M is for "Mentors"

These are the people I work with at the Uni High Library.

They are pretty awesome, to say the least.  With them I never know when a conversation distinguishing Bryan Adams between Richard Marx will pop up, I'll get to pour over Uni archival materials with them (like a 1968 Uni High Cookbook), or when I will be encouraged to tell the story about that time when I got pulled over in Memphis by a cop who thought I was high (and then tell that story to the students during story time).

Amy is giving me freedom to explore display space and bulletin board ideas.  She's always willing to listen to my rambling display and bulletin board ideas.  She lets me self-direct my work, and she also has set plans for me when I come in on a Monday after only four hours of sleep and no coffee and can't for the life of me think of what I should do with my time.

Paul has the daunting task of teaching me how to competently use the circulation desk hub: charging/discharging books, completing call slip requests, finding tech items for students, and all the time being patient with my constant queries.

I have had a couple of colleagues tell me that the Uni High Library isn't a "real life" school library.  I acknowledge that: the students at Uni are extremely driven, independent, and put their education above pretty much anything else (which is how they got accepted and how they maintain their placement there).  Even though it might not be the most realistic training ground, I still have wonderful mentors leading me through my time there and making it a joy to come to work everyday.

Hello! I Want to be Your Librarian!

Today, August 25, 2014, marks the beginning of my second year in the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library & Information Science.  Now.  Before you read any further, I want you to say that three times super fast.  It's kind of hard, huh?  Yeah, that's why we have annoying acronyms: It's a lot quicker to say GSLIS (Giss-Liss).

I know that librarian blogs are a dime a dozen, but I do this more for my own sake.  Kind of a journal, you'd say.  I don't think anyone will really read this.  (Except for my Mom.  She's the BEST, MOST SUPPORTIVE Mom the world's ever seen.  I hope I can be half as awesome as she is at parenting.)  I'm fine with that.  That means I'm just kind of talking to myself (and my mom) at this point.  Let me remind my old self, who is reading this after a long and hopefully fruitful career as a school librarian, what it's been like so far.

I don't really know when I set my heart on being a school librarian: I think the idea was always kind of stuck there in the back of my head.  I had ten wonderful years teaching sixth graders at a public middle school in Champaign, IL, but things started to get a little rough.  I loved my co-workers, the kids, the subject (reading and writing), but I got frustrated with the emphasis placed on testing, making every student--even those with special needs--succumb to the stress of standardized testing, and I felt that it wasn't about student-teacher relationships and respect anymore but how many kids can you make meet this number that others think is an acceptable measure of intelligence.  I am not ignorant: I know that school librarians will also have to be involved with Common Core, and I look forward to my participation in instruction, but I like to think in the library kids can experience a freedom to explore what they want to explore.  I will encourage them to do this and to think outside the box.

The center, or CENTERS, of my life are my husband and our three kids.  They are supporting me on this journey and staying strong through my late night writing/study hours, my spats of irrational mumbling during stressful times when projects and papers are due, and by enduring one too many pizza nights during the week.  (My son and daughter actually don't mind that third pitfall too much.)

I am a wife, mom, teacher, and in-progress librarian.  I love this crazy, busy life God has blessed me with, and I hope you enjoy my crazy adventures in Library Land.  I know I'm going to love sharing them with you (Mom, cause you're the only one reading).