Résumé

Here is a pdf of my current library experience résumé for job applications etc... This will be updated periodically.

As you can see I try to show both of my current jobs, and my previous experience interning and shelving as a progression of gained responsibility and upward career goals. Now let's hope the job market in Children's Librarians grows and I AND all my other youth service oriented friends can find fruitful and satisfying work.

Job Postings Feb-July 2010

While the job market is still in a tough spot I have come across a few positions that would serve me well to begin my professional career, although none are the ideal full time, local job, they all provide the type and professional level of work I would like to do in a public library setting.

In late February 2010 the Willsonville Public Library posted a part time children's librarian position as show here, in the job announcement, and the job description. Also included are supplemental questions.

In April 2010 Esticada was looking for a Youth Services Coordinator. This position appears to be mainly programing and working with the public as opposed to the collection development role of a librarian, it does require a MLIS or equivalent (yet the pay does not seem to reflect the high level of education needs). Here is the job description, the announcement, and the application.

Later in April Salem posted a senior children's library position. While the job requires more experience than I have, it is a position I would like to end up in after a few years as a children's librarian. Here is the announcement.

In June 2010 Fort Vancouver posted a highly coveted position for a collection development librarian for children's materials. Here is the announcement, and supplemental questions.

I continue to be on the look out for more professional openings in the greater Portland area. I know that we need not limit ourselves to our desired location, hours, or rate of pay for the portfolio, but it's the easiest way to look for jobs at this time.

How to Train your Dragon Program

In anticipation of the animated movie BCL hosted a "How to Train your Dragon" program for kids in 3-6 grades. We made dragon sock puppets (my idea and model), had a yelling contest (complete with audio measuring devise....), played stick ball which ended up a lot like hockey, drew pictures, had dragon races, completed an obstacle course, and many other fun and viking inspired activities.

Wild Things Program

In preparation for the release of Where the Wild Things Are as a feature film (big disappointment imho...) we celebrated with a Wild Things party at the BCL. We used the monster clompers (purchased for Ramona Q party) in a maze sort of thing for the kids, and made monster feet from paper bags, monster masks, clay boats, read the story, roared our terrible roars, gnashed our terrible teeth and rolled our terrible eyes while we had a wild rumpus of a time as we made one kind of mischief and another.

Tualatin Bulletin Boards

Another one of my duties in Tualatin is to create eye catching bulletin boards for the teen room. This board face out onto a busy street were traffic is often jammed, and an artistic choice in lighting calls attention to the board by cars and pedestrians, so not only must the display be attractive and interesting to teens who use the room, also the passers-by who come into the library to see what is up with those crazy lights.

Here is February's for Valentine's day-- a controversial holiday for many teens.


For National Poetry Month we celebrated the 6 word memoir. The bulitan board had many from the book "I can't keep my own secrets" and we asked teens to make their own 6 work memoir with the opportunity to win prizes.


This is one inspired by an "anti-Bella" book list from another library-- Kick Butt Heroines.



And here is the Summer Reading bulletin board-- Make Waves @ Your Library.

Program Flyers

As a reference assistant at BCL part of my job is to create the quarterly program flyer for all the children's activities at the library. Not only must I ensure that all the librarian's programs are represented, but also that the information is accurate, rooms have been booked, and the flyer is attractive and clear. Likewise, a separate flyer goes out to the schools, local day cares, and the branch library. Here are several examples of program flyers I've put together.

• Fall 2009
• Spring 2010
• Summer 2010
• Fall 2010

Teen Booklists

In my first few weeks as a public services assistant in the Teen Room I started making a book list for banned and challenged books, as banned books week was just a few weeks away. Aimee really liked it and asked that I crate more book lists. As this was a brand new teen room in a brand new library they didn't have any book lists for the teens to review. Using the BCL teen book lists as a model I created several book list that staff and patrons use every day. Aimee, the teen librarian encouraged and helps me keep them up to date, and Cherie, another ischool grad proof reads them and ensures they are formatted correctly. Here is a link to the Tualatin Library Teen book list page for the examples of the book lists I have made. Making book lists helps me really get to know the collection, as well as gives the the opportunity to read many reviews and understand how books are chosen for the collection, and how they are chosen to be highlighted on a book list, this has definitely been a great help as I build skills in both collection development and readers advisory.

