#plintern

[plintern]

Week 7

Monday July 23 to Thursday July 26

Kid Zone: Rock On to the Sounds of Nature: I helped set up and take down for the program, and played cello while both sessions were occurring. Kids of elementary school age came and participated in many music-related crafts that made sounds pertaining to different animals or plants. While kids crafted, I played cello in the background, to support the theme that music is ever-occurring in nature.

Workplace Harassment Training: Human Resources sent out a district-wide email to complete a new online harassment training before August. I did it in about 30 minutes. It seemed relatively common-sense to me, but it was helpful to reinforce where lines are drawn in workplace relationships, and what laws and rules exist to support staff.

Music Lab 4 of 4 at the second location: My very last music lab at my favorite location for labs was a little bittersweet. I was incredibly happy to be there, but was sad that I would not be returning for more. I helped the kiddos that came in with their crafts for most of the lab, but I also played around with the percussion equipment with them, and played my cello throughout upon request.

Storytime and Prizes at Camp Sol: My outreach pals and I headed over to a local elementary school for their summer program’s final storytime. The weather was wonderful and everything took place outside. I helped carry our prize books from the book mobile over to the open space, set out the blankets and the prize books, hand out Summer Reading Challenge sheets to students, and helped pack everything back up when we were finished.

Circulation Training: Perhaps my favorite activity of the week. Here, I met with the circulation supervisor at our largest branch. We took an in depth tour of the facility--much more in depth than the initial tour I had with the building manager. She explained to me exactly why and how each section of the library was set up as it was, and then differentiated between the different shelving methods by section. She also showed me areas like the check-in room and staff areas that I had not previously visited. In addition to this tour, we spoke in her office regarding her background in the work she does and so that she could explain some more of the processes of circulation. After this conversation I shadowed one of her assistant circulation supervisors out on a desk, and watched the several interactions she had with customers first hand. It made me excited to understand the backbone of the library--circulation makes the library work at its most basic level. I came to appreciate circ work a lot more after the training.

All-Staff Meeting: At our smallest branch, our executive director hosted an all-staff meeting to discuss the upcoming master plan among other details. He introduced the California-based planning group that will collaborate with the Library Leadership Team throughout the process of master planning, and reinforced the stages that would occur to implement the master plan. He also introduced the Innovation Challenge, where any library staff member can submit ideas that have the possibility of being selected for implementation while being supported by $10,000 for development. Our communications manager reminded staff of several important upcoming dates, a librarian spoke about the upcoming Fort Collins Book Festival, and I myself was briefly introduced by the director. My biggest takeaway from the meeting was that I could submit a proposal for the innovation challenge that supports one of my proposals that was not chosen for my internship project, and thus still complete more of my intended goals.

Music Lab 2 of 2 at the third location: Scheduling conflicts throughout July meant that I could only attend 2 of the 4 music labs at this branch, but this was an excellent way to finish off my final Music Lab ever! In addition to playing my solo repertoire, my friend--also a cellist--joined me, and we played duet music throughout the program that was much more entertaining (in my opinion) than the solo rep I’d been playing earlier. It was overall a wonderful experience, in spite of the fact that the air conditioning wasn’t working in that room and I was essentially melting alive. No matter, for what is sweat during the pursuit of art?

[plintern]

Week 6

Saturday July 14 to Sunday July 22

Hello, everyone.

True to what I mentioned last week, these blog posts are becoming long and tedious. Go through any of my last posts--it is almost overwhelming to see all those blocks of text, all about simple days and weeks. In an effort to zero-in on completing my project and staying focused on the job, I’m going to play around with some simpler blog posts that convey my activities while also making sure that I’m spending more time on completing my projects and helping my library. I will focus on maximizing my experience as an intern while allowing these posts to supplement rather than define my work. I was particularly overwhelmed this week, so rather than a detailed summary of every little aspect of my life, here’s some key events I participated in and what I did, and some things I learned. Perhaps this will provide easier access to my progress as an intern.

Fort Collins Pridefest: I helped our Outreach Librarian by manning our booth in the city Pridefest. We set up in the park with other booths, let visitors win prizes by playing a tossing game, and handed out marketing materials regarding the library, such as our electronic resources, Summer Reading Challenge, and upcoming Fort Collins Comic Con.

Friends of the Library (FOL) Book Sale: Three times a year, the non-profit Friends of the Library host a book sale at one of our locations, and all funds go towards the library. I worked as a cashier for the first time here, and after working bought ten books myself. I participated in this event to see where some of the library’s funds come from and understand the effect of partnerships in library work.

Music Lab 3 of 3 at the first location: Remember that first Music Lab I went on about several posts ago? I had my last one at this particular branch. Again, I played cello for the incoming kids and parents while they went around doing their crafts and exploring music. This one was special as many of the visitors were from Respite Care, a local non-profit that provides services for special-needs youth--a place dear to me as I used to volunteer for Respite Care and once donated funds to the organization.

