Practicum Log #25: Birthday Lunches and Behind-the-Scenes

This is the Herman Melville Alcove in the Smith Library Center, dedicated to all things Herman Melville and Moby Dick. The SLC’s distinctive collections has an original letter written by Herman Melville!

Monday, July 15, 2025 from 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Monday’s shift started with a birthday celebration for Megan Firestone, the Head of Distinctive Collections, at the Monument Cafe, an amazing old diner in Georgetown. I had a fun lunch, and I enjoyed getting to know the staff better in a social setting. Tuesday, July 15th will be my last shift at SLC, so Emily asked me if I had anything else I wanted to learn or see or do. I interviewed Lindsay Howard who is the Access Services Assistant. She showed me all of the processing for the Information Desk. She’s in charge of scheduling all of the student workers as well as processing book returns, shelving, etc. I enjoyed getting to see all of the random things the info desk covers (making Student ID badges, printing posters, shelving DND dice, etc.).

After I spent time with Lindsay, I spent a good amount of time with Hong Yu, the Metadata and Discovery Librarian. She walked me through her cataloging process, adding metadata for new acquisitions, etc. Talking with both Lindsay and Hong showed me how all of the theories and processes that I have learned in library school get applied in a practical sense for a university community. Overall, I enjoyed getting the special one-on-one time with many of the librarians, especially since my internship was through the summer during a slow time on the university campus.

Full Schedule: l will be working 10:00-2:00 from May 28th to June 7th, M-F online. (The campus is undergoing some construction and all of the librarians are working from home.)

Then, from June 10 - July 19th, I will be working 1:00-5:00 on campus at Southwestern University. I will more than likely finish by July 12th, but I'm adding a week for wiggle room. This should lead to 128 hours.