Ramona Party

Last summer (2009) BCL hosted a party based on the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Cleary (this was before we knew that there was going to be a Ramona movie in 2010.... oh, well-- guess we have to have another party).
Similar to Fancy Nancy, we had a dress up station and a photographer to take the kid's pictures ("Peas," anyone?). The kids made a photo frame from Popsicle sticks, made flags for a parade, drew the longest picture in the world, ate bananas and drank oveltine, played "gray duck" or "duck, duck, goose" and in general had a creative, exciting, and run-around good time.

Because the comments we received after Fancy Nancy included having more obvious tie-ins to the book series we had both a read aloud from the first chapter of Ramona the Pest (by Children's librarian, Ann B.) and a book display of all the books that had been referenced in the Ramona Series.

I learned from this program, that while dress-up is fun and imaginative play, it should not be done in the same program in which we use puff paints.

Fancy Nancy Party

In my first year at BCL I helped with a party based on the popular Fancy Nancy books. We aimed this program at kids age 3-5, and had mostly girls in princess dresses show up. (It was very cute). We had several different stations for this kids and the parents to visit including a dress-up station with a red carpet for photo shoots, big dogs, spectacular spectacles, fancy cookies (the circus animal crackers), butterfly name tags, and so many other fun activities. Here is the passport I created so the kids knew what stations they were able to visit.

In this program I learned that it isn't enough just to have references to the books in each activity but must tie in the books and characters even more with at least a display, and preferably read the book out loud. It was a great first program for me to help with.

Course Reflection LIS 530: Organization of Information

In Organization of Information we were introduced to many new concepts such as how information is organized in different schema and for different uses. For example the cataloger must anticipate the needs of many different users to make the catalogs at all useful, and that different rules apply to different thesauri and ways of organizing information. One of or quests dealt with this issue as we studied what subject headings to give to a particular Wikipedia article in three different thesauri. Here is Quest 3.

Course Reflection LIS 550: Information in the Social Context

In LIS 550 we tackled so many aspects of information that the lay person does not typically think of when handling or retrieving information. We thoroughly discussed issues of copyright (including fair use), ethics, and liability and how information plays a major role in each. This course involved much "thinking like a lawyer" in doing research in particular laws and how those laws are interpreted through specific court cases. Our final project in this course was a group paper combining these three topics in a hypothetical situation involving the fictional library Crystal Springs and their map project that may have gotten out of hand. Here is the (extremely long) final paper.

Book Lists for Teens: Money

Recently I was asked to create a quarter sheet book list (front and back) of books we own, or could purchase for teens regarding personal fiance for a workshop we will host in the fall. Here is the link to a pdf of the book list.

Course Reflection LIS 520: Reference Services and Collection

In LIS 520 we got our first taste of reference work, both in creating reference collections, and working with patrons for both simple and complex research. We looked at reference work throughout time, and the tools available to us as librarians today. This course focused only on adult reference, were I taking it today I would have tried to tailor the assignments to my interest in youth services.

Our first assignment was to write a review of a reference material. I chose a DK reference book on trees and their identification. The second assignment involved specific in-depth research for an individual to solve one of their information gaps. My father hates buying new cars and takes years trying to decide how to go about it. For the assignment I looked at what he was interested in, what he has done before and what he could try on his own.

Our final group project involved finding a specific user group and studying their needs. We then read reviews, reviewed materials, and developed a collection of 10 reference materials that would fit their needs. My group chose chocolatiers and had great fun researching their needs and materials. Here is that final paper.

Course Reflection LIS 510: Information Behavior

As one of the first classes I took as part of my MLIS I found that 510 was challenging in many ways. It was the first time I had taken an online courses, worked on group projects online, and also the first time I had through about how information flows from person to person and system to system.

