Conclusion and Affirmation

Conclusion

I have learned a lot over the course of obtaining my MLIS degree, both inside and outside of my classwork. I have taken courses on a wide variety of subjects, expanded my capabilities as a library employee, and been able to directly apply my skills to my career. When I first started seriously considering a career in library, I hesitated to pursue a Masters in Library and Information Science. Some of my library colleagues expressed the feeling that the requirement to possess such a degree would be soon going away. Others emphasized that the skills gained would be invaluable. But it wasn’t until I started working as a Library Assistant, conducting reference interviews, planning and executing programming, and doing community outreach, that I truly made my decision. The expertise that I sought was being developed by my work experiences, but I knew that I wanted to work as a Childrens/Teen Public Librarian – and I knew that I could cater my MLIS to help me accomplish that goal.

The first class I took at SJSU was INFO 261: Programming and Services for Young Adults. I’ll admit to being a little nervous going into this class, as it was my first serious graduate course. Essays loomed large, and the weekly readings seemed daunting. But as the summer semester passed by, I started to aggregate a knowledge base that built upon itself over and over again. I learned strategies that would help me interact with teenagers – and then utilized those very practices at work. I found certain techniques that I'd developed prior to my degree to foster better library-teen patron interactions justified by the literature that I was delving into. This immediate feedback loop of learning and implementing was incredibly rewarding, and I dove headfirst into the rest of my MLIS degree.

Since that first course, the variety of subjects that I have studied has been broad and overall, very interesting. As stated above, I highly value the courses that have direct connections to my work. As such, I have particularly enjoyed courses like INFO 281: Early Literacy Storytime, INFO 210: Reference and Information Services, and INFO 248: Introduction to Cataloging and Classification. In 281, I learned the six core elements of early literacy, and how to better incorporate them into the storytimes that I already was putting on. 210 offered me the opportunity to create an entire research paper on better ways to answer the myriad of emails that come in to our online reference desk. And 248 taught me all the ins and outs of MARC records, allowing me to more easily look up information on books for patrons in the future. I also have truly enjoyed 240: Information Technology Tools and Applications, as understanding web development has always been a goal of mine. I have learned much HTML, and been able to connect that knowledge to the tidbits of Python that I had taught myself in the past.

Thanks to the coursework I have completed at SJSU, I have been able to be much more effective in my current position as a Library Assistant Advanced. However, my aspirations are to rise and fully become a Librarian, with either a focus on children or teens. I want to continue to be able to plan and execute my own programming, and make deeper connections with my community. I look forward to ordering books and curating the collection, as well as setting up displays and managing reading events. I have greatly enjoyed my time in Contra Costa County, and if they offer me an opportunity, I would be excited to take it, but I am also open to other counties.

In order to continue to grow and develop post-graduation, I have developed two main strategies. The first of these is to attend regular library conferences, where I will be able to confer with my peers on current affairs, new strategies for programming, and swap collection ideas. These events happen with relative regularity, and so I should be able to keep up-to-date easily. The second strategy is that I plan to keep an eye on other potential classes and trainings. Opportunities to learn are all around us, whether through in-county avenues, or even taking one-off classes back at SJSU. Regardless, I know that these two methods will be able to , and be able to design more activities without be able to ensure that I remain cognizant of novel library developments, and am able to build them into my own branches.