Competency B

“A building with books.” Believe it or not, that is the typical response I get when I ask a friend or family member to describe a library for me. Though that may be true, a library in today’s world is so much more than a “building with books.” In today’s library and information science (LIS) profession, information professionals can work in a number of different settings. For instance, there’s the school/academic setting (e.g., universities, community colleges, K-12 schools, etc.), the public library setting (e.g., city, county, state, etc.), the special library setting, and many more additional settings that are only increasing. And even though many of these settings might be as some people describe "a building with books", library settings provide so much more than just books. Some settings may provide programming, classes, workshops, bibliotherapy, remote/virtual services, and more. Ultimately, different library settings are tailored to serve its own unique type of user. What follows is a discussion on three library settings that I have come to learn a great deal about on this journey.

Academic Libraries

As I have had quite a journey through higher education, I have found myself to have spent a lot of time in the academic library. I spent many days and nights studying for my associates, bachelors, and even my first masters degrees both in person and virtual through the academic library. Even before I officially began working in a library, I already had a personal connection to the services, programs, and space of the academic library. When I began my tenure at SJSU, I opted to tailor some of my academic focus on learning more about the inner-workings of the academic library as this is an area of librarianship I'm interested in pursuing in my career.

Academic libraries mainly exist to serve the information needs of students, faculty, and staff in colleges and universities (Gilman, 2018). Academic librarians can hold a variety of roles including roles in reference, metadata, teaching, information technology, literacy, collection management, research and publication, scholarly communications, and even involvement in campus governance (Gilman, 2018). In some cases, academic librarians may solely work in a single subject (e.g., law, medicine, natural sciences, theology, etc.) and primarily work to serve the information needs of that subject's department. Academic librarians can even hold faculty status in some cases. In my studies and experience, I have come to see the academic librarian as being a beacon of research and scholarly studies in higher education there to serve students, faculty, and staff.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of virtually all colleges and universities, academic libraries had to make the transition to serve students, faculty, and staff remotely. Though this didn't affect some schools who've already been practicing this, many other schools had to make the transition quickly. Academic library services for distance and online learners is one area I came to have an interest in during my MLIS studies. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has a set of standards specifically for distance learning library services (2016). The standards note several important key considerations in distance library services including management, services, resources, fiscal responsibilities, and documentation (ACRL, 2016). These standards help advocate for library services for distance and remote learners while also providing a foundation for the implementation for such services. Of course, providing online library services is dependent on knowing and using the right technology tools. Faires makes note of the knowledge of tools that academic librarians should have in their arsenal including learning management systems (e.g., Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas), content management systems (e.g., WordPress, Drupal), recording tools (e.g., Panopto, Loom, Screencast-O-Matic), instant messaging tools (e.g., Slack, LibChat), web conferencing tools (e.g., Zoom, WebEx), and cloud-based tools for data sharing and storage (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox) (2017). With knowledge of and efficient use of these various tools, academic librarians can bring the academic library space completely online for the virtual and distance-learning individual, faculty, and staff.

Prison Libraries

For a majority of my life, I thought I wanted to go into law enforcement. In high school I joined the explorer scouts (a boy scout-style organization focused on policing) and I even focused my undergrad career on earning a criminal justice degree. When it came time to begin my MLIS career, I was surprised to learn that correctional librarianship was a possible avenue I could take. With enthusiasm I took the prison library management course offered at SJSU and learned about the inner-workings of managing a prison library.

Running a prison library is much different than running any other type of library. As a correctional librarian you can never ever forget that you are a corrections employee first, and a librarian second (Mongelli, n.d.a). This mantra was continuously mentioned in my Info-282 (Prison library management) course throughout the semester. What this means is that as a correctional employee, you can never forget that you work for (and with) corrections first, and as a professional librarian second. Because the correctional librarian works and serves the inmate user population, They have to work with corrections and uphold the values and mission of corrections first, and the values and mission of being a librarian second. Of course, this doesn't mean that a correctional librarian places librarianship on the back-burner. The correctional librarian is continuously working on creating programs and workshops for inmates including bibliotherapy programs, reentry skills classes, and even legal research workshops (Mongelli, n.d.a). One of the largest tasks that a correctional librarian has to undertake is the management and development of a large collection.

