Back to School in Library Land!

When Adam and I started the Library Land Project in March of 2019, we were already library superfans. Over the course of 2018, we visited and worked in 100 libraries in Massachusetts, but were still trying to figure out how to share what we were seeing and learning. When we launched the website and started talking about the Project and public libraries in the media, we got some understandable pushback from the library community. Who were we to be making judgments and claims about these institutions?

As we met more people - and demonstrated our love of libraries - most (but not all) of those questions went away. People realized that the two of us were fighting the good fight to raise awareness of the importance of public libraries to the communities they serve. We’ve worked hard to be fair and faithful friends to libraries and library workers - and, for the most part, have been welcomed into the library community.

All well and good, but for me, not quite good enough.

I decided that to really get into library land, I should go a step further - and that meant studying library and information science.

It was a pretty big decision. I’m no spring chicken, and I was not a particularly good undergrad 30+ years ago. Over the years, though, I think I’ve matured a bit, become more focused, and felt it was worth a try. In libraries, I’ve also found an area of study that is super meaningful to me. I talked to library people to get some ideas, spoke to library graduate programs to share my goals and priorities, and got sound advice from many sources.

This summer, I took two classes at the University of Rhode Island and absolutely loved them. One was an introduction to information science, and the other on the management of public libraries and other information environments. The one thing I wasn’t crazy about was the fact that both were asynchronous, meaning interactions with my professors and fellow students didn’t happen in real-time.

The management class did have an informal synchronous element - a weekly check-in for the class and the professor. Even that small bit of real-time connection added a lot to the experience. It put names with faces and created the opportunity to ask questions and react to ideas and input from classmates. The content was good, but having been a manager in other areas of my career, many of the concepts were somewhat familiar. (Which isn’t to say I didn’t learn a lot!).

The class on information science was really interesting. This is a subject I hadn’t thought about much before the class and it gave me the opportunity to really consider it for the first time. My favorite assignment was to create a website describing what information means to me. That meant presenting what we’d learned during the class, but also sharing my own definition of information and my predictions for the future of information science.

I was able to organize the content in my mind and notes, but how would I present the information? Using technology was also a part of the course, and we’d used all kinds of tools to present what we were learning. I didn’t want to repeat any of the formats, so I needed to come up with something new. The something “new” I decided on was a comic.

It was a super-fun format and gave me a lot of freedom to play around and experiment. I had a blast learning a new tool, Pixton, and was really pleased with the results (I also got an awesome grade, which didn’t hurt . . . ;-))! Check it out:

So I managed to finish my URI course with flying colors - yay me - but that was only the first step on my path to library education glory!

Now, I am attending the University of Alabama’s School of Library and Information Studies (remotely). I reached out to programs around the country and was really impressed by the program’s focus on social justice. I was also psyched that the program is almost entirely synchronous. Last week was orientation, and it was so good to be able to see and meet everyone. 

I’m taking three classes this semester: Information in Communities, Information and Media, and Professional Paths. All are required classes and I’m glad to be taking them during my first semester, it will help ground me in the program. Yesterday was the first day of classes, and I really enjoyed myself. I like my professors and my cohort and am looking forward to the semester and beyond!

Is it as awesome as in person? Maybe not, but during the age of COVID, it’s probably the best I am going to find. When it’s safe, I want to visit the campus and meet my professors in person. Adam is hoping for a library tour and the chance to attend a football game - Roll Tide!

So what does this all mean for the Library Land Project? It means I’ll be learning the practice and profession of librarianship - and sharing what I learn with Adam, our board, partners, and libraries we work with and visit. It will also help inform the way I view and consider libraries. I’ll try to remember to share with you, our loyal readers, and devoted library fans! This new direction can only strengthen the work we are doing to explore, document, and promote libraries to educate the public about the essential role of these institutions in our communities. I’ll be honest, this is a fantastic place to find myself in at this point in my life, and I couldn’t be happier!