Whylib

It started, as so many interesting projects do, with a conversation on Twitter...

John Schumacher (@MrSchuReads) started it off by commenting:

 I just had to know more:

and, of course, add my own piece to the story:

plus additional background:

By this time, others had joined in the conversation, including Andy Plemmons (@plemmonsa), Jennifer Reed (@libraryreeder), Heather Moorefield (@actinginthelib), and Sherry Gick (@LibraryFanatic). Andy proposed that librarians Tell Your #whylib Story for School Library Month (April).  Jennifer provided the #whylib hashtag.

So, here goes!

My path to the profession was, unsurprisingly, if you know me, not exactly a straight line. Although I grew up loving reading, books, and libraries, my first choice of a college major was Mathematics. A fascination with Algebra, solving puzzles (and devouring mysteries) did not survive advanced levels of Calculus; halfway through Freshman year, I switched to English. After thoroughly enjoying the syllabus, I graduated with a B.A. and no clear career course. 

I spent two years as a social caseworker in New Rochelle, NY, then reverted to my true love and applied to C.W. Post, for admission to their MLS program. As a graduate assistant, I got to work in the university library and assist professors with research projects. It was a wonderful opportunity to sample the profession, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After graduating, I worked in one public library as a Junior Librarian in the Children's Room, and in another covering the Reference Desk (in pre-Internet days) on holidays and weekends.

More turns in the path: my husband and I moved back upstate (Adirondack area of New York) to manage a campground. Eventually, Tim accepted a position as a graphic artist, and I successively clerked in a bookstore, worked in a child care facility, served as a special education assistant, and put in evening hours at the local community college library. When offered an opportunity to sub as a school librarian, I started the process that eventually led to my certification as a New York State teacher librarian, a position I subsequently filled until my "retirement." All of my prior experience, varied as it was, helped prepare me for the diverse demands of a K-12 school library. Although I'm not in a classroom any longer, I work part-time for CyberSmart Education Company, do some free-lance writing, and enjoy presenting at a variety of professional conferences.

The threads that tie all this together are a love of literature, a pleasure in learning, and the desire to share both of these enthusiasms with others.

#whylib? Why ever NOT!

For the Love of Learning

"First Day of My New Job..." by theunquietlibrarian

Personal friend, and professional inspiration, Buffy Hamilton, recently left her position as a high school teacher librarian to join the staff of the Cleveland Public Library.

Her job title at CPL is "Learning Strategist." Not "School Strategist," or "Library Strategist" but "LEARNING Strategist," an inclusive term embracing a wide range of possibilities.

As a semi-retired, (Medicare) card carrying Senior Citizen, I'm concerned with staying mentally active and professionally involved. While doing the Sudoku and Cryptogram each morning is fun, it's hardly a spur to intellectual growth.  So I'd like to adapt the Learning Strategist concept and apply it to my own life.

I will try to

• make a conscious effort to leave my comfort zone Volunteering to do an Ignite! presentation at the ALA Annual Conference last year was a challenging, somewhat scary, but ultimately very satisfying experience which taught me a lot about presentation zen.

• read, analyze, and apply Taking in information isn't enough; creation of new knowledge is the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy. Lifelong learning should be authentic and relevant.

•  interact with others Social isolation may trigger psychological issues; it can affect any age group, but older citizens are especially vulnerable. Networking, both online and face to face, not only forestalls feelings of isolation, but also serves to deepen understanding through dialog and collaboration.

Buffy and I will be moving in different directions as we explore what it means to be a Learning Strategist. But we will continue to share our experiences and LEARN from each other.

"The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you’re learning you’re not old." -Rosalyn S. Yalow

Unquiet in Cleveland

"Visualization of Buffy Hamilton's Enchantment Talk" by theunquietlibrarian

It is with great pleasure that I congratulate my professional colleague, and personal friend, Buffy Hamilton on her new position as the Cleveland Public's Learning Strategist.

