Professional Associations

There are two professional associations that I think would be especially useful for me to join as a librarian.  I have been a member of one of the associations before, but had to let my membership go because I could no longer afford it.  These two groups are the Michigan Library Association (MLA) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) which is a subdivision of the American Library Association (ALA).

The Michigan Library Association is a group for Michigan Librarians (although I am not sure it is limited only to Michigan librarians).  Their mission is "Helping Libraries and Library Professionals Succeed." (MLA, n.d.).  According to the MLA website (n.d.) there are both organizational and individual benefits.  As an individual, if I rejoined this organization, my benefits would be:

1. Statewide Support for Libraries and Library Professionals
2. Professional Development
3. Statewide Networking and Collaboration
4. Current Information and Library Trends
5. Member Discounts
6. Leadership and Career Developments

To join MLA there is a form online that can be filled out.  There are different levels of dues depending on the person who is joining.  There are different fees for someone who is affiliated, unaffiliated, a trustee, a retiree, and a student.

The MLA publishes a quarterly newsletter, online forums, and books & directories.  They also hold many conferences throughout the year.  Two of the largest conferences that the MLA holds during the year is the Annual Conference and Spring Institute.  Spring Institute focuses on librarianship for teens and young adults. They also offer scholarships for those who are unable to afford to attend conferences.

A second professional organization that I'd like to join is YALSA.  YALSA's mission is "The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand and strengthen library services for teens, aged 12-18. Through its member-driven advocacy, research, and professional development initiatives, YALSA builds the capacity of libraries and librarians to engage, serve and empower teens."

One of the biggest benefits of being a registered member of YALSA is that they offer grants and awards.  According to the YALSA site they offer at least $100,000 in awards and grants.  Some of these include conference grants, the BWI Collection Development grant, and membership recognition awards.  They also  hold many conferences and events.  They sponsor Teen Read Week and Teen Tech Week every year, and produce multiple book lists including the Best Fiction for Young Adults, Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, Non-Fiction for Young Adults, and Popular Paperback lists.  YALSA has a large amount of resource links on their page.  I've been a member of the YALSA mailing list for years, and used their page for book ordering, and I've not even gone through all the resources they have available.

YALSA has an active mailing list, a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/yalsa), and a twitter feed (@yalsa).

From there webpage here is information on becoming a member (including fees):

• $125 for regular members (first year; $65 for ALA/$60 for YALSA)
• $158 for regular members (second year; $98 for ALA/$60 for YALSA)
• $190 for regular members (third and later years; $130 for ALA/$60 for YALSA)
• $58 for student members ($33 for ALA/$25 for YALSA)
• $71 for nonsalaried members (unemployed, nonsalaried, or library support staff; $46 for ALA/$25 for YALSA)
• $71 for retired members ($46 for ALA/$25 for YALSA)
• $138 for international members ($78 for ALA/$60 for YALSA)
• $84 for associate and advocate members ($59 for ALA/$25 for YALSA; appropriate for individuals who do not work in the library field but are interested in participating in the work of YALSA, such as authors, booksellers, parents, teachers, etc.)
• $84 for Trustees ($59 for ALA/$25 for YALSA; appropriate for non-librarian members of governing boards, advisory groups, Friends organizations, and special citizen caucuses)
• Organizational membership varies depending on institution size ($175-$2,000 for ALA/$70 for YALSA)
• Corporate membership begins at $570. See other corporate opportunities with YALSA.

Now that I've really looked into it, I think I will see about becoming a member of YALSA this year or next.  I've been a part of the mailing list for a long time, and I've used the list as a resource often, but I've never actually thought that I could join YALSA until I was at least working towards my MLIS.

Sources:

American Library Association. (2012). YALSA. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/yalsa/ Sept. 28, 2012.

Michigan Library Association. (n.d.) Welcome to the Michigan Library Association. Retrieved from

http://www.mla.lib.mi.us/ Sept. 28, 2012.

Banned Books Week

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Most teenagers have to read To Kill a Mockingbird while they are in high school.  This past summer I reread the book as part of a summer of classics challenge I gave to myself.  The novel is told from the point of view of Scout, the young daughter of lawyer Atticus Finch.  Scout's real name is Jean Louise Finch and she shares her story with her brother Jem (Jeremy), and their neighbor Dill.  The novel takes place over three years, in which Scout starts school, she and Jem befriend Dill and start to investigate the neighborhood shut-in Arthur "Boo" Radley, and Scout learns about racism and true heroism.

