Blog Link: https://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/
Written by: Joe Hardenbrook, a reference and instruction librarian at Carroll University in Wisconsin.
Blogs about: Libraries, technology, teaching, and more
Summary of issues/topics blogged about recently:
·
You’ve
Come Along Way Baby: Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Picture Books: While
helping with a shifting project in the children’s lit collection, Mr. Library
Dude came across a book published back in the 70s about what things a boy does
and what things a girl does. Most of them are along the lines of “boys can eat,
girls can cook” and “boys invent things, girls use what boys invented”. It
might have been a satire book because it was written by a satirical cartoonisht
named Whitney Darrow, Jr. who wrote for The
New Yorker. He lists some great articles about children’s books in regard
to gender roles and stereotypes. He also goes on to say that he will be keeping
the book in circulation at the library because even as satire, it is a learning
tool to see how sexism has evolved over the years. Read it here at: https://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/2014/12/
·
Escape
to Your Happy Place: Destressing on the Job: Forbes named
librarian as the #8 least stressful job out there but Mr. Library Dude thinks
that the article wasn’t taking into account various aspects of the profession.
Librarians deal with a lot of stress on the job in the form of budget
constraints, new technology, standards to uphold, messy children, and lack of
resources. He goes on to give his 5 strategies for detoxing your work day. They
are: take a walk, spray a good-smelling scent, watch a funny YouTube video,
look at relaxing pictures, finding pictures of cute animals. Read it here at: https://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/2014/07/
·
A
Library Interviewee’s Bill of Rights: This post was about what
the interviewee should supply to their job candidates. He gave a list of ten
items which are that the library will: (1) give lead time to prepare a
presentation, (2) supply a schedule of who they will be meeting with and for
how long, (3) plan a humane schedule- like not scheduling a presentation right
after lunch, (4) provide reimbursements, (5) provide info on hotels/dining, (6)
give you salary info, (7) be prepared, (8) have a good attitude, (9) keep
matters confidential, and (10) provide follow-up in a timely manner. Read it here at: https://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/a-library-interviewees-bill-of-rights/
·
ALA:
The Membership Cost is Too Damn High and Meh on ALA: This was a two-post presentation of all things about
ALA including being a member and membership costs. He states that it’s nice to
be a part of ALA but there are other ways to contribute and help the profession
besides having a membership. He talks about how the costs of the membership and
the conferences aren’t really in many librarians’ or libraries’ budgets. He
goes on to break down other professions and their memberships to various
organizations. His main point is that ALA is a good price for what you get, but
some people aren’t willing to spend that money on something they aren’t heavily
involved in. Read it here at: https://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/meh-on-ala/ and here https://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/ala-the-membership-cost-is-too-damn-high/
·
Buzzfeed
& Facebook in Infolit Sessions: Connecting What Students use to Library
Research: This post was about how students rarely start with academic
research, choosing instead to use a Google search for basic information. Mr.
Library Dude conducted an activity that helped students start with their Google
search info and how to take what they found in the articles and search deeper
by using academic journals and scholarly articles. Read it here at: https://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/buzzfeed-facebook-in-infolit-sessions-connecting-what-students-use-to-library-research/
Personal observations/What I learned: I
learned the most from the A Library
Interviewee’s Bill of Rights post. I didn’t know that a regular interview
for a library position would include a presentation or short demo. It makes
sense now that I think of it, but that had never crossed my mind before. It’s
good to know and keep that morsel of information in the back of my mind when I
start applying and looking at libraries to work at. I actually really love the
idea of getting to do a demo for my potential employer. I consider myself
extremely creative and with my improv comedy background, I’m no stranger to
performing. I’ve looked into
becoming a member for ALA a few times but I never can seem to pull the trigger
on the payment portion of it. Not because I think it isn’t worth it, I just don’t
have a ton of extra cash lying around to put toward something that some people
think isn’t fully worth your time to be a part of. I know eventually I will
join some professional group, but for right now, I’m content with seeing what’s
out there and seeing where my interests really take me before committing my
time, money, and energy. I enjoyed the Infolit
session post the most because I love the human element behind behaviors,
especially when related to research. It makes sense that a young student would
start searching for a topic through a source they are comfortable with using,
like Google. I think it’s great that librarians know the search habits of their
patrons enough to not discourage how they are getting their information, but to
show them how to use it as a jumping off point and use it to find more credible
sources for their research and materials.
Mighty Little Librarian
Blog Link: http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/ Written by: Tiffany Whitehead. School librarian.
Blogs about: Social media, technology, and topics related to middle-school aged students
Summary of issues/topics blogged about recently:
·
Librarians as PD
Leaders: Librarians
need to be leaders in their schools when it comes to technology and having a
positive and professional presence online. She created a Tech Petting Zoo to
introduce new technology and practices to the librarians and teachers. She
stresses that it is important to stay on top of current technology tools and be
able to use them to their fullest capacity. Read it here at: http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/?p=1274
·
2015 Bookmark
Exchange & Literacy Challenge: She thought it would be a great idea to
have her students do a bookmark exchange because of how much the kids like
them. She went on Twitter and spread the word. To register all the students had
to do was fill out a form and then create their bookmarks. The idea went over
really well and had a lot of positive feedback. Read it here at: http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/?p=1260
·
Makerspace:
Crafting Supplies:
The Makerspace was an initiative to get more students through the doors of the
library by providing a wide range of creative activities. One of the projects
was to make ornaments for the holidays out of scraps and other crafting
supplies around the library. She also raised funds for the Makerspace by
promoting the creativity it would allow the students to discover and explore. Read it here at: http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/?p=1254
·
Lego Wall (November 2014
post): In continuation with the Makerspace, she created a Lego Wall where students
and teachers can create Lego creations on the walls of the library. The
students and staff seem to love it and the creativity it supplies. The wall was
fairly simple to construct and maintain. Read
it here at: http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/?p=1236
·
Twitter Bootcamp: She offered
several bootcamps for the teachers on how to use and navigate Twitter. Allowing
for hands-on learning and interaction. The whole point of it was to share what’s
going on in the Twitter world without overwhelming the teachers. She promoted
that Twitter is a great resource for information and to make connections with
other people. Read it here at: http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/?p=1180
Personal observations/What I learned: I
love reading about what school libraries are doing to promote creativity and
how they get their students to come into the library. I remember my elementary
school having a whole bank of computers that we got to play typing and math
games on once a week. I loved the open space of the library and all the titles
and color of the book spines. I have very fond memories of my school libraries
growing up. It’s really nice to see that the school libraries today are
constantly keeping up with the students’ interests like Twitter, Lego Walls,
and other creative activities that not only promote learning, but reinforce how
fun and important the library is to their education. I think it’s great that
the teachers and other staff are highly involved too, whether it’s coming in
for social media training or just checking out what’s going on. The more the
teachers see the library as a vital resource to any of their students’
education. I have my heart set on working for a public library but reading this
blog has made me reconsider that decision a little bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment