Practicum Log #28: Practicum Summary
A view of my walk to the Smith Library Center at Southwestern University. I’ve had a great practicum experience.
Monday, July 22, 2024
My time working at Southwestern’s Smith Library Center as well as my shadow days at Georgetown Public Library and Cedar Park Public Library have given me perspective for my future. More than anything else I’ve learned in this practicum, I have learned that I chose my future career wisely. I see myself working at libraries for as long as I can in my future, and I’m excited about that future. I have also learned that I have grown to love and respect librarians more than I have before, which is saying a lot. Librarians are curious, kind, innovative people who listen to their patrons and are generally only limited in their funding to change the world.
Librarians are curious people. Throughout my internship, the librarians who helped me and talked with me were curious about me. They wanted to know about my life and my interests, and they wanted to help as much as possible. These librarians showed me that most librarians do not claim to know all the answers. They care about finding answers. They were all humble people who were happy to share their expertise but quick to say, “I don’t know,” if they didn’t have an answer. I appreciate that posture and mindset. Additionally, each of the library staff teams I met or worked with showed a sense of camaraderie with one another. They were all happy to work on a problem together, piece out jobs to make a task easier, share leftover collections funds that they didn’t need for their department. Librarians and library leaders are modeling how to run any organization in a healthy and productive way that makes their team members feel a sense of belonging.
Librarians listen. I noted that librarians listen to their patron needs, and they provide based on those needs. Over and over, I heard the staff at Smith Library Center say, “Our students would love this!” or “I know that students have responded well to this type of instruction. The faculty really appreciates when we offer workshops like this.” When I interviewed Sally Mucilek, she talked extensively about the Georgetown Public’s mobile library drive and its continued growth in meeting patron needs. They serve 70 families weekly in mobile delivery service, and they have a mobile library pop up van that they use to open at apartment complexes and day care centers. Additionally, they have mobile library spots built at community rooms for assisted living facilities and for 55+ neighborhoods in the area. When I asked about growth and collection funding, Sally casually said, “Georgetown is a reading city, and we love to support them.” Librarians also listen to their collection, which could sound a little silly, but Megan Firestone described distinctive collections this way. She talked about assessioning a new collection at Smith Library Center, and she described their process as “letting the collection talk to us,” in regards to organizing it in a clear and useful way. By listening to the collection, the librarians can determine how to organize distinctive collections and utilize the collections for study and research.
Librarians are only restricted in their funding. Truly, the only times I heard complaints at all from the librarians I met and interviewed were times when they talked about limited budgets. Librarians do not say, “No one reads anymore,” or “Students don’t use the library anyway.” None of the librarians see themselves as old technology or a fading institution. In fact, they only see possibility if they had more funds and support from their administrations. They talked about inflation costs with publishing, so they aren’t able to get the same number of books with the same funds as before. They talk about the increased cost in database systems and academic journal subscriptions. They point out space issues and inventory needs for weeding to make room for new books and new collections. Truly, if administrations wanted to invest in the future, I can’t think of a better place than investing in the library.
Overall, I have had a wonderful internship and practicum experience. I know I would work well in an academic library setting or in a public library setting, and I am excited about joining a staff soon. I hope to return the favor of my lovely experience by mentoring future librarians once I have my professional spot in the field. I have hope for the future of librarianship and hope for my role in that field.