Meeting with Marketing Manager: I met with the district marketing manager for three reasons: a) to establish my involvement in the Fort Collins Comic Con; b) to discuss the effects and impact of marketing materials for my upcoming project completion; and c) discuss what the marketing team does and what her job is with the library. We established that I would work as a volunteer coordinator and overseer for the Comic Con event and she gave me a brief history of the Comic Con--all proceeds go towards the library, which is absolutely wonderful. She informed me of the importance of targeting key demographics with marketing material and their direct relationship with one another. She also requested that I write a blog for the library blog to understand the importance of online marketing.

Check-In with Mentor: My mentor and I met and decided that I would pursue proposals 2 and 5--the book displays and music library. We discussed what my schedule would look like moving forward, and what I would have to do to make headway for these projects.

Music Lab 3 of 4 at the second location: At another branch, I did another Music Lab with my favorite group of tweens. I played Yahtzee again (and duly beat the middle schooler), played cello upon request for a few incoming visitors, and helped out with crafts, such as making musical bookmarks.

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter! Program Planning: I had a meeting with the Teen Services librarians at the same branch I did my last Music Lab. We met to discuss the Harry Potter event coming up in a few weeks, to assign roles, and communicate about who was covering what. Our theme is Diagon Alley, and I will be the shopkeep of Magical Menagerie, helping the kids make animal crafts of owls, cats, and rats to take with them to Hogwarts.

Animal Afternoon: Wow, I’m spending a lot of time at this here branch. This time around, I helped set up and take down the Animal Afternoon room as well as keep track of the amount of kids and adults who came into the program and sign in the volunteers and their service dogs. Most importantly, I got to see some new dogs in action collaborating with kids.

The above are the activities I completed during this short week (I only worked four days due to some personal conflicts), and I spent the majority of the week planning future meetings and activities as well as scheduling for my project.

[plintern]

Week 4

Monday, July 2 to Friday, July 7

Monday: Here we go again!

Man, is it a Monday. Tough to wake up this morning, but this was the Monday to wake me up--two programs to attend and a lunch with my mentor and her boss. I started off the day at the newest of my library’s branches to perform for children during a Music Lab. Our library’s summer theme is music, and all three branches are hosting Music Labs on the same weekday every week for the rest of July to introduce children 5 and under to music. There are some easy crafts (like coloring pages and bookmarks), a guitar (with only three strings…) and electric piano for the kids to play around on, and laptops to explore types of music. A part of my job this summer is attending nearly every Music Lab in July, and today was my very first one. I’m not quite sure yet what my Labs may look like at other branches, but today I set up shop in the corner of the storytime room where these Labs take place. I played a variety of pieces on my cello that were already in my repertoire--mostly movements from the Bach solo cello suites. I was amazed to see the smiling and wondrous faces of the kids as they heard the music through the doorway and meandered in. It was inspiring. In essence, I provided a backdrop of music to the walk-in climate of the Music Lab, for both parents and their little ones. It was adorable!

Afterwards, I drove across the city back to my office to meet up with my mentor and her boss (the executive director from the branch I visited last Friday--remember him?). It was a wonderful lunch that helped us break the ice further than our conversation on Friday. We talked just about everything, from the World Cup to superheroes to poetry! The taco-filled lunch was splendid.

I returned to my office, stomach full, to get some quick work in before heading to yet another branch for a Kid Zone program. At this program, subtitled “You Can Hear Music On That?” I assisted an Early Literacy librarian with showing young kids (aged 6-8) how music has progressed throughout the years in terms of how it is listened to. From phonographs to Amazon’s Echo, displays were set up around the room for children to look at (and hear) the transformation of music. She introduced the program by showing them some music boxes and explaining how to be careful with each of the devices available. The children were also given half-sheets of blue paper and a music pencil to complete a matching game, where they connected each musical device to the date in which it was invented. Kids mostly exercised self-autonomy as they traveled from game to game. Initially, most were drawn to the Amazon Echo--they loved asking Alexa to play different Kidz Bop songs for them. At some point I attempted to meme it up by saying “this is so sad alexa play despacito,” but I garnered not even a mere chuckle, not even from the 15 year old volunteer that was also with us. Alas, I am left to meme in solitude.

Following Alexa, the kids were very drawn to the Code-A-Pillar, a caterpillar with detachable segments with different tasks that when assembled caused the technological critter to advance in a form dictated by the ‘codes.’ I myself observed the children converse with Alexa and giggle with the insect, but seeing as they were autonomous, I ventured around the room to the sole children who were exploring some older gadgets, to see what, perhaps, they may need. Eventually, I ended up at the station with the record player, and my attention for the next several minutes was completely enraptured with these vinyls. Most of the devices used to share music with these children came from the EL Librarian’s own haul, and she found most of these vinyls at a local thrift store. I popped several into the record player, and particularly found myself drawn to one that featured Victor Herbert, my favorite composer.

