Emerging Leaders and Professional Involvement

“G536 Zoom in, Sign up” by Brad Smith via Flickr under CC license

Editor’s Note: This is a Guest Post by Anita R. Dryden

This past year I had the pleasure of participating in the American Library Association’s Emerging Leaders program, which is designed to help new librarians get involved in ALA. Throughout the course of the program you attend leadership training, meet many of the current leaders in ALA, and are assigned to a small group to complete a project for a Division or Round Table. The EL program was a wonderful experience – I loved getting to know a group of really engaged, passionate young professionals while working on an exciting and beneficial project that helped me learn more about how the beast that is ALA works.

Should more LIS programs have a service-learning component?

Though the trademarks of the library profession like bridging the digital divide for children and adults, protecting freedom of information and promoting literacy, connect directly to service-learning, many LIS programs do not have a service-learning component.  Service-learning programs connect LIS students with schools, libraries and other social service agencies to provide volunteer services to the community. In addition to providing volunteer services, students are able to reflect on and evaluate their experiences and create personal best practices for future employment.  Students are usually able to earn school credit through service-learning projects, or can use it as a component of a LIS class. Here is another great explanation of service-learning. Service-learning was an important part of my undergraduate education and in many ways was something that gave me the experience to know I wanted to be a school librarian. Is service-learning something that should be a part of more Library and Information Science program curricula?

Internship Tips and Insights

If you’re a brand new library school student, you may feel it’s a little early to start thinking about internships/practicums. While I do think you need a few weeks to get settled in and feel less overwhelmed by the new atmosphere (and information overload), it’s a good idea to begin thinking about internships as soon as you’re able. My number 1 tip for new students is to start perusing job ads – subscribe to job lists in Google Reader, and save the ones that interest you. You don’t have to have your “track” figured out yet, but if you know some of the skills you will need to meet job requirements, you will feel a bit more focused when it comes to choosing classes and internships.

LIS programs vary when it comes to internships and practicums; some are required, some are optional. At UA, internships are optional, but students are strongly encouraged to do at least one semester-long, 150-hour internship for pass/fail credit. It doesn’t hurt that SLIS has an amazing internship coordinator who is not afraid to call any library – students talk to her about their interests, she names off some choices, and they go from there.

First things first: if an internship is not required, DO ONE. There are some exceptions to this. If you’re already working in a library part-time or full-time, you may not need an internship. If you can’t physically fit one in your schedule due to life conflicts, it’s understandable. Otherwise — do it. I can’t stress this enough.

Now for the other tips:

Volunteering in LIS – not what you expect

Please welcome another guest, Katie Westlake!

Katie is a first-year MLIS candidate in the University of Washington’s online degree program. Her future interests currently lie in library administration and/or international librarianship, but she’s staying open to the possibility of being seduced by other areas of study. She writes about everything from library science to dinosaurs in her blog, and has just rejoined the Twitterverse @katie_westlake.

Here’s her take on volunteering in LIS — Why it won’t be what you expect, and why you should do it anyway.