:The Young Librarian Series

Amy Pelman is a 31 year old Audio and Teen Outrach Librarian at the Burlingame Public Library in California and the author of Librarian Trading Cards.  You can contact her with questions at: amypelman[at sign]gmail[dot]com.

The Young Librarian Series invites you to check out Librarian Trading Cards!

http://librariantradingcards.blogspot.com/

Here is Amy’s description:

My hope for the blog is that it will help shine a light on the varied individuals who make up the profession, as well as the changing face of librarianship.

I am concerned that not enough people view public libraries as a vital institution. I fear that it’s our fault for not conveying well enough how important we are, how hard we work, how passionately we defend a person’s right to free intellectual pursuits. 

The perception of libraries and their value keeps me up at night, not only because I passionately believe in public service and intellectual freedom, but also because my career is young and it is extremely hard for me to picture what the profession will look like in 30 years. I want to help shape and revolutionize that perception.

This is the first in a series of blog highlights from young librarians in the blogophere.  If you are interested in having your blog highlighted on the Young Librarian Series, please send your blog’s URL and a brief description to: younglibrarianseries@gmail.com.  Thanks! ~leah

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Sarah Schmidt is a 28 year old library student working at the Pritzker Legal Research Center in Chicago.  If you have any questions you can email her at: sarah.schmidt[at sign]gmail[dot]com or friend her on facebook.

I’ve seen many different parts and kinds of libraries.  Because they all contained a magnificent mixture of personalities and services, each one had a distinctly different culture.  I actually didn’t start library school until I had experience in my fifth library, when I felt I was confident about which kinds of libraries might be a good fit for me.

It can be really educational, and even inspiring, to peek inside of other people’s libraries.  In the following photos you’ll see what sticks out to me at PLRC.

Located on Chicago Avenue in the Streeterville/Gold Coast area, we’re in a fabulous spot.  On this side of the library you can see downtown, most notably the Hancock building.

The lake side of the building is also pretty stunning (and, frankly, just as procrastination-inducing!). In the summer you’ll see tons of boat traffic in the area. To the right, you’ll see Navy Pier, which is a hubbub of tourist activity. The next picture is a close-up of the Ferris wheel (you don’t get much more Chicago than the Ferris wheel!).

Because of our grand views of the lake, the inside of the library has kind of a nautical theme: cool colors, whites, blues and greys. I love, love, love it — these railings always remind me of being me of being on a cruise ship! Alas, we don’t have a lido deck… yet.

The “Supreme Court and Pop Culture” display, located right by the front doors, is pretty much permanent. It’s one of several examples of our staff’s sense of humor. Law libraries may appear to be stoic institutions, but as this display (by the reference librarian Marcia Lehr) shows, some of us aren’t afraid to explore the fun side of the discipline.

Several of us love reality tv, and we love to talk about reality tv even more. My colleague, Jeff in government documents, came up with the idea to make dioramas with pictures of the contestants on shows like America’s Next Top Model (shown above), So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, etc. Every week, the day after the show we meet in the reference room to discuss how awesome/utterly horrifying the show was. At this same meeting, we ceremoniously cross-out the people who left the show.

Here’s my cubicle.  That I’m allowed to take such liberties is a testament to the open-mindedness we have at our workplace. Some highlights: a Lexis Nexis slinky, a cover from a newspaper illustrating the coming onslaught of cicadas, a poster for the Latino Film Festival, postcards from my hiking trip to Machu Picchu…

And on the other wall is Kurt Vonnegut’s obit by Howard Zinn, the UC-San Diego seal (my dream library is the Geisel Library), a Sony Reader ad a patron ripped out from a magazine and gave to me because of its silly “Sexier than a librarian (your librarian may vary)” slogan.

Check it out: we have a treasure room! But it’s only for the hardiest of scholars. .. At least, that’s what I thought when I first saw this sign. Honestly, until I worked on this project I’d never noticed it. As my coworkers and I giggled about it, the director of the library heard us, and came over to explain that while it is indeed a treasure room, Hardy isn’t an adjective, it’s a noun: a person, in fact, who donated money that was used to create the original library archive.

In closing, I’d like to invite you to submit your own Tour de Library entry. If you’re interested, ask yourself: what makes your library your library? We always think about Library as Place in terms of what patrons think; this is an opportunity to see what is important to us! Don’t feel you should limit yourself to what you see here –whatever makes your library special!

Do you have a concept you would like to be featured on the Young Librarian Series?  Send an email with your idea to: younglibrarianseries@gmail.com or visit the SUBMISSIONS page for more details! Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next week!

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Melissa Fortson is a 30 year old library assistant at a Braille and talking book library and is currently attending The University of Alabama’s School of Library and Information Studies.  You can read more about accessible library services on her blog.

I’m a young librarian because of Playboy magazine: a Braille edition of Playboy magazine, to be exact.

Let me back track a little.

As an Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS) Certified Information & Referral Specialist in Aging (CIRS-A), I began my career bringing people and services together. While working in this position-which has its own ties to the library community- I learned of library services for people with disabilities.

I did a lot of outreach work; this sometimes included staffing booths at conferences and other events. On one such occasion, my program was assigned to a table adjacent to the state’s Braille and talking book library. As I watched the librarian show attendees audio and Braille library materials- including the aforementioned Playboy- I thought to myself: “Wow. THAT is my dream job. Who is lucky enough to get to do THAT?”

Well, me, that’s who. I left my work in the disability community to pursue a career in librarianship, and, less than two years later, here I am: an MLIS candidate and library assistant with a Braille and talking book library.

When I contacted Leah about contributing a post, I realized that there are not a lot of under-40 librarians working in this area of librarianship. Why, then, am I passionate about library services and people with disabilities?

It’s about learning. While my MLIS program does not offer a course dedicated this area of study, I’ve compiled a history of library services for people with disabilities, developed a research proposal addressing access to information and patrons with disabilities, and, through an internship, served as the librarian at a children’s center that provides emotional and behavioral services. My LIS coursework is complemented by the less formal learning opportunities that present themselves each day, through listserv discussions, association participation, and- the most fun and important way I learn- interacting with patrons.

It’s about teaching. Because it is somewhat unique, I have lots of opportunities to introduce others to this area of librarianship and promote disability awareness and etiquette. It’s my belief that it shouldn’t take “special” programs to serve patrons with disabilities.

It’s about technology. Coursework in information technology challenged me to teach myself more about accessibility and usability. In addition to offering my own accessible website, I can now help other professionals do the same. I am really excited to be involved in the NLS/BPH digital transition, and I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to get library patrons excited about it too.

It’s about people. My fellow ALA members are probably familiar with the Library Bill of Rights, but did you know that there is an interpretation of the LBOR specifically addressing library access for patrons with disabilities? It closes- and I will, too- with the following:

“The preamble to the Library Bill of Rights states, ‘all libraries are forums for information and ideas.’  By removing the physical, technological, and procedural barriers to accessing those forums, libraries promote the full inclusion of persons with disabilities into our society.”

Thanks to Leah for providing this forum, and thank you for reading.

Do you have a concept you would like to be featured on the Young Librarian Series?  Send an email with your idea to: younglibrarianseries@gmail.com or visit the SUBMISSIONS page for more details! Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next week!

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YLS News & Things from leah white on Vimeo.

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