find that the teens that come to teen movie night are more willing to ask reference questions and ask the all of the staff for help. Having programs like teen movie night makes teens especially feel welcome in the library.

Paper Pals Part 2

Today I conducted my second Paper Pals program. We had 4 stations-- card making, origami, drawing, and of course, Paper airplanes. The program went really well, I would have liked to have a volunteer to help give the kids the attention they would like. I enjoyed helping the kids both individually and in groups, and many asked when we were doing it again, so I think it was quite successful.

Craftastic Afternoon-- Altoid Tin Wallet

Today I had the honor of leading my first Craftastic afternoon with the teens of the Tualatin Library. It was a bit more chaotic than I had anticipated. We made Altoids tin wallets /gift boxes. Unfortunately, the teens are unable to come all at the same time, so each person was at a different step in the process at a different time. This worked well for not having enough supplies for every one but I kept thinking how much easier it would be if there were 3 of me to give the teens the attention and assistance they needed.
However, it was a success, the teens enjoyed themselves, and follow directions and made great wallets and gift boxes.
Next time I run Crafttastic (February-- book marks) I’ll do more planning into the prep of the program, and also have printed instructions for the teens to follow along with what we are doing.

Reading for Healthy Families-- Presentation 1

Part of the Reading for Healthy Families initiative is to connect Library staff with Healthy Start workers to promote Early Literacy to the families who need it most. It just so happens that one of my school friend's little sisters IS a healthy start worker, and during a game night recently we discussed ways we could work together.

This came to fruition on Thursday evening when I was invited to speak at a play group for all the Life Works NW families (with children 0-3). I was very nervous, first of all because this was my first time presenting Early literacy on my own, and second because it was a large group, half of which didn't speak English. The group ended up being (number) families-- (number) people total.

Because I had 15 minutes I just picked a few things to focus on-- 5 tips for sharing books with babies and 5 tips for sharing books with toddlers. We started the session with the families coming in and playing with all the toys and craft supplies and eating cookies, then sang a couple songs, then I read a story (Peak-a-Zoo) which was a great success. Jahaira was my translator and she was AMAZING. I went through the tips for babies and tips for toddlers and then we pulled names out of a bowl for what order the families could come and partake in the many books I brought for them to take home. They had a bit more play time before clean-up.

I am completely impressed with the Healthy Start program-- something that 6 months ago I had no idea even existed. I am not convinced that libraries and these families really have a lot to share with each other.