I’m the New Technical and Public Services Librarian at Keystone College

I am so happy to announce that I’ve been named the Evening Technical and Public Services Librarian at Miller Library at Keystone College.  I will be responsible for assisting students, faculty, staff and other library patrons with research, overseeing the library’s computers, printers and other electronic equipment as well as developing the library’s presence on the web.  And I couldn’t possibly be any more excited at the possibilities.  I look forward to working with the Keystone students, faculty and staff.

I had my interview on Friday, 10 September and I have to say, it was one of the most pleasant interview experiences I’ve ever had.  Honestly, HR peeps, if you’re paying attention, this group knows how to handle an interview (and I’m not just saying that because they hired me).  Here are a few things that I enjoyed about the interview process:

• Everyone was friendly ~ it’s a hiring committee, not a death panel, everyone smiled when I entered the room and they exuded warmth
• They created a relaxed environment ~ going on an interview is nerve wracking enough, the hiring committee talked to me and each other before the “official” questioning began
• They took the time to “know” me before the interview ~ on my resume, I indicated that I blog here and at Living Outside the Stacks, and the panelists asked questions about my blogs (it shows that you’re interested in me as a person and not just as a spot filler)
• I received immediate feedback ~ I heard back from them the hiring committee the following week.  That’s important.  People’s lives are on hold when they’re waiting to find out about a job, get back to the candidate and let them know one way or the other what the committee has decided.

The Miller Library was built in 1968 and was named in honor of the former Keystone President Dr. Harry K. Miller, Jr.

 

Post Library Day in the Life: Day 1 – Finding My Niche

You thought I was going to hide in the stacks, didn’t ya?  Nope, you can’t get rid of me that easily.  I’ll be taking a little hiatus from this blog until I figure out what I want to do career wise.  However, I will be blogging over here while I try to find my niche.

 

Library Day in the Life: Day 2 – Walking Away

Walk Away

So this is it.  My last day.  Thirty days goes by very quickly.  Four weeks ago I gave notice that I would be leaving my position as Archivist and Reference Librarian (aka Queen of the Histolibrarianivists).

I’m usually pretty open about my professional life but I have been purposefully hush hush on this issue.  Not because I have anything to hide but because I haven’t a clue as to where things are going from here.  My husband was offered an opportunity to move forward in his job and I am following him to new adventures.

So it is with a mix of sadness and excitement that I offer the last installment of library day in the life.  Just like yesterday, I have documented my day in the life of a librarian in pictures.  This has been a fun project for me and I’ve enjoyed sharing my professional life with all of you.

Now that my career as a professional histolibrarianivist is on a temporary hiatus, I will probably be sharing more of my life as a wife and mom.  Who knows?

As for my library life, I’m a geek at heart and I’ll find my way back into the stacks.  Until then, enjoy the pics and continue reading about the lives of librarians.

 

Library Day in the Life: Day 1 – Looking Back…

Today is bittersweet for me, it’s the day before my last day of work.  I haven’t blogged about my departure because I haven’t really been quite sure what to say.  I’m so good with “hellos” but “good-byes” tear me to shreds.  Especially when it comes to leaving Misericordia University.

I have such a long and wonderful history with this University.  I came here as a young married mother of four small children with a full course load and a whole lot of dreams and I’m leaving here as an *ahem* older married mother of four nearly grown children with two Master’s degrees and a wealth of memories.  In my time here, I have survived cancer, taught over four history courses, driven through mad crazy snow storms, endured giggle fits that have left me nearly helpless, killed two plants and met some of the most interesting people who will never fully understand the impact they have had on me.  I never thought I would ever leave….

I remember graduation day, as I walked across the stage to receive my Bachelor’s degree, I looked at my professor, Dr. Donald Fries, and told him that I’d be back.  As I walked off the stage, Dr. Michael MacDowell (University President) pulled me back and said: “You will be back.”  What we didn’t know was that it would take nearly five years but I did come back and it felt like coming home.

In an effort to do what I do best – preservation and documentation – I have decided to mark my final two days here in pictures.

 

Library Day in the Life: A Call to Action

My Office in the Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle Archives

Bobbi is asking librarians to participate in the 2nd Annual Library Day in the Life Project.  I had a great deal of fun with this project last year, so I definitely wanted to be a part of the project this year.  If you want to participate, just go here and sign up.  The fun part is that you can participate any way you want: blog, pictures, videos, whatever….be creative and share your library life!

 

You Found Me How?!

Monkey in the Stacks

Every now and then I like to take a look at the search terms that people used to find my blog and some of them are pretty funny and some of them are scary (ok, I really don’t know why but whenever I see my actual name in the search I get paranoid….are the black helicopters going to start circling the house?).  Anyway, I’ve noticed that recently people have found my blog by typing in “dancing monkey.”  That, to me, is hilarious.  Especially since I have madcrazyinsane love for monkeys.  So to all of you who find me via the monkeys, much love!  And thanks for the chuckle.

 

So You Think You Can Be a Librarian?

Ok, so that title doesn’t work as well as “So You Think You Can Dance?”  but whatever…I like it and it gets me to my point, what does it take to become a librarian?  Or, for that matter, exactly what does a librarian do?  These are the questions being asked by young girls who are looking to “expand their horizons” and consider different career opportunities.

About three months ago, I was contacted by Miss Mindy Kittay (love her name) and asked if she could use one of my library pictures for a presentation about librarians and librarianship as a career choice for young girls.  How could I say no?  An opportunity to share information about my career with little girls and break stereotypes in the process…puh-leeze, I was all over it!

