I’ve had some amazing experiences the past few weeks with professionals working in the field.
I was selected to be a student shadow at the local SLA chapters workshop, “A Librarian’s Toolbox: Reopened,” which shared tools that librarians should be aware of to better serve members and accomplish their jobs. There were a number of programs that exist that I wasn’t aware of or hadn’t thought of as a professional tool for librarians. Take Pinterest for example, an MSLIS student at SU, Sarah Bratt, presented on how to use Pinterest to market your library. Typically, people assume that Pinterest is for crafters, cooks, and fans. Using the site, Sarah created a pathfinder (subject guide) on Syracuse history for a class.
Last night, our class visited the Restoration and Preservation departments of SU’s Bird Library. We were able to handle rare books and the tools used to repair them. We also watched demonstrations from students including how to fix a binding. We also helped reattach pages in books that had come out. It was an amazing experience to see how to fix some basic problems with books that I may encounter in my career and in my own shelves.
brownlibrarian 