And now the pressure sets in

Okay, now I'm going to possibly going to go insane. And trust me, that will not be a pretty sight. I think the whole I am a master's student with tons of work is really sinking. Not that I really want to tell any one that when they ask "how are classes?" Of course I have to say just dandy, cause if I said that they are work then I would have to go on about it is in more details. Which I really don't want to. And really classes aren't that bad, I think my big thing is adjusting to the teaching styles of the professors.

To add to the fact that I am obviously struggling, I some how forgot to put my reflection about my interview on my assignment. Thankfully David Lankes is a nice guy and will let me put it here in my blog. (Which I also some how managed to forget to put into the assessment section. Yes, I'm that good.)

As I mentioned in my report, the "librarian" that I talk to was the teen coordinator for my home town library. I was part of the summer book club Daily held while I was in high school; I greatly admired the work she had done with the group. Daily is a big part of the reason that I decided I wanted to become a librarian. I want to do some similar activities to her's in the library, to continue on the practices. It was great to sit down and talk to her about the situation the library is in. How the economy is effecting it with all the budget cuts. As well as all the joys that she finds in her job. As we talked, I was further remained of why I want to be come a librarian.

Some call it Innovation

As I sat there last night and listened to Dave's "ranting" about innovation, I was further encouraged in the path that I want to take into the field of librarianship. I received my undergraduate degree in Recreation Management and Youth Leadership. When people hear that and then hear that I am getting a Master in Library Sciences I often get a strange look. I guess I can see where there having trouble making the connection, however to me they fit hand in hand. (And thankfully, I have had a librarian herself tell me that it will help to have that background.)

To me they fit together well because I want to work in a public library as the children or juvenile director. In that capacity I want the library to not just be a place where they come to read, but a place there they come to have fun doing all sorts of activities. Like the librarians that spoke last night, it isn't only about books in the library.

To me, my innovation will be most seen in the events that are going on in my library. It will be about how I get the community involved and utilizing the library.

Say it Stupid

So if I just sound ridiculous, will people cite my blog as the next best thing? I highly doubt that, but maybe it is worth a try. Though, for me to say ridiculous things I don't have to try, they just come.

To make an another note in relation to the title of this post, I came to realize a big reason why I don't really talk in classes. I know professors are always saying that we need to participate in class, but I am always afraid of sounding ridiculous in front of the whole class. I guess that I should not care so much. So that is what I will try to work on during the semester.

As for the subject matter of class, I found it most interesting the breakdown in the numbers of the types of libraries. I guess that if I had thought of it before, it would make sense that the greatest number there are are school libraries. Though a community has one public library, it is likely to have multiple schools and therefore several school libraries. However, I did not have any deep epiphanies, so this blog is not to insightful.

Random Fact: In order to lessen his debt, Thomas Jefferson sold his personal library to the Library of Congress after it had burned. Jefferson was in the habit of owning every book ever printed.

Start of a new semester

Disclaimer: To tell you the truth I always blank when I sit down to write a blog. All these good ideas were there before; and they just disappear. So if this post seems a bit disjointed and, well, crappy; I am sorry to those of you who read it.

This past week was the start of my first semester at Syracuse University in my journey to become a librarian. I started it off with IST 618 - and lets just say that all the technical stuff was daunting. However, in IST 511 I was able to feel more at home. Dave Lankes seems to know just how to empower you into getting excited about the field. And all we talked about was the history of Librarianship. I left the class so excited to be a librarian that is not defined by where I work, but by the work that I do.

Random Fact: (This will be the lesser known facts that I got from the lecture that I feel are just fun to know) Dr. Pepper started the first Free Library in Philadelphia. Take that Ben Franklin