After perusing the records, I helped the kiddos build a music box together, make music necklaces and bracelets, take care of snacks, and then clean up at the conclusion of the event, all while playing my cello intermittently. While cleaning, I commented to the librarian how much I enjoyed her records, and to my surprise, she said I could keep all nine of the records in the collection that housed the Herbert. Astounded and grateful, I took home two physical momentos: the set of nine records and a music bracelet I added to my cello case. More than that, though, was what I learned: it takes very little to make a kid’s day.

Tuesday: Driving is my job.

Much like yesterday, where I began work at one branch, traveled to the office, and then to another branch, today consisted of much travel. I began the day at the same branch I did yesterday. Here, I had an intimate Every Child Ready to Read training alongside a new Library Assistant with the same EL Librarian who led the Kid Zone yesterday. I came to the astute observation that I adore this librarian. Her teaching methods are subtle, yet precise, and she kept both I and the assistant engaged throughout the training. The presentation consisted of an explanation of the importance of children reading and the importance of the five practices: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. Here are some of the activities she had us do to try and understand how children think at their pre-reading age. Try them out and let me know how well you do!

Activity 1: Decipher this code:    [   *<:    }><#. Using the following alphabet:

A< B/ C* D# E> F+ G\ H** I[ J= K) L] M~ N: O]] P{ Q++ R} S// T^ U! V[[ W(( X>> Y\\ Z|

This forces us to associate figures with letters, much as children learn to read pictures before they learn to read letters and words. To them, letters are just pictures.

Activity 2: Write your name on a piece of paper with your non-dominant hand (if you’re ambidextrous… no fair).

This activity forces us to use a different part of our brain: rather than writing our name, we are drawing it. This is much like a child who is learning to use a new part of their brain, and is drawing the image of their name.

In addition to these activities, she also had us learn about different puppets and activities she utilizes during storytimes to engage kids by talking (Heggity Peggity Hen). singing (nursery rhymes), reading (Ten Little Fingers & Ten Little Toes), writing (drawing name), and playing. This last one is the one I learned the most about. She taught us that children’s play is their work, as it is them figuring out the world around them. There are three types of play--single, parallel, and group--that happen in stages as children develop and discover themselves. She also provided us with resources to use and give to children. Afterwards I took my time to explore the branch and become comfortable with the spaces. I was already pretty familiar with this branch, as it was the location in which I studied for my SAT and ACT exams, but then again I only stayed in the study sections and fiction shelves in those dark times. So, I revisited the storytime room I played in yesterday, and the rest of the small area. This is our smallest branch, so there wasn’t much to see, but it gave me a better understanding and sense of home to spend some time on my own in the area. When finished, I went off to a personal appointment, and then traveled to another branch across town.

Here, I took part in my second-ever Music Lab. This branch had a much different environment--yesterday’s lab was full of kids coming in and out, playing with excitement, but this branch had a much more laid back environment. Only four kids that weren’t volunteers ever came in the room, and none of them at the same time. Much of the activities that we had were the same, like having bookmarks and coloring pages, but this branch did not have a guitar nor a piano. Instead, there was an out-of-tune ukulele, some percussion instruments, and an interactive floor piano that kids could play with their feet. I played my cello upon request here, and it was wonderful to see when kids were interested in hearing the instrument. One mother in particular adored the cello, and we had a wonderful conversation about Yo-Yo Ma after I played for her. Apart from playing, I put some stickers that were lying about upon my cello case, and I conversed with the kids and volunteers there. These volunteers were some of the friendliest kids I’d met--much more approachable than the volunteers at the branch I visited yesterday. One of the volunteers even drew and colored a cello for me, and his face lit up when I said I was coming back every Tuesday--that is the sort of interaction that keeps me motivated and reminds me how lucky I am to have this job.

Thursday: Office? I’ve never heard of her.

Much like Tuesday, I spent most of today at another branch. I had a branch training at our largest and oldest library, where I met with the site manager, had a tour, and discussed my project proposals. This is the library that I am most unfamiliar with, so I believe I learned more today about the libraries in my community than I have at the other sites. The manager is the newest leadership member of the library, having held her post for about a year. I knew her before coming to this training, however--she is the mom of one of my high school friends. This was both refreshing and comforting for me, as the environment was already jovial and understanding. There was essentially very little ice to break. We started by discussing the history of the branch, where I learned how much remodeling and complications the library has endured since its creation in the early twentieth century. Then we discussed how much had changed since this manager had come on board, specifically with staff turnover and reforming some outdated processes. The mornings at this branch are dedicated more towards early literacy, for the ‘trouble times’ of 12 to 5 exist in the afternoon where librarians must deal with infractions to the library code of conduct. However, these issues are not such a problem now, since the trouble seems to be more seasonal, occurring in the winter. I learned of the four stages of a team--forming, storming, norming, and performing--and how outreach groups in the city interact with the library. She also shared the importance of having more staff-to-patron interaction than posters, and having libraries be evolving and relevant to the demands of the public. We spoke much of the difficulties the library faces, but also remained hopeful towards what she is working on for the future. Then, we took a tour of the building, where she specifically showed me two areas that she is hoping to revamp in the coming years to be more relevant and helpful to the public. During this walk, we spoke much about the microbusinesses of a library, how space is allocated and utilized, and about the upcoming cycle of a master plan where she will work with other library leadership and a consultant to create a vision and goals for the upcoming years. Microbusinesses in a library include tasks such as inventory, and it was eye-opening for me to understand the depth of the services that the library provides, specifically at this branch. After our tour, we returned to her office and discussed my project proposals. Much like my discussion with the manager of the branch that I met with last week, she was incredibly helpful in her feedback. While last week, the manager kept me realistic and helped me understand my parameters, this manager helped me see what my projects could become if I did in fact hit all the roadblocks that lay ahead, so I could be prepared to reform my ideas if need be. I left my meeting with her feeling hopeful and wise.

