MSLIS News

Just as I tend toward the I-don’t-care-what-they-are-reading-as-long-as-they-are-reading camp, I also tend toward the I-don’t-care-what-they-are-doing-in-the-library-as-long-as-they-are-in-the-library camp. And this applies not only to students, but also teachers and parents as well. So how do we do it? I have some ideas and examples of what is working for some teacher-librarians:

Students
I went to a wonderful talk at last fall’s NYLA conference by Sue Kowalski, from East Syracuse-Minoa Pine Grove Middle School (if you ever have a chance to see her speak, I highly recommend it). She had lots of ideas as to how to get students interested in spending time at her library, including giveaways and contests, but my two favorites were puzzles and clubs. Sue always keeps a jigsaw puzzle going on a table in the library. Many students stop to put in a piece here or a piece there, and some get very engrossed and purposely go to the library to work on the puzzle. I was very intrigued by Sue’s comment that all sorts of kids end up at the puzzle table beside kids they wouldn’t normally hang out with. Apparently the conversations are worthy of a sociology dissertation. Another way Sue is drawing kids into her library, and bringing together kids who wouldn’t necessarily be friends otherwise, is by allowing them to form their own clubs and hold meetings in the library during the after school activity period. The students can design any club they want; examples include a Star Wars club, gaming clubs, fan clubs, or a cat club. She provides tools and materials if needed but does little to facilitate. The students have to sign up and plan ahead for their meetings, which is all in all a great learning experience for the students and a great way to encourage non-traditional library use. 

Teachers
As school library media specialists-to-be, we hear it constantly: collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. The first step in the process is to get teachers to recognize librarians as co-teachers and to acknowledge that we can help to enhance the learning experience for their students. At the Lake Placid Middle/High School where I am currently doing fieldwork, LMS Sara Johns keeps a coffee pot going all day in her office for teacher use (25 cents a cup to cover costs). This is brilliant. Not only does she have fresh coffee an arm’s reach away at any given moment, she is also providing the opportunity to chat with the teachers. And while in casual conversation, she can mention a new book they just got in, a website she thinks might interest them, or initiate the next project collaboration. Another outreach activity that Sara has tried is something she calls “collaborative weeding.” She invites teachers to have a weeding party in the section of the stacks corresponding to their discipline. She provides food (free food is a big teacher-motivator) and good conversation and the teachers see it as a social experience. Sara doesn’t necessarily discard all the books that the teachers recommend for weeding, but it gets the teachers more familiar with the collection, it provides Sara with information about teacher’s needs, and it gets the teachers into the library. 

Parents
Bringing parents into the school library can be trickier. Teacher-librarians should never miss an opportunity to have the library open during open house, parent night, or family night. Because parents may not think of going to the library after their child’s classroom, it may be necessary to hold a contest or advertise a scavenger hunt to bring them in. Another idea I had was to offer classes in information technology tools or the all-important “how to keep your child safe online” for parents during school dances. In my daughter’s school, school dances are often held on Fridays from 7-9 pm. For those of us who live a ways outside of town, this can be a big pain – do you go home in between pickup and dropoff? Do you hang out in town? Few businesses are open at that time of night and parents are looking for something to do. Why not capitalize on their frustration and get them into the library? I haven’t tried this out, mind you, but it seems like an interesting idea. 

Of course, each of the above suggestions has logistical and staffing issues and they won’t work in every library. But getting students, teachers, and parents in the library door is a first step, and maybe while they are there, they might find something that piques their curiosity and want to stay. And then they might just learn something! What about you? What types of outreach do you do at your library? Feel free to comment here or on the Syracuse iSchool LIS facebook page. 

Posted by Rebecca Buerkett, Syracuse MLIS distance student, rlbuerke@syr.edu.

I’ve heard it said that even though graduate students come into the Syracuse MLIS program with widely varying degrees of experience in libraries and with technology, by the time they enter their second or third semester they are all on a level playing field. I am finding that to be fairly accurate. I considered myself relatively computer-savvy prior to starting my program last summer, but I had absolutely no library or teaching experience. My first two semesters were mind-blowing. So much exciting new stuff to learn! I just couldn’t get enough of it all. At first, I felt embarrassed to post to the class message boards for fear of saying something foolish. Many of my classmates are either working in libraries already or teaching in schools. I certainly wasn’t the only one who was making a complete career change and starting from scratch, but for a while it seemed like I couldn’t possibly learn it all. However, despite the information overload and techno-stress, my classes were very stimulating, my professors were patient, and my classmates informative and helpful.   

Now, entering my third semester as a full time MLIS student, I am starting to see the light. Between my classes and my fieldwork, I have gained more confidence in my future as a librarian. I’m noticing some overlap in my classes. I now recognize the names of researchers in the library literature. I was surprised to find myself rated an “omnivore” in the Pew Internet Project Internet Typology test. But this didn’t happen overnight and it took effort to immerse myself as much as possible in not only my coursework, but also in other online resources. Here are my recommendations for other students who might be feeling overwhelmed in the early stages of your MLIS program: 

• Read library blogs and follow library movers/shakers on Twitter. Find out what’s going on out there in the real world of librarianism.
• Communicate with fellow classmates not only on the class message boards, but also via Twitter and Facebook, etc. This is especially useful if you are a distance student. It helps you feel more connected and reduces the sense of floundering when you realize others are feeling the same way.
• Spend as much time in libraries as you can. If you are a school media student, start your fieldwork as early as possible. Discussing your assignments with practicing librarians lends a greater relevancy to what you are learning. I am finding it helpful to spread out my fieldwork over the course of a whole semester rather than doing it in one short spurt. It allows me to follow up on things I am learning in class and get a different perspective.
• When you have assignments that require hands-on library projects, don’t do them all at the same library. Seeing how various different librarians run their libraries is a great learning tool. Plus, it expands your contact base of future colleagues.
• Ask questions. All the time. Of anyone you can. It really isn’t as annoying to them as you think. Most people kind of like talking about themselves. 

Most of all, enjoy this time. The best part of becoming a librarian is that the field requires constant learning, so the intellectual stimulation of the graduate school experience doesn’t have to end! At least that’s what I’m hoping. 

Posted by Rebecca Buerkett, Syracuse MLIS distance student, rlbuerke@syr.edu. Feel free to comment on this post on the Syracuse iSchool LIS facebook page.

After 2 years of work by staff, faculty, and students, we went up in front of the Committe on Accreditation at the recent ALA Midwinter conference. We were granted reaccreditation until 2015 with no areas of deficiency.

Here’s Scott with the certificate that we just got from ALA with the formal letter.

If you would like to see the Program Presentation, the report from the external visiting team who came to the school in October 2008, or the final letter from the Committee on Accreditation, we have decided to make them all public (and are one of the few LIS programs to do so). You can see these at:

http://ischool.syr.edu/academics/graduate/mls/alaaccreditation/documents.aspx