MemberBlog

Browse through Keith Michael Fiels' Report to Council & the Executive Board for an overview of highlights and goings-on with ALA's Offices and Divisions.

Alma Ramos-McDermott, a 2006 Spectrum scholar, finished her studies December 2007 at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science in Boston, MA. Before Alma attended Simmons, she was a public school elementary teacher in Brooklyn, NY for 21 years. In the last 5 years of her career, she was the “pseudo” school librarian serving grades k-5. During those 5 years, Alma realized she would have to return to graduate school to earn a library degree (her first Masters degree was in Elementary Education) in order to better serve her students, since she felt that her Education degrees weren’t helping her to figure out how to teach library skills. Alma studied at Queens College for one semester before marrying in 2005 and relocating to Weymouth, MA, where she began her studies at Simmons in the spring of 2006. Alma was hired as a Library Media Specialist at Plymouth Community Intermediate School (PCIS) in February 2008. PCIS is a grade 5-8 school, with over 1200 students.

Alma is responsible for the building’s technology (which includes distribution and maintenance), as well as the scheduling of the 150 seat auditorium adjacent to the library. The building’s technology includes computers, DVD’s, TV’s, projectors, VCR’s and anything with a wire or that plugs into something. In addition, she supervises a staff of 5 assistants to help her with the running of the 5 computer labs (with 30 computers per lab) attached to the library, the 16 computers in the library, book check in-outs and typical library duties. She also teaches research and library lessons to students, and regularly schedules book talks with reluctant readers in their Reading classes. Due to the new 700 volume Young Adult collection Alma created in the library, as well as her book talks, these students have been more interested in borrowing books, which thrills their Reading teachers. Alma’s 21 years of teaching experience have served her very well as this skill allows her to have confidence in front of the students, and the knowledge of how to handle disciplinary issues that may arise.

Simmons offers a Management course, but it is not required of those studying to become school librarians. However, since Alma is responsible for many Management-type areas, she wishes school librarians had been required to take this course. She feels that perhaps it would have given her tips and insights into how to manage adults, among other skills. A required class at Simmons discussed how to integrate state frameworks into library lessons. Alma feels that this course was the most helpful to her, because the professor who taught it had been a school librarian and gave many helpful tips. One of the tips that she uses is to eat lunch with different teachers/departments on a regular basis. This tip has served her well, as it enabled her to be better known by the staff of over 150 teachers, and allows her to regularly speak with them to find areas to help them integrate the library into their lessons.

A typical work day for Alma begins with several teachers running in desperately seeking a VCR, projector, DVD or overhead projector that they must have for their first class but forgot to request on time. At the same time, others will come in wanting a specific DVD, video or book that is also a “must have,” or needing to replace batteries or blown out projector bulbs. Throughout the day, Alma checks her e-mails to see if any requests for technology, meetings or materials have been sent to her. Students stream in and out of the library to locate books for projects or for fun, while the two office phones constantly ring with requests for information, as well as technology or scheduling issues.

The library is on a flexible schedule, which means teachers plan their lessons in the library when needed. Thus, Alma daily stops teachers who come to the library to schedule time for their lessons to find out how she can collaborate with them to co-teach these lessons to enable students to learn needed information literacy skills. She is also in and out of the library addressing technology issues that arise in classrooms. While on these “technology runs,” teachers may stop her in the hallways to ask for specific books or to share information on upcoming lessons.

Alma’s days pass in a whir of activity, with no two days exactly alike. However, despite the stress of the job and the late hours (a typical workday may go from 7:30 AM to 5 or 6 PM), Alma enjoys the creativity and the chance to get students and teachers interested in what the library has to offer them. The many thank you letters, comments and e-mails she has already received in her short 2 ½ months of work show that she is on the right path.

Michael Gutiérrez is currently a Senior Assistant Librarian in the reference department, Morris Library, University of Delaware. Mr. Gutiérrez holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science and history from the University of New Mexico; received his M.A. degree (LIS) from the School of Information Resources and Library Science, University of Arizona; and is currently working on his doctorate in education from the University of Delaware. Mr. Gutiérrez is active in national and local library associations. Currently, he is serving as Councilor-At-Large. He has previously chaired the ALA Office of Diversity, Spectrum Scholarship Curriculum and Planning Task Force and chaired the RUSA (Reference User Services Association) Organization Committee. Locally, Mr. Gutiérrez was involved in the New Jersey Library Association, working on the Personnel Administration and Scholarship Committees, and, since 2003, has been serving as the Treasurer of the Delaware Library Association.

1. What made you choose your field of focus, and when did you decide?

Actually, I believe I stumbled into my field of focus—reference. I always had the inclination to discover how things worked or why events occurred or where a certain place was located. I guess I was a natural detective, so focusing on reference service became a logical path. While I was a paraprofessional at the University of New Mexico General Libraries, I was encouraged to volunteer to staff the reference desk two hours a week. After having overcome my initial fears of dealing with the public, I was a public service convert.

2. What skills have you had to learn on the job that weren’t covered in your classes?

There are numerous skills that I have learned since becoming a professional librarian such as webpage design, classroom management, curriculum development, and networking skills. But, the most important skills are what I would call true social skills. Those would include “people-reading” skills, which are important in dealing with patrons; “organizational politics” skills, which are equally important, if you plan to succeed in any organization; and “perspective” skills, which means being able to view things from “outside the box” or outside the realm of librarianship.

3. What information from your MLS studies do you use regularly? What doesn’t come up at all?

I would have to say that the concepts I use most from my library coursework would be knowledge of reference and government publications materials. I also feel that I use some of the basic learning theories that I was exposed to in my coursework, like Constructivism.