I rushed back to my office for a quick lunch before returning to the same branch for my last Music Lab of the week. Again, every Music Lab is different, and this one was no exception. Like my Tuesday lab, very few children came into the room; my guess is about 5 or 6 kids total over the length of the program. I was quite excited to be there, though--it was led by the Early Literacy librarian that I raved about earlier, and apparently one of the volunteers knew me and was excited to have me there. Also, my high school friend that I haven’t seen all summer came to visit! It was a wonderful time, where I played cello for the majority of the time for our small audiences. We had a whiteboard with musical notes and staves for the children to learn, an iPad connected to a projector, several percussion instruments (much more than on Tuesday), an out-of-tune guitar, and again several coloring pages and crafts. I tuned the guitar for the parents of some of the kids and briefly interacted with the volunteers, but most of the time I spent sharing my music with those in attendance. The intermittent applause made me so happy--I know these Music Labs will be a consolation and safe, happy place every week.

Friday: Work, work, work, work.

How anybody can expect a man to work on a day of the world cup quarterfinals is beyond me, but alas, I did. While Uruguay lost to France, and Brazil subsequently fell to Belgium, my little Latino heart was crushed--all I could do was check every time I met one of my short-term goals, and then cry a little bit inside. Of course, this all happened during one of the most focused days I’ve had in awhile. I spent the day in my office, and the majority of which I spent editing my proposal drafts. I cross-analyzed the feedback I received from both branch managers I met with as well as my meeting last week with my mentor, and I worked through the holes, weak points, and challenges of each proposal. I did so through going through my extensive notes, annotating my previous drafts, and then changing my drafts to modify my current visions. The meeting where I will present my finished drafts is next Thursday, so I need to have my drafts as revisited and polished as possible for that date. I’m proud of the work I did. I worked efficiently and heavily in preparation to show these re-drafts to my boss during our check-in meeting this afternoon, but alas, she rescheduled last minute to next Monday. This gave me some time to prepare for my Music Labs next week as well as organize myself for other upcoming programs. I also realized I’ll be working next week right after the world cup final--will I be able to survive? Anyways, during my Music Labs this week I mostly played music from my own repertoire--Bach movements, some romantic pieces, etc. I think children will enjoy my playing more if I am playing pieces more relevant to them, so I tried to find pieces they might recognize, like an arrangement of the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings theme songs. I soon realized, however, that the age range of music lab kids (under 5 or 6) means that they probably wouldn’t recognize these tunes. So, instead, I looked for some recognizable classical tunes--like the Can Can or the Waltz from Sleeping Beauty--instead, alongside songs everyone knows, like Wheels on the Bus and the ABCs. I found a large cache of music and I feel prepared to practice it and have a more personal concert series next week.

What Did I Learn?

I learned the most about programming and library history this week through my interactions with staff, kids, and parents. It was busy and immersive, and I also learned about my own limits, and what I can handle as far as loading myself with programs.

Links: 

My city’s library history: https://history.fcgov.com/visit/library-history 

[plintern]

Week 8

Monday July 30th to Friday August 2nd

Check-In with Mentor: We discussed my scheduling involving college in the coming weeks, and spoke of the advancements I am making with my projects. We also established that I would present to the library Board of Trustees in two weeks, and must prepare a presentation for that event.

Meeting with Interlibrary Loan Coordinator: I had an amazing, eye-opening meeting with our interlibrary loan/ prospector coordinator, who gave me very useful information regarding the first proposal I developed for an iii project. She knew so much more than anyone I’d met with prior regarding the system, and she truly made me understand all of the holes and details of my proposal. It saddened me that this is not the project I am pursuing, but we did discuss the potential for future collaboration.