Out first project for the class was writing about information grounds—places where information is exchanged or shared, but not places where people go expressly to gather information. For example, my group chose to study outdoor markets like farmer’s markets in our area, and the Portland Saturday Market in Portland Oregon. Here is that very first MLIS paper.

The main objective of the course was to research and study one group of people and see how they searched for, found, and where they went for information, and also create a model that would represent the group’s information needs and process. My group focused on K-12 students and found a plethora of information on them. We created a full presentation, broken into smaller parts. Here is my portion of the presentation, the Literature Review for it in Internet Explorer and Fire Fox.

Course Reflection LIS 500: Information Life Cycle

LIS 500 was a two week course that seemed to throw us in the deep end of what our MLIS program would be like, discussing definitions we would encounter throughout the program, and a general introduction to what to expect in the next three years (more or less).
For the course with Stuart Sutton we wrote a reflection and goals of what we planned to accomplish and what we have already done. Here is mine.

Course Reflection LIS 560: Instruction for the Information Professional

In this course with Loraine Bruce we studied the different ways people learn and how to support different kinds of learning. We learned theories of education with different theorists and different types of learning and how to hit the different learners with different ways. Some learn by doing, watching, hearing about, and experimenting etc…

We started by studying the best ways that WE learn. What I liked bout this class is that we chose a project at the beginning, and each assignment was specifically designed for our group we would teach. Then we build a lesson plan around it. My project was on teens applying for summer jobs for the first time—I studied the different ways teens learn, and interact, and how they search for information, then applied that to my topic and used the theories of education to create a lesson plans to reach different types of learners. This class was very practical for working in a public library setting.

Here is my final presentation for Internet Explorer, and Fire Fox.

Program Reflection: Phineas L. MacGuire Erupts Volcano Party

At the BCL on Friday I helped to host a Science Party based on the Phineas L. MacGuire books by Frances O'Roark Dowell. We had 27 boys in grades 3, 4, and 5, and many of their caretakers (Moms, Dads, Grandmas, and a couple older brothers) participate.

Ann B, one of the Children's librarians at BCL was the main coordinator, I, as assisting reference Assistant came up with 2 of the 6 stations and the grand finale, and we had 2 invaluable summer inters helping coordinate the volunteers and get the program ready.
The program ran for 2 hours in the spacious meeting rooms of the library.

There was a puzzle race, a trivia table, a book auction, a paper construction table, and my 2 tables: individual volcano (backing soda and vinegar), and flubber (glue, borax, and water).

After getting our high school volunteer set up with the baking soda and vinegar table, I coordinated 6 groups of 4-7 boys making flubber. We observed what the glue and water mixtures looked like, and mixed food coloring in, then we added our borax and water solution and mixed until the reaction occurred. There was about one kid in each group that was hesitant to stick his finger in glue, but once they saw how much fun the other kids were having they dove right in.
Flexibility is required in putting on programs like this-- for example getting the kids to a sink to wash their gooey hands was an unplanned for necessity, but we all did really well with it.

For the grand finale of the program the Summer Intern, Dawn and I went out side the meeting rooms and the kids gathered around the window. Once outside Dawn and I showed the kids the infamous diet cola and Mentos reaction making a soda geyser shooting 25 feet in the air. Not only were the kids and their parents impressed, but also many people walking along the street.

I've done several special book programs, and this one has been my favorite so far. Mush in thanks to the planning of the librarian, and interns, and the maturity of the kids.
This is defiantly a program we can repeat parts of in the future.

Course Reflection LIS 569: Multicultural resources for Youth

The Cleary Professor of Children and Youth Services, Eliza Dresang offered her first online course: Multicultural resources for Youth, and I just had to take it. It was quite the eye opening experience as we spent approximately 2 weeks on each major racial group in the United States, discussing the quality and quantities of materials for children that were accurate and authentic to the culture and the people they were representing. We looked at how different racial and ethnic groups were portrayed in children’s books throughout time, and how progressive or non-progressive these books could be.

