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Hi new Hoosier goons, gonna start this summer!  Gonna specialize in children's and youth services because I think little kids are awesome. Hope to see you soon!
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Jun 9, 2011 05:00
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 11:38 |
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 See, it's stories like those that make me scared for my future employment prospects. My dad's very gung-ho about the Tea Party stuff, and when I express my worries about having to fight tooth-and-nail for funding, he's all "don't worry, you just have to work hard and things will be all right." No, it's not going to be all right, because you voted in the people who are going to cut library funding!  tl;dr: fuckyoudad.
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Jun 21, 2011 02:53
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Aw crap, I love little kids and always have.  Luckily, I happen to be pretty good with them as well, and I know full well that they can be shrieking little hell-beasts without pity or mercy. But they can also be capable of the sweetest gestures, too, and it can feel so good when a kid looks forward to spending time with you. In my experience (as a part-time semi-professional nanny, FYI), kids behave badly when they're a) tired/bored, b) under stress, or c) excited. I also find that it helps to distract kids or otherwise divert their attention (e.g. "Look at that pretty cloud outside that window!") when they're acting up. Sometimes, though, kids just get too upset to be reasoned with, and that's when a parent really should step in. Yes, I am fully aware that parents often fail to do this, and when that happens, I wouldn't hesitate to get security involved. A library should be a safe and (reasonably) quiet haven for children and adults alike. E: I forgot - it helps a lot of the time to explain to the kid why she shouldn't do that thing you don't want her to do - "Don't climb that, you could fall and hurt yourself" or "Please speak quietly, people are trying to read." I remember being a child and resenting the fact that I was expected to follow seemingly pointless rules, and if someone had just taken the time to give me an explanation beyond "because I said so," I probably would have been less of a brat! Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Jun 30, 2011 |
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Jun 30, 2011 01:41
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Lee Harvey Oswald posted:Anybody read Annoyed Librarian? He/she is very dismissive of library schools, and often regards them as diploma mills that make graduates unemployable. For those who have graduated and/or entered the workforce, what do you make of that blog's extremely pessimistic perspective of the profession? Haven't graduated yet, but I feel like I could be learning a lot of these things by myself, on the job. At least I'm making connections, though I wish I didn't have to pay for the privilege. v  v
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Feb 1, 2012 04:10
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I got an internship at a private Jewish school and hoo boy is their library poo poo. They don't even know how many books they have. That's right, nobody bothered to catalog the books OR classify them beyond general subject. They also have an annual budget of $0 and no collection development policy, so the books are mostly castoffs from private family collections that the school didn't know how to refuse or get rid of without angering people. The current librarian is trained as an English teacher and has no training or prior experience as a librarian. Yeah, she seems like a good English teacher and I can tell she really digs books, but she just doesn't know cataloging or reference or collection development or computers - you know, the bare loving minimum. She tells me that the kids are pretty information-illiterate. She tried to push non-fiction books on them during the school's annual trip to the public library and they almost uniformly brushed her recommendations away - "No thanks, it's all online now." There's no library page on the school website. The school doesn't seem to have much of a problem with this state of affairs - they're not even soliciting library volunteers on their volunteerism page. So now I gotta catalog and classify all the books, reorganize them according to the classifications, put all the catalog entries into a searchable database, get the school web guru to put the catalog on the school website, try and get faculty input into collection development, increase interest and circulation, teach the current librarian how to do some of this poo poo (for instance, she's probably going to have to catalog the Hebrew books herself because I'm a Gentile and can't read the script), write up a collection development policy that covers non-print media development and donations and stuff, tell some stories to the kids ('cause they know I'm good at that), and try and convince the school administrators to give the library an annual budget and either a) get the English teacher some professional training from a library school or b) hire a real librarian (who can't be me for very long because my BOYFRIEND plans to work in Bumfuck, Nowhere and I'll have to leave and follow him at some point in the near future). All in six weeks (less than 240 hours), and all for three points of course credit. I ordered the 23rd edition of the DDCI and the RDA rulebook off Amazon two nights ago; the school may borrow them while I'm around. I talked to the principal and she's going to find a reasonably-priced database system for the school to use. I'm already telling stories from Margaret Read MacDonald's The Story-Teller's Start-Up Book like a boss. I start next Monday. I got this poo poo. 