FoCo Creates Leadership Group Meeting: I attended this meeting in the stead of my mentor. This group is meeting to create an arts master plan for the City of Fort Collins, and I attended because one of their intended goals is to create a lending bank of instruments/music for patrons. However, upon attending the meeting (and speaking with the mayor, among others) I discovered that no one wanted to create a group that would service this goal. The lending bank goal was listed under a goal of a new Arts and Music Commission, but the mayor expressed that he did not want the city to create a new board or commission. Thus, I am not sure how well spent my time was here, as there is a distinct potential that the lending bank idea will be let go alongside the commission. However, it did clarify to me that the city has identified a lending bank as a need for the community, and thus given me useful information to support my Music Library project.

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter! Program: I had so much fun during this program. I helped set up the program, run one of the activities, and then take everything down. The Harry Potter theme was Diagon Alley, and each of several activities was modeled after shops that exist in this fictional world. I was the shopkeep of Magical Menagerie. In this activity, I taught kids how to make their very own craft animals to take with them to Hogwarts. We constructed owls and cats out of paper, cardboard, felt, glitter, rubber cement, googly eyes, among others. I loved talking with the kids and helping them with their crafts, and it was especially lovely to see the kids so invigorated and connected by Harry Potter.

Spanish Storytime Meeting with Bilingual Outreach Librarian: I had a meeting with one of my fellow outreach librarians regarding a program I’ll be helping her out with in the coming weeks. Noches en Familia is a Spanish storytime with food, activities, and reading for families, and I will be helping her by playing the cello and talking about music (since our theme is music). We talked about what I would do and the schedule for the program.

[plintern]

Week 5

Sunday, July 8 to Friday, July 13

Sunday: The Beginning of a Full Week

So, this is the first week this summer that I am working all seven days--today I worked a short 90 minutes at the branch closest to my home. I came to help out with a program I am very interested in: Animal Afternoon! Here, I worked with the Larimer Animal and People Partnership that operates in Northern Colorado, bringing their service animals to several locations. In this particular program, children come into our storytime room and read to the animals. Isn’t that adorable? I greeted the handlers of the animals and led them up to our storytime room on the second floor of the building, and after getting them settled I moved tables out of the room to create more space, and helped another librarian collect animal books for the children to read. There was a minor issue when setting up--this branch didn’t know if this program was going to happen, and thus did not set up any of the marketing material the handlers expected when they arrived. They notified me of this disparagement, and I notified the librarian I’d chosen books with. She pulled out a couple of signs and set them up at both the entrance and closer to the storytime room itself, but apparently she asked the library manager where the material was, and thus the manager came to inspect the program. She spoke briefly with a handler at the beginning of the program before asking to see me. I introduced myself and we began to discuss why I was there (as the manager had not met me yet), and then she asked me about the proposals I’d been developing. I, of course, was taken aback. My conversations about my proposals with the other library managers had happened when I’d gone to my branch trainings, and this was the one branch I had yet to schedule a training for. I was expecting to discuss my proposals then, but no matter. I told her about my ideas as we walked about the branch and she reorganized shelf space intermittently. It was interesting--not the formal setting I’d expected, but I suppose it was helpful for me to be in a situation in which I am having to verbally explain my desires. It reminds me of an activity I did with PLA at our iii kickoff in D.C., where we prepared an ‘elevator pitch’ for a ‘human library.’ After a while of talking with the manager, having explained my ideas and heard her feedback, I headed back to the storytime room for Animal Afternoon--this was the program I was expected to be helping with, after all. Kids had been circulating in and out of the room over the course of the past 45 minutes, and for the final fifteen, the circulation slowed down a bit. I conversed with several of the handlers, and it amazed me how much passion they had for their service animals. The dogs were incredibly sweet and well trained, and I earnestly recall a particularly enthusiastic poodle. As the final kids trickled in and then out, the handlers packed up their dogs and blankets and left as they came--with a purpose. I set the room back up as I found it, and away I went, too.

Monday:

Today I finalized my second redrafts for my meeting with my mentor, and we looked over them at our meeting to start preparing them for a final proposals to be presented this Thursday. Afterwards, I headed to my second music lab at yet another branch, where I played my cello for the kiddos and had a few conversations with their intrigued parents. Towards the end of the program I spoke with both the early literacy and teen services librarians that were managing the program, and we discussed the merits of librarianship as well as the different ways a librarian can integrate their passions into their job. The teen services librarian had been a circulation supervisor for a while, and she inspired me to look into doing a circ training and picking up a few shifts in my time as an intern. At the conclusion of the lab I headed back to the office, worked on implementing the edits my mentor and I made on my proposals, and organizing myself for the busy week ahead.