One of the major events that happens during To Kill a Mockingbird was the trial of Tom Robinson.  Atticus defends Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of accused of raping a white woman in town.  The case is one that Atticus knows he will not win, because in the 1930's there was no way that a black man's word was going to stand up against a white woman's claim of rape.  Atticus still defends Tom to the best of his abilities, but he still loses.  During the trial and after though, Scout learns about race, and about treating people fairly no matter who they are.  One part of the book that really stood with me was Jem and Scout reading to a curmudeony neighbor as punishment for ruining her flowers.  They read to her every afternoon until she dies, not knowing that the whole time they were helping her ween herself off of a drug addiction.

According to the ALA this book has been banned for many different reasons.  Here's a link to the page describing the many reasons this book has been banned: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned

Included in the reasons are:

• Use of the language "damn" and "whore lady"
• being institutionalized racism in the guise of literature
• inclusion of racial slurs and the word nigger
• promotion of white supremacy
• that it would make black children uncomfortable
• and more

I honestly can't understand why anyone would try to ban this book, especially for any of the reasons above.  The book teaches tolerance, and to accept people who are different.  Atticus taught his children that people need to be treated well, and that they should be valued based on who they are, and how they act, not on the color of their skin or their position in the community.

And in honor of banned books week here's a picture of our Banned Books display:

Personal Goals

Some of my personal goals that I want to achieve with my MLIS are to further my understanding of my job, become more qualified for my job, become an accredited librarian and eligible for awards, to specialize more in my area of interest; working with young adults, and to earn a higher level degree.

Right now I work as the Head of Teen Services at the Benton Harbor Public Library (BHPL).  My boss is a woman who holds an MLIS and is in charge of the entire Junior Department.  Each library must have a certain number of degree holding librarians based on the number in the population the library serves.  From what I know, the BHPL has to have at least 2.5 librarians, and right now we have 3.  If I don't obtain my MLIS, when my boss retires, they will most likely hire someone who will become my new boss.  I don't want that to happen, and instead, I want to take over the entire Junior Department in a few years time.

I also want to understand my job better.  Most of what I know now is self taught.  I understand classification pretty well, and I "think like a librarian", but I want to have a deeper understanding of the history of my job, and an idea for what it will be like in the future.

Another thing I'd like to do as an MLIS holding librarian, is to be eligible for different awards.  YALSA, the MLA, and the ALA all give out awards to librarians for outstanding service.  I can not win any of these awards without holding my MLIS.  It's one of my dreams to be able to win an award for my job, because I am very proud of the work that I do and I'd love for it to be recognized.

Throughout my studies I'd like to focus on work with Young Adults.  Wayne State offers a certificate program for working with youth and once I get my MLIS I'd like to complete that certificate program as well.  I am also considering studiying more about urban libraries as well, because Benton Harbor may not be large, but it is a very urban population.

My last goal in obtaining my MLIS would be to have a higher level degree.  I love learning, and I grew up being a good student.  I'll be very proud to have been able to not just obtain a Bachelor's Degree, but also an even higher level degree.  Depending on the amount of work involved, and what my life is like, I am also considering getting a Phd later on, and I also would like to get a second Bachelor's Degree later in life, this time from the University of Michigan which was my dream school as a child.

Sources:
American Library Association. (2012). YALSA. http://www.ala.org/yalsa. retrieved Sept. 17, 2012.
American Library Association. (2012). ALA. http://www.ala.org. retrieved Sept. 17, 2012
Michigan Library Association. (2012). MLA. http://mla.lib.mi.us. retrieved Sept. 17, 2012

You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?

Title curtousey of The Talking Heads.

Even though I am in library school, I am already working as a librarian.  The story of how I got to this position is kind of interesting.

I originally started school with plans to become a mechanical engineer like my father.  I am a geek in all ways, and I love math and science.  I didn't do well with college though, and ended up leaving my first college after 1 semester.  I transferred from a school called Aquinas, and moved to University of Illinois at Chicago where I studied and lived with a high school friend.  That didn't work much better, and at 19-20 I left college, ran off to Canada, and got married.

