It’s been quiet here at Caterpickles, because it’s been a busy semester. I have a break coming up in theory, and I hope to use it to add some posts to liven up the place in the new year. But for now, here’s a summary of what I’ve been up to this past semester.
The MLIS coursework at SJSU includes classes designed to get us thinking about the business side of library work, including effective marketing and outreach techniques to extend access to patrons who for whatever reason, may not be able to visit the library on their own.
Libraries continue to replace their print reference collections, with more easily searchable electronic databases that patrons can use 24/7 from wherever they may be. But the cost for that convenient information access is becoming increasingly steep.
When I worked at the middle school library, movement was baked into my day. Now that I’m a full-time grad student, I have to be more intentional about getting enough exercise.
Tying the work in your library directly to the district’s larger goals is a powerful way to demonstrate the value of your school library come budget time. In our case, our district’s top five goals include a commitment to diversity and equity, which means including a statistic in our advocacy reporting the percentage of books checked out that were diverse reads. Problem is that stat is an absolute bear to compile. Last semester, I learned there was a better way.
As a librarian, I am often expected to have read all the books. The problem is, I’m one of those pesky people who believes the refrain “If you read a book for entertainment, it should be entertaining” should apply to me and not just the students at my middle school library. But as a librarian, it’s important for me to know my collection so that I can guide readers to the books they may or may not realize they are looking for. How do I do that, if not by reading as many books cover-to-cover as I possibly can?
When you write a blog for as long as I have written this one, it’s inevitable that what you write about will change from time to time. This is one of those times. Going forward, I’ll still do book reviews and question posts, but I’ll also sprinkle in more posts about what it’s like to go to grad school at the age of Parent-to-a-Teenager.
One of the things that surprised me about going on leave from the school library is how much harder masking is now that I’m no longer doing it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I thought I’d be relieved to only have to mask every once in a while, but it turns out intermittent masking as Random Community Member is much more emotionally and cognitively tasking than wearing a mask to work every day.
CATERPICKLES 