My practicum entailed working at the horticultural library on the grounds of the Arboretum. Some of my work was paleography, transcribing cursive text from a tree nursery catalogue from Scotland in 1793, as well as going through hundreds of slides from a former Arboretum director and describing them, and working the desk and telling patrons about the Arboretum, our collection of rare materials, and the Nakashima furniture.  My favorite part of the experience was working with the Swarthmore Apiary Collection, including photos and booklets about a beekeeper named Swarthmore, and translating a wooden postcard he received that was in German and came with queen bees he'd ordered from overseas!

My internship at the Walker Art Center was such a fun and rewarding experience! I got to dive into the world of cataloging, which was pretty intimidating at first, but became much more intuitive as I went along. I cataloged around 100 books for the library's collection, learned to create my own MARC records, and gained experience with OCLC and Koha. Beyond cataloging, I also helped create artist book displays, worked public programming events, brainstormed ideas for a future library pop-up, and got to see some incredible exhibitions. I learned so much in a short time, but I enjoyed getting to know and being a part of the Walker’s library team the most (even if it was just for just a short period of time).