Tuesday:

I finished implementing the edits my mentor and I went over yesterday in our meeting, printed out my final drafts of the proposals, and headed to collections to discuss my ideas with the collections manager and also learn more about what collections does. Collections is housed in a separate facility from the three branches and our administrative center. Walking into the building, I was greeted by a giant tardis and a plastic wolf. These librarians have an interesting sense of humor, huh? After greeting the manager, we walked around collections as she introduced me to the various employees and collected everyone to join her in singing happy birthday to another employee. Everyone met outside her office and I introduced myself as the walked out. The manager asked me only half-jokingly to conduct our singing of happy birthday, due to my musical background. I started our little library choir off and we sang a wonderfully discordant happy birthday. After a brief collections-wide discussion about the merits of the Incredibles 2, the manager and I met in her office and discussed my proposals.The most relevant proposals to her work in collections were proposals 1 and 5, namely my ILL and Music Library ideas, so those were the ones we discussed more in depth. In addition, she described collections to me: that is where they house books when there are increasingly multiple copies of the same text, seasonal texts (like Halloween books for kids) and several materials, such as the packages for audio books and binding material. They used to be housed in the same exact room where my office is now, in Outreach in the administrative center, but they were moved to a larger facility at Midtown. After my meeting with the collections manager I returned to my office. Over lunch, I worked on integrating the suggestions the manager had given me into my final proposals.

My second music lab at another branch was so amazing. Just like last week’s Tuesday music lab, the voluntweens were incredibly connecting and fun to work with. The voluntweens at the Monday and Thursday labs mostly keep to themselves--perhaps they are intimidated by a ‘big’ soon-to-be-college student, or maybe they don’t like music that much. Tuesday’s voluntweens are by far my favorite, as our conversations are fun, organic, and remind me of why I want to work with students in my future. When I walked in for the lab with my cello, a 3 or 4 year old girl ran up to me, pleading to “play my guitar.” I said she could look at it, but not touch the wood. I pulled out my cello and let her pluck a few strings before putting it back safely in my case. This young girl stayed for the whole lab, and she was like a little bullet of energy, flying all over the room, doing every activity possible. We had a mat-style floor keyboard, and she did cartwheels and rolled all over the keys (the best chromatic scales I’d ever heard). She played every instrument we had out before settling on a ukulele as her favorite, and then asked the voluntweens and I to be a part of her band. She did reject one voluntween, poor kid. The rest of us--an ensemble made of me on cello, the girl on the uke, and the rest on tambourine, shakers, and other percussion--began our concert. It was a mess of raucous noise with absolutely no congruent tempo to be found, but it was fun, and I won’t soon forget the smile on the young girl’s face. We played for a while, and I enjoyed exploring some improv on my instrument with Summer’s Band. We ended, and some of the voluntweens began to request that I play some songs for them. From Seven Nation Army to Jurassic Park, I messed around on my cello for them, and promised I’d get some Disney songs under my belt for next week. The young girl had calmed down a bit at this point, and she sat down with the voluntweens for some arts and crafts, making her own guitar. I put away my cello and sat down with them. As they worked on her guitar, a voluntween and I chatted away, and he taught me how to play Yahtzee (I won by over 150 points) as well as some magic tricks. It was a phenomenal time. After a while, the young girl wasn’t the only patron in the program--some other kids came in and also made arts and crafts guitars with us. Throughout the music lab, I had two iPads with me, and I asked kids to fill out a survey regarding the library’s Summer Reading Challenge, per the request of my mentor. I left quite content, and returned to the office to finish editing my proposals.

After a few more hours of work, I finished my project proposals and submitted them to my mentor for review. Over the course of the evening, she added several comments and additions that I needed to include before the proposals could be considered finished.

Wednesday:

A shorter day today because of some other activities I am participating in. I worked exclusively on the edits my mentor left for me the night before. I went through each edit very meticulously, and made sure that each of my proposals appeared just as my mentor preferred. After I finished her edits, I submitted my proposals to communications for grammatical/other edits apart from content.

Thursday:

Today’s the day. Library Leadership Team (LLT)! I came in early to complete the last few edits, as recommended by the communications team, and then viola--I had a finished product. I printed off copies for each member of LLT and sped off to our meeting. At the meeting, each member ‘checked-in’ with the team by stating how their department was doing since their last meeting. This was a very thorough discussion, which left me with very little time for my own presentation of my proposals. I handed out the proposals to each member and briefly summarized each one before agreeing with LLT that I would meet with a few of them privately to discuss the proposals, and that they had until the end of July to vote on which project(s) I would pursue.

Friday:

I’m realizing these blog posts are longer than I’d like them to be. I think next week, my post will have a new format.

[plintern]

Here is a picture of my office space as of this week. My two plants (who are currently unnamed), the framed photo of one of my friends and I, and a drawing made by another friend of mine.

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Here’s some of the activities from our “You Can Hear Music On That?” program. The record player is the one I fell in love with and it is playing a record that the librarian gifted to me after the program.

We also had a cheese cutout station, where kids could use musical cutouts on slices of provolone. Delicious, huh?

[plintern]

One of my coworkers reading at the Wednesday storytime I attended, asking questions to the captivated audience at a local elementary school.

I work in outreach, which means we do our storytimes at locations other than libraries.

[plintern]

Week 3

Monday, June 25 to Friday, June 29

Monday: Figuring All of It Out.