We took the time to explore the many different ALA awards that highlight the best books for children, representing authentically different racial or ethnic groups—these awards (some of which are controversial) are extremely useful to teachers, librarians, parents, and so many other adults in growing their collection, and helping to distribute authentic materials for children.

This course left me with an extensive resource list—I subscribed to many blogs such as the Brown Bookshelf, and those by Debbie Reese, as well as many other awards sites and information that I know check on a regular basis to keep up with the new materials begin produced that focus on different racial groups tat may not be represented very well in the collections I work with.

Our final assignment for the class was very practical and useful. We looked at an existing collection of materials for youth, recognized points where the collection was lacking in materials for a specific racial group, and then created an annotated bibliography of materials that could be added to the collection. I took at look at the Teen materials in the Tualatin library which I am familiar with, and after talking to the teen librarian, I chose to focus on books and materials for and about Asians and Asian American. Here is my final annotated bibliography.

Course Reflection LIS 566: Young Adult Materials: Evaluation and Use

While I see my future career to be centered on library services for Children, I have great respect for YA librarians, and the teens they work with. In fact I work 15 hours a week with teens in the Tualatin library. It was a great pleasure for me to take LIS 566: YA materials.

In this class we covered many different genres and types of YA materials, from traditional genres literature like sci-fi, fantasy, realistic fiction, and mysteries, we also covered graphic novels and manga, and lots and lots of online resources and websites to find both fiction and non-fiction for teens. We discussed the teenage brain, and what information needs teens today have, and the anonymity they feel they need to access that information. We discussed teen created materials and how they share them with each other and we even touched on programming for teens.
For my program I created a Read-In which is described here. This program was implemented by the Tualatin Library during the Summer Reading Program 2010.

Course Reflection LIS 565: Children’s Materials Evaluation and Use

At the same time I was taking LIS 567 (see post below), I also studied Children’s materials. In this class we DID focus on collection development, from everything from board books, picture books, early readers, series paper backs, chapter books, tween books, magazines, DVDs, music CDs, console games, websites, and just about everything that one finds in the Children’s section of a library. It was a whirl wind tour, but one of the best classes I’ve taken.

In the last week alone I’ve drawn on knowledge I learned in this course in helping patrons choose books for their own reading, my family members choose gifts for babies, and my own reading choices. We looked at printed reviews in places like School Library Journal, and Booklist, and read a very large amount of the actual materials- things we wouldn’t have normally done on our own (at least those of us without children of our own to read to). Here is a document with all I read for this class, and my own reviews of it.

We also created booktalks—commercials for books, to get kids excited about reading. Here are mine for We are the Ship a non-fiction chapter book relating the story of the Negro baseball league, and The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex.

Reflection LIS 567: Youth Services in the Public Library

When I saw that Youth Services in the Public Library was offered through the UW ischool I just HAD to sign up. I’ve worked in children’s and young adult departments of public libraries for four years, and I intend to work as a children’s librarian for many years to come.

In LIS 567 we covered aspects of what a youth services librarian does that are not directly related to collection development (covered in LIS 565 and 566) or storytelling (LIS 561). We did observe and reflect on librarian’s storytimes, and interview current youth services librarians about aspects of their work. Here is the final presentation for Internet Explorer and here it is for Fire Fox I created outlining the work that the Children’s librarians do at The Beaverton City library, where I work as a reference assistant.

We also tackled programming for youth, both special programs and clubs. I chose to create an Alice in Wonderland themed program for children, as the Alice in Wonderland movie was set to come out in the spring 2010. I gave my program to one of the children’s librarians at Beaverton, and she used a couple of my ideas in an Alice in Wonderland program she developed in the spring.

As the freedom to read what ever you like is a tenet of libraries, we spent a lot of time in LIS 567 discussing how to handle challenges to books. I chose to review The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. Here is the assignment.