4. What kinds of skills from outside of your library background have come in handy in your job as a librarian?

I really can’t pinpoint just one skill from outside my library background that I use regularly. I use all of them, depending on the situation. I mean sometimes I will use my knowledge of cars or my skills in home repair or my knowledge of pop music or my cooking skills. So, basically, I try to tap into all my skills while I am working with a patron.

5. What is your typical work-day like?

For me, a typical day begins early and includes at least several hours of intense service at a busy reference desk. My work at the reference desk includes providing research assistance in-person as well as via phone, email, live chat and IM. Questions may come from students, faculty, staff or from the community. In addition to daytime hours, I also work evenings and weekends on a regular basis. Reference librarians at Delaware are also responsible for collection development and making recommendations about print and electronic resources that should be added to the Library’s collection. For example, I am the liaison to the School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy and the Departments of Political Science and International Affairs. I stay in touch with the students and faculty in these areas regularly via email, IM,phone, and through a newsletter I created to improve communication. I teach library instruction sessions and I am constantly learning new technologies that assist with reaching students through instruction. I am also the Scheduling Coordinator, and manage the day-to-day schedule of more than a dozen librarians and staff at Reference service desks. I collaborate with other librarians on projects such as web usability testing and student focus groups as part of library initiatives to improve services.

That sums up my typical work day, but I don’t think professional librarians have typical work days—the work they do is different everyday.

Born in San Antonio, Texas and currently residing in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Megan Perez recently received his MLIS from the University of North Carolina. His first professional library position has taken him to the University Of Arkansas Libraries were he serves as the Librarian-In-Residence and Diversity Officer Pro Tempore. In this newly established position, Megan engages in a variety of tasks, from creating an online government documents exhibit to finding ways to implement the University's diversity plan in the library.

What made you choose your field of focus, and when did you decide?

I went into library school knowing I wanted to work in an academic setting. I had worked in academic libraries before as an assistant and my strengths were in public service and government documents, but the Spectrum Institute changed all of that. After the 2006 Institute in New Orleans I started looking at diversity issues in general and slowly gravitated towards the literature surrounding recruitment and retention of under-represented populations in academic librarianship. Gradually I began to see the value of library diversity officers and tailored my remaining education, service, and job search towards that end.

What skills have you had to learn on the job that weren't covered in your classes?

My current position is atypical and it is the first of its kind at my institution. As our Head of Library Human Resources likes to say, "We are building the ship as we sail it." Library schools tend to teach hard skills like interview structures, classification procedures and standards, basic mark-up language, and so on. There is very little emphasis on softer skills like critical thinking, context-based problem-solving, self-confidence, or professional identity. I chair our library's diversity committee. I've had to learn how to create meaningful agendas, tie local goals to University vision plans, maintain committee member enthusiasm, work collaboratively with Deans and Vice-Chancellors from other divisions, and how to recover from meetings I managed poorly. In short, I've had to learn how to become a leader and a change-agent. Library schools prepare people to execute a specific function, but not necessarily to occupy a certain position. There needs to be a more holistic approach to LIS education; one that includes elements of scholarship and service in addition to work.

What information from your MLS studies do you use regularly? What doesn't come up at all?

As a student, I spent a lot of time researching residency programs on my own. The course that formalized my research with the proper vocabulary and structure was Research Methods. I often find myself going back to my notes to get ideas for survey structures or literature reviews. I also spend a lot of time thinking about the lessons I learned in a course called Cultural Institutions. No other course taught me to consider the design of a library's physical space alongside services or staff or collections or even climate. What is being collected in a given area? How is it displayed? How is the display designed to be used by humans and what are the assumptions built into these displays? The Promise of Cultural Institutions by David Carr and Reinventing the Museum by Gail Anderson are two books I revisit often.

On the other side of the issue, Human Information Interaction is a subject I have not dealt with since finishing a course on it years ago. Maybe that is a function of my position or my interests. I know that a colleague of mine is researching the information seeking behaviors of agriculture students so I'm aware it is an area of interest for people in our profession. I just don't encounter it in my daily work.

What kinds of skills from outside of your library background have come in handy in your job as a librarian?

I was a philosophy major in college and in graduate school for a short time. I learned a number of skills through that area of study, but for my current job, the most important one is cross-disciplinary thinking. Librarians tend to be very literal professionals. I pay attention to our own literature and find gems here and there, but by and large I don't rely on it for my work. I try to see opportunities for projects and development outside the library industry. I'll pull ideas wherever I find inspiration: the nursing industry, interior design catalogs, television commercials, self-help books, yoga...it doesn't matter. Right now I'm reading a book about psychological archetypes which, on the surface, has nothing to do with our work as librarians. In this book, however, I see a possibility to create a leadership development training module based on the various archetypes described. If we can get away from thinking so literally about our profession, we can expand our identity and make the value and necessity of our services transparent to our constituents. That's my quiet hope anyway.

What is your typical work-day like?

My day is split between working on diversity related issues and as a librarian-in-residence. As a resident, and for part of my day, I work in Web Services where I am putting together an online government documents exhibit and a new library diversity website. For the better part of my day, as library diversity officer, I'm either attending a training session or a meeting with another diversity officer from a different unit, or working on ways to implement our University's diversity plan in the library. In addition to those two main responsibilities, I try to squeeze in some work on publications I'm working on and presentations for some upcoming conferences. Finally, I steer a Working Group for library residency programs which is my not so-secret passion. It's a joy because I get to scan a lot of blogs, work with subject matter I'm invested in, and work with colleagues from around the country.