This internship consists of serving my community--as an intern, one of my personal goals is to integrate myself into the library community. It’s already starting to happen in the administrative building where my office is housed, and I love how close I am becoming with my outreach department and how easy it is to talk to some of the higher-ups that used to terrify me. Thus, the next step is getting out there to the branches!

Today I started giving closer attention to the events and activities that the three library branches offer so that I can start really helping out instead of being holed up in my office. This proved to be more difficult than I first anticipated. The calendar of events is quite full with this summer’s theme: music. As a musician, I found myself wanting to attend all of the programs that even had a brief mention of music in them. I still do! It was tedious to figure out how I could attend these programs, but I started the long process. First, I had to look up the calendar of events online and decide which programs I wanted to attend at each of the different branches. In doing so, I compiled a list of these events that included their location, their time frame, a brief summary, and who the contact was. The final point was hard to discern, as each program listed both a contact and a presenter, and I was not sure which individual to contact. After compiling the list of desired activities, I set out to send emails to each of the contacts; I went with emailing the contacts rather than the presenters. Most of my day was occupied with these tasks, but I also set out to accomplish smaller action items, such setting up a form of documentation for the nitty-gritty aspects of my internship (like hours worked, miles driven, etc.), organizing the binder where I keep my physical library documents.

Halfway through the day, in the midst of completing these tasks, I had a meeting with a reporter of my local newspaper. This wasn’t a part of my internship, but I took about an hour in the middle of my work day for this unpaid community meeting. It was a brief but welcome respite from the details of working. She was seeking information regarding education, and as I had spoken on a panel regarding children’s education a few weeks prior, she asked to speak with me. We chatted as I drank an iced yerba mate (a favorite of mine), and soon I returned to work to continue my scheduling tasks.

Towards the end of my workday, I had a check-in meeting with my mentor so that she could see what I was doing and ensure that I was heading in the right direction. I’m really glad we had this meeting, because it clarified some issues I was having and I realized I had to redo some things I had done wrong. For example, I had created a detailed scheduling document where I was going to place all of my activities in a format that I really liked, but my mentor instructed me in my meeting to specifically place all of my events, office hours, and et cetera onto the Outlook calendar system that was the standard of the administrative librarians. Thus, the time I spent creating, formatting, and putting information into my scheduling document was wasted, as I now have to put all of the same information into Outlook. I will complete this task in the coming day, and I will keep the document I made for my own use.

Tuesday: I’m Still Figuring It Out.

Yesterday, after work, my first order of business acquiring items with which to spruce up my office. My wonderful coworkers in outreach have offices filled with joyous artwork and fun plants, and I started thinking that I want an environment I too love to be in. Thus, today I brought in two succulent cacti to live on my little window ledge, a framed picture that one of my closest friends gave to me after our high school graduation, and a piece of artwork that another of my closest friends made for me for the same occasion. It really helped me to take some time at the beginning of work today to start to really settle into the environment I am in, and I am sure that over the course of this summer I will continue to make my cute little office a place I love to be.

After taking some time to settle in, I got to work transferring my scheduled programs into the Outlook calendar system rather than my own. While doing so, I experienced a horror I am well accustomed to: a hailstorm of emails. One of the contacts for several of the programs I’m interested in emailed me referring me to five other librarians to contact instead of her, two other contacts said I could only help with some of their programs, and yet another did not respond (but I received emails regarding her programs from another librarian). It was hell to figure out which programs I will attend for the rest of the summer as these librarians and I exchanged over 20 emails to finally figure out all of my schedule, while also transferring such information to my Outlook calendar. This process happened throughout the day as each librarian worked and also emailed; by the end of the day, I had most of the programs figured out, but not all of them had responded to me, and some aspects were still unclear.

Halfway through the day, I was supposed to have lunch with my mentor and the executive director of one of the branches, but the latter canceled in the morning. We rescheduled the lunch for next week, but my mentor and I decided to go out anyways. As I live across town from the building in which I work, I do not spend much time in the area it was in, so it was good for me to visit a restaurant close to the library. My mentor--perhaps the best mentor in the world--bought me lunch while we chatted and discussed the most important part of the summer: the world cup. Afterwards, we headed back to the office and I continued my scheduling hell.

In addition to working on scheduling programs to attend, I also typed up several of my physical notes from previous meetings, scheduled trainings at two of the branches, and worked on brainstorming for my iii project, for which I have several ideas. Another aspect of my meeting with my mentor yesterday was the established deadline of Thursday for my proposal drafts for this project, so I started narrowing down my ideas. I currently have 10, which over the course of the day I narrowed down to 8. My boss and I only discussed three of these, however, at the kickoff in D.C., so she’ll certainly be surprised to hear my several proposals. I haven’t fleshed any of them out yet, but hopefully, over the next few days, I will come up with some products I would be happy to pursue.

Wednesday: Finally, I’ve (kinda sorta) Figured It Out.

