Opportunities

Cleveland County Jail

2550 W Franklin Rd, Norman, OK 73069

Wednesdays from 3 to 5 p.m.

Contact Katelyn Williams at kwilliams@pioneerlibrarysystem.org to get involved

The Reset Pod is a group of men all on short term sentences interested in gaining job and life skills that will help them stay out of prison. The goal is to help them gather the skills needed to obtain a career and hobbies for when they are released. We will focus on Job Skills, Life Skills, and Creative STEAM-based activities. Sessions on job skills might include mock interviews, resume building, creating a cover letter, and much more. Some of the activities for Life Skills might cover learning how to obtain a copy of your birth certificate, understanding how to use the Microsoft suite (such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel), and learning how to get their GED. The creative and STEAM-based activities are equally important in this outreach for two reasons. It will help keep the boredom away, and it can help them find a new passion for what type of career they might be interested in pursuing. These activities could include creative writing, painting, bringing a Maker Kit from the library, book discussions, and more. We are very open to anything you might want to bring to the table!

Anyone interested in getting involved will need to go through a simple background test as well as a short orientation at the prison. From there we will add volunteers to the schedule and pair them with one of our library staff members. The safety of our staff and volunteers will always come first! These men are in for non-violent crimes and have had good behavior while serving their time. There will be about 4-10 men in at any given session with ages ranging from 18-60+.

If you're looking to build your resume/CV and you live in the OKC area, there is a volunteering opportunity at the Oklahoma County Juvenile Justice Center (OCJJC).

Saturday, Feb. 15th from 10 a.m. until noon.

Volunteers will shelve, tidy the collection, and complete any other necessary tasks.

Email Dr. Brown, if you're interested (cbrown@ou.edu).

Find Your Place: Job Shadowing in an Academic Library

Job shadowing will give the MLIS student an opportunity to explore the variety of careers available in an academic library setting. Want to work in a special collection? Work alongside our experts in the field to experience what they do on a day-to-day basis. Prefer less interaction with the public? Delve into the field of metadata, web development or acquisitions. Is management calling your name? Shadow our supervisors and discover the complexity of managing people. The paths are endless! This program will aid you in finding your career choice.

Job shadowing is available in the following areas:

• Special Collections – Western History and the Bizzell 5th Floor Special Collections

• Circulation Services

• DigiLab

• Library Technology Platforms

• Emerging Technology

• Digital Scholarship

• Learning Lab

• Access & Description

• Acquisitions

• And more…

Coordinate your learning experience through Doni Fox (dfox@ou.edu). Experiences are customized based on student goals and the availability of library personnel.