In many ways, the prison library is three different libraries in of itself. The prison library is a school library (providing classes and education materials for inmates to get their GED or other academic degree), a public library (providing recreational reading material and programs), and a law library (providing a way for inmates to locate the law, work on their cases, and conduct legal research). Therefore, the prison librarian must be adapt at developing and maintaining collection polices that can suit all three uses. Regarding recreational reading, many correctional librarians take the stance of opting to develop their recreational collections based off a "transformative material selection" model (Mongelli, n.d.b). What this means is that correctional librarians opts to select recreational reading material that contributes to the rehabilitative model of corrections (Mongelli, n.d.b). Materials like these can be books based on self-help, spiritually, lifestyle changes, hobbies, and even biographies (Mongelli, n.d.b). Of course, this doesn't completely leave out fiction. Fiction books that focus on rehabilitative themes like friendship, camaraderie, courage, perseverance, coming of age, redemption, family, and love are typically desired to be selected by the librarian (Mongelli, n.d.b). Many books on these themes are typically used for bibliotherapy programs. Following a transformative material selection model can instill a real sense of rehabilitation within the prison library.

Public Libraries

My first real experience with public libraries came in the form of going to my local library once for a school field trip. If I remember correctly, we were there to see some sort of art exhibit on insects. That's really all I can remember. Other than that, I never spent much (or any) time at public libraries. It wasn't until my full-time employment at the Riverside County Law Library where I would currently spend about 40 hours a week working in a public library.

Community and life-long learning are two concepts that I associate the public library with because honestly, it's what we do. Public libraries serve as a center for community engagement and life-long learning (Smith, 2018). Anyone in the community, any age, can come into the public library to read, study, and learn. Public libraries are known to be a "community anchor" in which members of the public can retreat to learn, share ideas, solve problems, and connect with information (Smith, 2018). With public law libraries, there's a main reason why people walk in our doors, to find help. Working in a public law library, I come into contact with members of the community seeking legal help. Typically, these people may need help with finding forms, finding legal assistance/aid, conducting legal research, or preparing for their trial. As law librarians, we are there to provide legal information and connect the pro se individual (i.e., one who represents themselves in court without the aid of an attorney) to justice.

Connecting pro se individuals to justice is essentially the main function of the public law librarian. We aim to "bridge the justice gap" by conducting individuals to legal information and resources. One main way in which we do this is through our programming. In a public law library we create programs such as legal research workshops, legal resource fairs, and even lawyers in the library events. With lawyers in the library, we seek out attorneys in various areas of law that are willing to donate their time to answer legal questions from individuals. Members of the community are given 30 minutes to sit down with an attorney and ask any legal questions and seek any legal guidance. In my experience, members of our community express so much gratitude when we hold programs such this. People have gone so far as to say that we made a positive impact in their lives. Programs such as lawyers in the library work as sort of a "convener and connector" in which the public library brings community partners (lawyers) to the table to provide a way to help community members solve their problems (Smith, 2018). It makes me proud to say that I have been involved in helping shape the community anchor for the legal community where I work.

Artifact # 1 - Interview with a prison librarian (Info-282, Seminar in Library Management: The Prison Library)

This first artifact I am presenting demonstrates my understanding of working in a prison library. In this prison library management course, I was tasked with having to locate a working prison librarian and conduct an interview with them. I found Matthew's contact info from a presentation he did at SJSU's iSchool a few years ago. After reaching out to him, he agreed to answer some questions from me via email. My instructor also stressed the importance of the prison librarian's time (they are busy individuals!), and as such we were restricted to only asking three questions based on three different central ideas from the course. In the end, I was able to gain more insight into the prison librarian profession, particularly in California. In this interview I asked Matthew about his experience with collection development, programming, and working with correctional officers.

Artifact # 2 - A white paper on social media use in academic libraries (Info-230, Issues in Academic Libraries)

This second artifact I am presenting demonstrates my understanding of issues working in the academic library. With the transition and inclusion of remote and distance learning options, academic libraries have to find new ways to engage with and provide services to students. One such method rests with utilizing social media. In this white paper, I discuss the current problems with the academic library's use of social media including staff disinterest and student perceptions. I also discuss recommendations for leveraging social media and making it work in the academic library. Social media is a powerful tool that academic libraries can use to maximize their marketing and student outreach.

Artifact # 3 - Work experience: Resume

This third artifact demonstrates my work experience working in a public library. Since September 2019, I have been employed with the Riverside County Law Library in Riverside, CA. I have gained valuable work experience working with members of the public by providing reference assistance and outreach in regards to legal information. My work experience is helping me get more comfortable with providing library services to the public.