I tried going back to college a few times, unsuccessfully.  I changed majors about 5 times from engineering, to business, to interior design, back to business, then to general studies. And while I was in my early 20's, and living in Canada, I had no opportunity to get a job (since I was on a student visa I could only work on campus).  So, to pass my time I decided to visit the library.  One thing lead to another, I honestly can't remember how this happened, but I ended up volunteering at the library.  I was so happy shelving books, and it just made sense to me.  It felt like home.  I did so well with my volunteering that they let me start running some small craft programs in the Children's Department.  At that point I realized what I wanted to do with my life.

Once my (now) ex-husband and I moved back to the US I started looking for a job at a library.  I applied at one local library and was told they weren't interested in helping me find out if I wanted to be a librarian.  One library wasn't even willing to take me as a volunteer.  And actually, I was turned down for the first job I applied for at the library where I am currently employed.  I originally applied to work in the Adult Department, but they hired someone else.  The head librarian liked me though, and figured I would work well in an opening that they had in the Junior Department, so she sent my application up to my boss.

I didn't know this until this year, but my boss had already picked someone else to hire, but she figured she'd let me interview anyways.  Once I came in though, she said that I made her change her mind about the other woman who'd applied, and I got the job!

I honestly love what I do.  This job has inspired me to go back to school.  I had to get my bachelor's degree before I could work towards my MLIS.  So, that's what I've worked on for the past four years.  And now, here I am, working for my MLIS.

Here are the teens during a pajama program at the library

From the 2011 Benton Harbor High School graduation 

Two of the teens pose with me during Halloween last year

A picture taken during my joint graduation party with Divineer

I don't just work with teens, sometimes I get to work with the younger children as well.

Introduction

My name is Katie Werner, or as they call me at the library "Ms. Kat".  I am the Head of Teen Services at the Benton Harbor Public Library in Benton Harbor, MI.  Some of my job tasks include: ordering and processing books and DVDs for the collection, planning and running teen programs, watching the circulation desk, helping teens and children on the computers, and more.

I joke that I was meant to be a librarian because when I was younger I organized my baseball card collection by American and National League, then in alphabetical order by team within each league, then alphabetical by player within each team.  As a teenager I sorted my CDs into three genres (classic rock, soundtracks, and current music), then alphabetical by artist within genre.  If I had more than one album by an artist I put them in order by release date.  I've continued to organize collections as an adult including my comic books, and recently our DVD and video game collections at home.

As a librarian I hold many beliefs about my profession.  I believe that each patron has the chance to become a life-long library lover, he or she just needs the right catalyst.  By offering an assortment of media that covers multiple topics any person can find something he or she is interested in at the library.  Once that person starts coming to the library regularly, he or she may be willing to try new items that he or she would not have been willing to look at before.  One year I had a teen boy who refused to read anything except a few select manga series.  I kept suggesting novels to him, but he'd always turn me down.  Finally, I gave him a copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  That teen loved the book so much he read it twice, and then was willing to try new and different books.

I also believe that the heart of librarianship (at least public librarianship) lies with the librarian who loves working with the public.  No matter how strong of a collection is held within the library, no patrons are going to access it if they have to go through a grouchy, snobby, or other-wise unpleasant librarian.  If a librarian loves what he or she does it will show.  We get patrons that come to our library from other cities just because our librarians are so nice and knowledgeable about our collection.  Being a librarian takes commitment.  It's one thing to read reviews of books in journals, but it's a different level of familiarity to have read the book itself.  When working in a public library a librarian must spend a good amount of his or her own time reading books  If a librarian doesn't love his or her job, then he or she will not excel.

Last, I believe librarians and libraries must be flexible.  A library is a place for learning.  The idea of learning is constantly evolving.  There is a lot of learning that can come from books, but we should not limit ourselves to thinking that reading is the only way that someone can learn.  As a place of learning and as facilitators of knowledge we need to realize that someone may learn through audio book, or using the computer, or even taking a class at the library.  Librarians need to be flexible with how we see learning, and in what forms we insist knowledge be dispensed.