Brian Matthews (The Ubiquitous Librarian) had a great post back in early January entitled: Be like Emeril: my response to Steven Bell.
It is so well written I can only say: READ IT!
I am a huge Emeril Lagasse fan, although I do not currently watch the show as much as I used to, it is on at a different time here than it was in the East. But Brian is correct about how the enthusiasm and charisma of Emeril brought The Food Network alive for many people. He set the stage in the same way that Julia Child did years and years ago on public television.
Showing posts with label professional literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional literature. Show all posts
Monday, February 11, 2008
Friday, February 08, 2008
Why am I a Librarian
Well, Walt Crawford did not tag me, but I am going to take up both parts of his challenge. I will answer the question, and also, like my semi-hero Walt, not "tag" anyone. I am again behind in reading my feeds, but so far I have read the posts from Iris, Rikhei, and Steve Lawson.
My answer is short: Miss (Betty) Osborn and Mrs. Carson.
As a child I spent a lot of time at the library and reading. Miss Osborn was the children's librarian, and took an interest in me. She later became the Library Director, and hired me as a page/shelver. The longer I was there, the more responsibilities she gave me. She talked about professional association activities and was active in the New England Library Association. She went to the (now legendary) annual conferences at Wentworth-by-the-Sea.
Mrs. Carson was my supervisor at my financial aid provided job in the library at Brown. I started in the Biological Sciences Library which, in the December of my freshman year moved into a new building with the Physical Sciences Library -- the now Sciences Library. I guess because I was willing to work hard and work more, I got to be part of the team which helped get all the books on the right floors. (We were integrating the collections.)
As I stuck it out over the years, I was given more responsibility. By the end of my four years, I was often in charge of the service desks for the last couple of hours of operation. All my supervisors encouraged me. Mrs. Carson wrote a letter of recommendation when I was applying to schools and for the NELA scholarship (which I did *not* get). I had the opportunity a couple of times to go back and thank her for her support.
I started grad school one week to the day after my graduation from college. From there on it has been a straight shot. Although there were times when I thought about, and even explored, other options. But none of them felt as "right" as librarianship.
Once working in libraries, I knew I wanted to become a Library Director. I wondered why some decisions were made the way they were. I wanted to have some of that control. I also wanted to share why things are the way they are with my staff. So, back in 1985 when I had the opportunity, I jumped and became a director. It was a small enough library that during my tenure there I worked the circ desk to pitch in, and worked regular shifts on the reference desk.
I left that position and took one running a multi-type library organization. It is what has taken me away from direct public service, but that was an incredible learning experience about other types of libraries, and gave me the opportunity (and push) to become involved in professional associations. Since then, I have been the director of large enough libraries that I do not work the desk. Let's face it, while I still have the customer service skills, I no longer have the technical skills, and don't have the time to learn them.
I love being a director. It fits my personality and style. I get to be out in the community talking about the library and what we can do. I do advocacy on a daily basis, and love it. I cannot picture myself doing anything else -- except maybe teaching how to do this.
[Note: I could not get Walt's blog to come up...I got the address for the hot link from the cached version in Yahoo!]
My answer is short: Miss (Betty) Osborn and Mrs. Carson.
As a child I spent a lot of time at the library and reading. Miss Osborn was the children's librarian, and took an interest in me. She later became the Library Director, and hired me as a page/shelver. The longer I was there, the more responsibilities she gave me. She talked about professional association activities and was active in the New England Library Association. She went to the (now legendary) annual conferences at Wentworth-by-the-Sea.
Mrs. Carson was my supervisor at my financial aid provided job in the library at Brown. I started in the Biological Sciences Library which, in the December of my freshman year moved into a new building with the Physical Sciences Library -- the now Sciences Library. I guess because I was willing to work hard and work more, I got to be part of the team which helped get all the books on the right floors. (We were integrating the collections.)
As I stuck it out over the years, I was given more responsibility. By the end of my four years, I was often in charge of the service desks for the last couple of hours of operation. All my supervisors encouraged me. Mrs. Carson wrote a letter of recommendation when I was applying to schools and for the NELA scholarship (which I did *not* get). I had the opportunity a couple of times to go back and thank her for her support.
I started grad school one week to the day after my graduation from college. From there on it has been a straight shot. Although there were times when I thought about, and even explored, other options. But none of them felt as "right" as librarianship.
Once working in libraries, I knew I wanted to become a Library Director. I wondered why some decisions were made the way they were. I wanted to have some of that control. I also wanted to share why things are the way they are with my staff. So, back in 1985 when I had the opportunity, I jumped and became a director. It was a small enough library that during my tenure there I worked the circ desk to pitch in, and worked regular shifts on the reference desk.
I left that position and took one running a multi-type library organization. It is what has taken me away from direct public service, but that was an incredible learning experience about other types of libraries, and gave me the opportunity (and push) to become involved in professional associations. Since then, I have been the director of large enough libraries that I do not work the desk. Let's face it, while I still have the customer service skills, I no longer have the technical skills, and don't have the time to learn them.
I love being a director. It fits my personality and style. I get to be out in the community talking about the library and what we can do. I do advocacy on a daily basis, and love it. I cannot picture myself doing anything else -- except maybe teaching how to do this.
[Note: I could not get Walt's blog to come up...I got the address for the hot link from the cached version in Yahoo!]
Friday, February 01, 2008
Librarian Song
Thanks to 800.001 for alerting me to this video on YouTube.
[I tried to embed it using the YouTube link, but that did not work. I may tweak tonight!]
[I tried to embed it using the YouTube link, but that did not work. I may tweak tonight!]
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Book Review: A Good Match
One of the books on my sidebar for the past few months is A Good Match: Library Career Opportunities for Graduates of Liberal Arts Colleges. It was published by ALA as part of its "ALA Research Series" and was written by my first boss as a professional Rebecca Watson-Boone.
It is a serious research work.
Rebecca surveyed librarians whose undergraduate degrees were from eight smaller (my judgment) liberal arts colleges -- mostly in the Midwest. They are:
She also compares between institutions and across the generations. There were some generational differences, as well as differences between the graduates of specific institutions.
It is *not* light reading. However, I think that the experiences of the alums of these selected colleges can be generalized to the profession. [I certainly can identify with many of the answers presented.]
It is an interesting work, well worth the investment of the time to read it.
In the interest of full disclosure, I worked for Rebecca at the University of Arizona in the mid-1970s. It was a temporary position as the Business Reference Librarian in the brand new Central Reference Department of the University of Arizona Main Library. Rebecca and I have stayed in touch over the years, primarily through ALA. She is now an independent scholar living in New Mexico (of which I am personally jealous).
It is a serious research work.
Rebecca surveyed librarians whose undergraduate degrees were from eight smaller (my judgment) liberal arts colleges -- mostly in the Midwest. They are:
- Carleton
- Denison
- Earlham
- Grinnell
- Kalamazoo
- Lawrence
- Macalester
- Swathmore
She also compares between institutions and across the generations. There were some generational differences, as well as differences between the graduates of specific institutions.
It is *not* light reading. However, I think that the experiences of the alums of these selected colleges can be generalized to the profession. [I certainly can identify with many of the answers presented.]
It is an interesting work, well worth the investment of the time to read it.
In the interest of full disclosure, I worked for Rebecca at the University of Arizona in the mid-1970s. It was a temporary position as the Business Reference Librarian in the brand new Central Reference Department of the University of Arizona Main Library. Rebecca and I have stayed in touch over the years, primarily through ALA. She is now an independent scholar living in New Mexico (of which I am personally jealous).
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