I am now happy to announce that Miss Kittay’s wiki is finished!  And I think she has done a wonderful job of not only discussing different types of librarians but different types of libraries as well.  She also provides information about what it takes to become a librarian as well as links to various library resources.  If you get a chance, check it out!

 

And I Live to See Another Day…

Yesterday was my day of reckoning.  I had my first Library Instruction for History 491 Research Seminar and despite all my nerves everything went well.  Better than I expected.  The session was scheduled to last an hour and was comprised of a group of eight students and their instructor. 

I began the class by introducing myself to the  students then I asked each of the students to introduce themselves and tell me their topics.  Then I introduced them to the library’s website and showed them how to locate books in the library’s catalog, WorldCAT, AccessPA and the catalogs of some our local colleges and universities. 

We also discussed accessing information in archives and special collections.  I wanted to stress the importance of making an appointment ahead of time to give the archivist or records manager the opportunity to pull materials ahead of time.  Although archivists welcome visitors, sometimes it’s better to call ahead and schedule an appointment to ensure that the materials are available.  I also told them to talk to the administrators about their acknowledgement requirements as some special collections offices require that their offices are acknowledged somewhere in the final research document.

Finally, I went back to each of their topics and had every student perform a search using either the OPAC or the databases to find relevant information.  Rather than having each person work on their topic, we worked together on everyone’s topic.  Not only did it give everyone the opportunity to explore the catalogs and the databases but everyone was able to assist each other with their searches.  For example, when a couple of students and I performed a search for the O.J. Simpson trial in the historical newspapers database, the information kept coming out kind of funky, however, one of the other students was able to access some really good resources.  This proved to be a learning experience for all of us.

One of my biggest concerns was that I would not have enough information to fill the entire hour…Um, I kept them there from 3:30 til 4:45 and they kept me for an additional ten minutes with questions.  As they left to go home, a few of them came over to the desk to say “thank you.” 

After everyone left, I checked in with the instructor to make sure that I had covered everything that he wanted me to cover and he stated that he was happy with the way things went.  I hit the “hot spots” and helped them to get a jump start on their research.  In fact, he told me that it was one of the best.

I am still beaming….

 

Pre-Library Instruction Nerves

My Library Instruction has been rescheduled for today at 3:30 PM and I am so incredibly nervous.  I think I’ve mentioned before that this is the first time that I am doing this.  Anyway, the professor is sitting in on the class and that has me nervous enough.  He is also the person I report to as an adjunct faculty member for the History Department.  This will also be the first time he gets to check out my teaching techniques.  Aaack!

My supervisor came into my office on Friday and informed me that she is going to try to sit in on the session too.  Gulp!  I am so not ready for the pressure.  Then I received an email from the Head of Reference Services saying that he will be sitting in on the session too.  Thud.

Ok, I know I teach classes four times a week so this shouldn’t be a big deal but this is like standing before my peers and being graded.  I know they’ll be mentally reviewing me to make sure I hit all the “hot spots.”  I feel like I am going before the academic equivalent of a firing squad.

I have an outline prepared to make sure I cover everything but I still want to….This is a family blog, so I won’t say but needless to say, I haven’t had much to eat today.

I’ve prepared a little packet of handouts to give to the students for them to refer to as I talk.  My packet includes:

• An information sheet about the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library
• A primer on the differences between scholarly journals and popular magazines
• A description of the Dewey Decimal System
• Library Instruction Assessment sheet for after the session
• Bookmarks, the library’s newsletter

Anyway, I think I’d better go take a moment…

 

Library Day in the Life 5: TGIF!

I survived another week...

It’s Friday and I have survived.  Imagine me doing the happy dance.  This has been a crazy week for me.  I went from feeling on top of my game to sinking to the floor in despair.  I’ve had a Library Instruction session scheduled on the fly and rescheduled due to inclement weather.  And I’ve prepared two tests and proctored one.

Today is going to be a fairly slow day for me.  I have class in a little over an hour.  It’ll be mostly lecture with a few questions tossed in here and there to make sure everyone is still awake.  But for the most part, it’ll be me talking.  I also plan to play a bit of “Maple Leaf Rag” by Scott Joplin.  I know “The Entertainer” is much more familiar but I kinda like Maple…

Sometimes I truly forget how young my class is (or how old I really am)…anyway, I talked to them about Scott Joplin and they looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.  So I played “Maple Leaf Rag” for them and no reaction but when I played “The Entertainer,” their eyes lit up with recognition.  They recognized it from cartoons!  So we talked about how music and other cultural movements from the late 19th and early 20th centuries have infiltrated popular culture.  I honestly felt like we had a productive class.  They even talked to me and asked and answered questions.  Yes!  I feel like I have been redeemed.

It’s 12:17 and I’m supposed to be on the Reference Desk, but there has been a bit of schedule shuffling so I may end up at the desk later this afternoon.  In the meantime, I’m going to spend some time putting some pictures up on flickr while I listen to DeBarge on Pandora.

So I sat the desk from about 1:30 til 3:00.  Most of the reference questions were about the printers “Why aren’t they working?”  “What does it mean when it says ‘hold for secure printing’?”  Um, I dunno.  They didn’t teach us this in library school.  I wish they had though since this seems to be 90% of my job.  I also answered questions about the snow as in “When is it going to stop?!”

At 3:15 I received a call from Mr. 13 begging me to bring him food before he left for his basketball game.  In the interest of self preservation (I do not want anyone from social services calling me because my son is rolling on the floor crying because he’s starving to death) I agree to bring food.

By 4:30 I am ready to end my day and put an end to this meme.  I’d like to think Bobbi and all the other librarians who have participated in Library Day in the Life.  This has been fun and I hope that you all have enjoyed spending the week with me…Now I’m signing off for the night to spend some time with my friends….my family….myself.