Stephen Abram must have a personal insight into those of us who have difficulty finding time in each day for all the top priorities we have. No matter what we call it - setting priorities, time management, procrastination - there are still only 24 hours in a day. However, he does point out that if we use the same best practices we teach our students by identifying our goal, making it a priority, becoming engaged in hands-on learning and then reflecting on and evaluating that learning process, we will empower ourselves. Moral of the story: Practice what we preach!
As I read the articles and blogs for Thing 2, I couldn't help but reflect on the changes in libraries since I became a media specialist. If we no longer offer what our patrons are looking for, how can we expect them to continue looking to us to meet their needs? I became the media specialist this year in our district's high school media center. Except for the row of computers down the middle and the disappearance of the wooden card catalog, the room looks just like it did when it was built in 1960. One of the hardest things for me to get past this year has been that while I cannot change the "dungeon's" appearance except in subtle ways, I can change the program it houses. Making it a place where teenagers are always welcome, expanding hours, providing a web page with the links they need for assignments, offering help continuously and without judgment and enthusiastically reading and promoting young adult titles didn't cost additional money and the time spent has made my job bearable. As I have been able to provide what students want, the numbers coming through the door have also increased proportionately. Sounds like the theory of supply and demand from Econ 101, doesn't it?
Sarah Houghton's statement "The basic drive is to get people back into the library by making the library relevant to what they want and need in their daily lives ... to make the library a destination and not an afterthought." (blyberg.net) couldn't be closer to the truth when talking about young adult users. The library as a destination often does not mean a physical location to today's generation of patrons. Does it really matter where the user is as long as they are a user of the information offered? Instead of spending my time "policing" the internet, why not instead use those same tools to get the behavior and results I am seeking? We talk about technology being a tool but yet we are hesitant to let our students use that tool to its fullest potential. To do that, media specialists must have the knowledge, experience and confidence to allow patron-driven programs to become more than just the jargon of our library mission statements.
We've all seen the YouTube posting of Did You Know? by Karl Fisch. As media specialists we have a professional obligation to continue to at least try to stay abreast of the changes and prepare our students for the future. 23 Things on a Stick, the classes offered on WebJunction, webinars, workshops and conferences are a part of that personal obligation for me. So are the journals I receive in the mail, the email links I get to professional newsletters, the blogs I glance at when I have a few moments, and all the other things I do to stay current in my job. I certainly spend more time on professional growth than I did during my first years of teaching. However, I no longer must spend hours on the road during the summer in order to take graduate classes because that is the only available avenue of professional growth. The opportunities to learn are endless. I can pick and choose. Just like my students, I can even sit in front of my computer and learn something new 24/7. Maybe change isn't so bad after all.
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