Little Things Here and There

School starts back today and I'm feeling the same thing I always do; a little sad that summer is ending and real work has to begin, but excited about all the things the fall brings, new classes, meeting new people, and of course football season. This semester I'm also feeling a little nostalgic because it's my last semester of school. (That is if I don't get my Ph.D. or a second masters.) I've been in school for 18 years straight and I'm not entirely certain what to do without it. It's one of the most constant things in my life. But maybe it's time to move on and grow up.

I haven't been blogging regularly because there hasn't been all that much going on, but I did come across two interesting postings on other blogs that I wanted to share.

I follow Library Journal on Twitter to stay up-to-date on library news and I came across this interesting article on the importance of academic libraries. Several quotes really stood out to me.

Talking about students' use of the library, "They may not want to be there, they may not have any real curiosity about the topic they are researching, but the library is a gateway to the kinds of sources they need, and for at least some students the librarians are "saviors" who help them take an assignment and locate sources that will match."

"...libraries embody principles that go beyond collections and beyond local needs. We stand for the importance of knowledge: not just information, but what we do with information. We stand for access: not just getting stuff conveniently, but making sure that information isn't censored or suppressed or distributed selectively so that only the elite have it."

"We stand for the individual's right to ask their own questions, no matter how dangerous or disruptive they may seem. And we stand for the idea that pursuing questions is a valuable human endeavor...Fortunately for academic libraries, they tend to be entirely consistent with the academic enterprise and its core beliefs."

These quotes really stuck out to me and helped remind me that academic libraries do matter. It's not just the books that are important, or our digital collections, or even the new coffee shop and "meeting area" that matter; it's the students and their ability to find and access the information they need. We are not here to judge or to question, but to provide information to enhance the learning opportunities of students enrolled in higher education. I'm glad to see that there are librarians out there who remember their students and just how important they are to the library and how important the library is to the students.

I've talked a good deal about Twitter, but I've never really discussed it as a type of mini-blog. It seems that plenty of librarians are using Twitter not just to give news bites but to share valuable information to other librarians. This article lists the 100 Best Twitter Feeds for Librarians of the Future. If you use Twitter, check out some of these librarians. Also listed are job listings, library news, and librarian resources, all good sources for the library student or the librarian looking to stay connected in today's rapidly changing digital world.

Do you have any library news you would like to see featured? Leave me a comment or send me an email!

More About Social Networking

I know I talk about social networking all the time, but it's literally everywhere I turn. More and more people are turning to Twitter for news, Facebook for weekend plans, and blogs for commentary that used to only be available in the newspaper. I spend a huge chunk of my first hour at work checking all of my social networking sites and catching up on my blogs that I subscribe to in my Google Reader. The more I use these new types of media, the more comfortable I am with the idea of sharing personal details and I find that I am actually more aware of what is going on around me. For example, I follow CNN on Twitter. CNN is always on in the reading room for those who like to stay abreast of current events; however, the past few days the only thing that has been reported in any kind of substantial form is healthcare reform. I'm just as interested in healthcare reform as the next person, but if I hadn't checked my Twitter this morning, I wouldn't have known that a plane is missing, that Michael Schumacher isn't going to return to Formula 1 racing (yes I care, don't judge me), or that Eunice Kenndey Shriver died. I enjoying being able to find out all of these things very quickly without turning on the t.v. or going to their webpage. Without blogs I would have missed an entire trend of frugality that is going on around me. If I didn't read The Frugal Girl or The Non-Consumer Advocate every day, I would probably be wasting money on using the dryer and would not have started making my own bread. By browsing blogs that I find interesting I'm learning how many people out there have similar interests and I'm able to connect with them on a whole other level.

It's really fun, keeping up with all this new stuff. I've found that it's become a huge part of my life and when I can't check facebook or read my blogs, I feel deprived! Do you think social networking and this new media outlet is good for society?

Blogs and Listserves and Wikis, Oh My!