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Apr 25, 2012 20:42
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My boyfriend is moving to a tropical island out in the middle of nowhere for work, and I want to be with him, but I also want to use my MLS and be a children's and/or YA librarian. My best bet is probably to get hired as an educational assistant in the local military base's school system, then either 1) get an education degree at the university and go the school library route or 2) make myself indispensable enough at the public library that they hire me on. I could also look for jobs here in the continental US, but that would mean living an ocean away from my boyfriend and the very thought of that makes me want to cry. Unfortunately, I may just have to do that anyway if I can't find work on the island. I don't want to end up like my college friend, who got an MLS years ago and can't use it: she can't get a job in NYC without experience, but she can't leave her lawyer husband to get that experience in Bumfuck, USA. Any advice for me? I could use some reassurance. 
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Feb 27, 2013 06:27
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nesbit37 posted:Can you afford to volunteer on this island if you have to? Cutting the option to relocate out hampers your options, as you are aware. Its going to come down to what the library community is like there and you are not going to know till you get there for certain. Are you willing to work as a different type of librarian, at least temporarily, or are you only interested in working with children or YA? I was definitely planning to volunteer at one of the island's libraries in whatever capacity is available. Being a children's/YA librarian at a public library would be my dream, but I refuse to get my hopes up, at least for now. I might also try to build up a reputation as a storyteller, because that's one of the things I learned how to do and I seem to be pretty good at it. I highly recommend that you learn how to tell stories if you can, by the way. Kids I tell to tend to assume that I am some kind of wizard - the stories aren't in a book, they're in my mind.  If you're telling to pre-school age kids, you don't even need a big repertoire, because they love it when you keep retelling stuff. Don't assume that stories are just for little kids, though: there are a lot of great stories that are good for older kids or even adults, like that horrifying Red Riding Hood variant.Insane Totoro posted:I've always wanted to be a military librarian on some atoll in the middle of nowhere. Seeing your avatar, I'm not in the least bit surprised to learn that.
Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Feb 27, 2013 |
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Feb 27, 2013 15:58
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I'm graduated! May I never have to go back to school again. I'm going to try to get a job on the island where my boyfriend lives; until then, I'm going to volunteer at the public library, which (likely) will need more children's and teens' workers to keep up with the summer demand. My heart is set on the teen room (the one in my town's main library is AWESOME), but I think I could do well in the children's section. I've always loved little kids, but have recently developed an affection for teenagers: I've discovered they're not usually the evil shitheads I thought they'd be. Any advice on teen librarianship?
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May 6, 2013 05:42
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Goddamnit, do ANY private schools - aside from the one I went to - have decent libraries? I'm looking for a children's library-related job in a remote part of the world (I'd rather not say where) and figured that private schools would be my best bet, but not only do hardly any of them MENTION a library on their website, none of the schools I've looked at seem to have a full-time librarian. (The page I'm looking at now put some ridiculously draconian rules for library use in its student handbook. "All students using the library must observe SILENCE at all times?" You are making GBS threads me, student handbook. You are making GBS threads me.) The day school I interned at had a crappy library, too. Now, my alma mater has a great library. The elementary library hosts weekly story-times for kindergarteners through third graders. They teach you information literacy and how to appreciate books. THEY HAVE A loving BUDGET. Private schools are supposed to be better than public schools - their libraries should at least be up to public school standards. gently caress YOU lovely PRIVATE SCHOOLS.  but also please hire me so I can make you better 
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Jun 3, 2013 13:52
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There aren't a lot of events today, so I just went to pick up my badge while it's still slow. I'll probably spend most of my time at the convention center starting tomorrow. I promised my mom I'd get her some mystery ARCs, so don't you go taking them all!
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Jun 27, 2013 23:50
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Insane Totoro posted:What's an ARC? quote:Yeah I think I'll go get a pizza. I know it's probably too late for you ATM, but to everyone else in Chicago now: make sure you get a good pizza, not a bad one! I'm from here, so I know that pizza is Serious Business. Gino's East, Giordano's, and Uno's are the Holy Trinity of Chicago pizza. You may also wish to try an Italian Beef, Chicago hot dog, or a Maxwell Street Polish. quote:I'm meeting some TFR peeps on Saturday. Doing anything today? Aside from goggling at the Ayn Rand Institute booth and attending a doctor's appointment, I don't have any special plans.
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Jun 28, 2013 06:53
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 11:38 |
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Generally the people who have trouble with computers are those who didn't grow up with computers in the house. Lots of poorer households still don't have a home computer, so even people in the generation of "digital natives" can be pretty computer-illiterate. The best solution to your problem would be to get a computer into every home, but there's not enough political will to do that, so the next best thing is probably to convince your bosses to set up a free computer class at your library.
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Oct 19, 2014 06:43
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