Some might consider this move a career change, leaving a school setting to join the staff of a public library. Yet, if you read the CPL's overview of the position, you will note that the words "learning" and "teaching" figure prominently:

She [Buffy Hamilton] will serve as an internal consultant to management and staff on matters related to CPL’s mission as the “People’s University”, the center of learning for a diverse and inclusive community. Ms. Hamilton will champion the formation of innovative, sustainable, library-supported communities of participatory learning throughout the city with special attention and focus on those that address specific deficits affecting our community. She will also work to coordinate and design a learning and teaching agenda based on the 2012-2014 strategic plan, and work with the new Literacy & Education Coordinator to build an array of effective learning programs at each of CPL’s onsite Learning Centers. As CPL’s liaison to the school systems, she will develop strategies to support curricula through library resources and services.

This is more an expansion of her current practice than a completely new direction. Buffy has been, and will continue to be, a thought leader in the library world. Her move into the public sector is a natural progression, when you consider her interest in participatory librarianship, transliteracy, and maker spaces. She perceives opportunities - to blur the boundaries between the various library genres (school, academic, public, special) - where others see barriers.

Public and school librarians, in particular, frequently serve the same population. I would love to see more collaboration, sharing of staff, and launching of joint programs. Buffy will be uniquely placed to facilitate such services. I look forward to following her progress.

Have fun, my friend!

"Diane Cordell and Buffy Hamilton" by dmcordell

It's Not Nothing

There's been an interesting conversation going on recently regarding "transliteracy."

Medical librarian David Rothman questions whether this concept is any more than a new buzzword for the same type of information literacy with which librarians have always been concerned. Rothman's stance is that "the world changes as technology changes. Education and libraries adapt (well or poorly, but they adapt). There’s nothing new here. There’s no need for a new movement, a new term, or so much discussion about nothing."

I strongly disagree.

The location, evaluation and aggregation of factual information will always be an essential component of the library experience, whether in a K-12, university, specialized or public facility. Providing materials for scholarly and recreational reading, listening, or viewing is a second key service.

But modern life require something beyond accessing and searching resources...and that's where transliteracy skills become necessary. Our students, our citizens must be skillful in collaboration and creation. They are expected to process, reconfigure, transfigure raw materials (be they data or ideas), sometimes while working with virtual colleagues across the world. They don't just find information: they create and disseminate it.

And they must perform these tasks with tools that are rapidly evolving. Information users need to be adept at learning new skills in a constantly changing information landscape, able to identify, investigate and utilize powerful new instrumentality for storing or communicating information.

In “The Librarian Militant, The Librarian Triumphant," Dr. David Lankes says

"What will kill this profession is not ebooks, amazon, or Google. It will be a lack of imagination. An inability to see not what is, but what could be. To see only how we are viewed now, but not how that is only a platform for greatness... It [librarianship] only survives if we, librarians and the communities we serve, take it up, renew, refresh it, and constantly engage in what is next."

There's an army of librarians working to keep librarianship relevant.

Bobbi Newman has given the term translitercy new traction with her Libraries and Transliteracy blog. Buffy Hamilton's Unquiet Librarian blog and innovative SlideShares highlight the elements of both transliteracy and participatory librarianship. Joyce Valenza, Gwyneth Jones, Shannon Miller, Carolyn Foote, Cathy Nelson and others model the rich, multi-layered learning that can take place when transliteracy is regarded as a medium for learning.

Perhaps Mr. Rothman, Information Services Specialist at the Community General Hospital Medical Library, doesn't see evidence of transliteracy in his professional life. But any K-12 teacher/librarian can testify that information literacy is only a part of what their students need to learn. Exemplary student projects demonstrate mastery of the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks.

In a world that demands learners and creators, not just consumers, "transliteracy" makes sense to me.




"Lighting enTrails/Tunnel Trails/Tunnel Vision" by Mr Magoo ICU