Thanks to my subscriptions to various library-related blogs and listserves, I am never at a loss for something to blog about. Today I wanted to point you in the direction of two sites that were pointed out to me. The first is 100 Best Blogs for Librarians of the Future on Learn-gasm, the blog for Bachelor's Degree Online. Yours truly isn't featured (sigh), but some of the blogs I've mention before are. Others are ones that have appeared on other lists and some aren't updated very frequently. It's a good list with some blogs I was unfamiliar with, especially those concerning green libraries and more blogs dedicated to the future of libraries. Take a minute to poke around and see if you can't find something that interests you. I was especially glad to see some book-related blogs as well. Even though we are such a web-based culture, it's important to remember that libraries have books too!

Blogging about your day is rapidly becoming a huge trend. I do it, the Annoyed Librarian does it, apparently way more people do it than I thought. I got an email about Library Day in the Life, a wiki that lists people who blog about their days at least once a week. It's free to join if you want to add your name to the list of bloggers, but it would be a great place to look for some new blogs and find out what other people are doing in their libraries. This was another instance of me being shocked to find out just how many librarian/bloggers there are!

Other Library Related Blogs

I think that this as good of time as any to mention some of the many, many library-related blogs out there. There are a ton out there; for more take a look at The Top Fifty Librarian Blogs. These, however, are my favorites:

The Inspired Library School Student - a library student (like me!) who blogs about school, libraries, technology, etc.
Annoyed Librarian - not everyone likes this anonymous blogger, who is so popular the blog has been moved to Library Journal. She's sharp and insulting, but has great comments on the current goings-on in the library world.
Closed Stacks - a good mix of information on libraries, books, and technology with just enough personal stuff to keep it interesting.
The Society for Librarians Who Say Motherfucker - a great livejournal site for venting. Members of the livejournal community can post their frustrations with patrons, co-workers, whomever, or just share their library-related problems with the rest of the group. Pretty interesting and humorous...a good way to relieve stress.
A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette - a funny blog with short, almost Twitter-like posts. Most are really fun and lighthearted, offering "advice" to librarians.
Librarian Avengers - a fairly personal blog demonstrating the awesomeness that is a librarian.
Library of Congress Blog - the one and only!
A Library By Any Other Name - run by a public school librarian, a busy blog with lots of good information on school media.
Librarians Matter - another great blog on life as a librarian and libraries in general, run by an Australian academic librarian.
ACRLog - the official blog of the Association of College and Research Libraries. A great place to read about the latest happenings in the academic library world.

I hope you have as much fun checking out these blogs as I had finding them. Enjoy!!

Work, Work, Work

It feels like all I do these days is work. Go to work in the reading room, go tutor my athletes, do homework, clean the house, work, work, work. I was under the impression it was summer, but maybe I got it wrong? Or maybe this is just what it means to be a grown-up? Always working, always having something to do, somewhere you have to be. Maybe now is good practice for the rest of my life.

Some people don't think that being a librarian is hard work. Another fellow librarian blogger, the always witty and sharp Annoyed Librarian, implied a few weeks ago that librarianship isn't stressful, isn't all that difficult. In the year I have been in library school, I can say that is 100% absolutely untrue. This is a very hard job. It is customer service and manual labor; problem solving and managing; crisis prevention and menial paperwork. Being a librarian, no matter what kind of library you work in, combines all these tasks. My job right now, even though it is small, has given me more insight into all the duties of a librarian than I could ever learn in the classroom. I work in a very small library (also called a reading room) for the College of Communications. My biggest tasks involve fixing the copier and checking in the enormous amounts of newspapers we get everyday. It may not be glamorous, but, hey, someone's got to do it. Because the reading room is so small, it's like working in a microcosm of an academic library. I see all the stuff that goes on in a larger library, from stealing newspapers to kicking the copier to falling asleep on the couch to doing actual work, but in a much smaller space. It has taught me so much about being a good librarian.

I think the most important skill I've been developing is helping patrons more successfully. It's different from working in a bookstore, because you aren't just helping people find a book to buy, you are assisting them with school work, solving their research questions, putting that perfect piece of information in their hands. I didn't really realize just how different it is until I started working here. It is incredibly different, but it's so much better and so much more rewarding. So maybe checking in newspapers, shelving books, putting paper in the copier, and explaining how to print for the 100th time in a day isn't all that glamorous or doesn't even seem like all that much work, but let me tell you, it's a ton of work. And it's good work. Being a librarian is a great job.