I started today with a short meeting with my mentor discussing some events that occurred the prior day. Afterwards, I joined two of my coworkers in outreach to Camp Sol at a local elementary school, where they gave a large storytime to about 70 students from first to third grade. I accompanied them to both see how storytimes operate within my library and to also photograph the storytime for my coworkers. Photography is a small hobby of mine I pursue in my free time, and my colleagues invited me to do such at their Camp Sol storytime. I loved seeing how engaging they were with the kids--their amicable spirits were even more enhanced around storytime. We set out a few blankets in the school’s cafeteria for the kids to sit on--we originally planned to be outside, but the scorching heat was too much--and set out books in front of them that they could see while my colleagues read. They read This book just ate my dog! and I Am A Story, alongside a dramatic reenactment of The Very Hungry Caterpillar with a puppet that ate little felt cutouts from the story. Some kids were very engaged while others talked amongst themselves, but overall the children in attendance seemed to really enjoy the storytime.

After returning to the office, I set out to finalize the schedule I’ve been dealing with for the past few days and truly organize myself for the weeks and months to come. I finally got the flow of emails to ebb and stop as I constructed a concrete schedule for the summer, and I continued my proposal work to present to my boss (hopefully tomorrow). Towards the end of the day, I sent her an email with the notes from meetings I’d been typing up, also regarding some questions I had, since I noticed we hadn’t actually scheduled a time for me to present my drafts to her tomorrow.

Thursday: Time for Myself.

Today, I got to the office to complete darkness--no one (in my department) was here. I had a mini-heart attack. I thought that perhaps I’d missed a memo and I wasn’t supposed to come in! That thought only existed for a moment as I realized other administrators were still here and it’s probably just a departmental thing. I turned on the lights and got to work on perfecting my proposals, writing and editing documents, amongst other tasks. Today was the first day in a while where I felt happy and motivated, and having the office space to myself gave me the liberty to feel more at home. I played music as I worked--a commodity I do not usually afford myself--and enjoyed the progress I was making. After about an hour or so, one of my coworkers came in from a storytime she had given, and then, there were two.

Since only one coworker and I were in the office, we spent some time discussing potential ideas for the future. It was so helpful for me to run my proposal ideas by her, since she knows much more about how the library operates and some of the roadblocks I might encounter. For example, one of my ideas is creating a high-school liaison position to better serve the high schools, and she told me that that position already exists (to an extent). Her guidance in helping me better understand how my ideas might play out when I present them to my mentor was wonderful, as I know I can be more prepared to introduce them.

At this point, I hadn’t seen my mentor all day, and I wasn’t sure when I was going to see her. Lo and behold, however, while I was eating my lunch and finalizing my proposals, she showed up and we verified when we were going to meet. I wrapped up my proposals and showed her the 5 I decided to develop most. There were a few she decided were a little more difficult than others, and we spent lots of time fixing my wordiness and ensuring I was being as effective as possible in presenting my information. As I’m sure you can tell, I like to drone on and on--a lot. After the meeting, I worked on a few logistical aspects of the job and started editing my proposals.

Friday: A New Experience.

I spent the day at one of my library’s branches. It was a welcome respite from the day-to-day of the administrative building, and by learning the history and importance of that particular branch, I expanded my knowledge of the library district I operate within. This was the branch of my childhood--I spent my weeknights there checking out books (I practically read the entire transitory fiction section), I volunteered there over summers, I even went there to study in high school. Living down the street had its wonderful perks, and it was both nostalgic and exciting to return and experience the building from a fresh perspective.

For a little over an hour, I had a conversation with the Executive Director of the branch, where we discussed the history and unique qualities of the branch. This particular building is on the same campus as the city’s community college, which makes it different from the independent structures of the other two branches. The community college’s old library was about the size of your average family’s living room: miniscule at best. Both the library district and the community college reap benefits from their intergovernmental agreement (IGA) as partners. The library district pays for staff that serve both community members and the college students, while the college pays for and maintains the building. This leads to immense financial savings for both parties. However, decision-making is not as fast and independent as it could be with other branches. The other two branches could decide to convert an entire floor into, say, a makers-space, and then implement it immediately--no questions asked. With this branch, though, both the library and college officials must meet to discuss anything that may affect the library. Even so, their partnership is very genuine and fruitful, especially after the library district became independent from the city government. For the director of the branch, this branch runs smoother than the others, as the college is very responsive, so the library has less worries.

After we discussed the history and pros & cons of the branch, the director asked me to share my proposal ideas with him. I was admittedly a little taken aback; I was planning to refine the ideas since my last meeting with my mentor, and prepare to present them at our leadership meeting in a little under two weeks. Even so, I had the physical annotated copies with me, so I decided to show them to him anyways. His help was immense, much like my mentor’s. He gave me a rough scope for a timeline for each of the proposals, and helped me see what would be more realistic within the time frame of the summer. He said he was impressed, and that motivated me to ensure that my re-worked proposals are excellent.

After our meeting, he gave me a quick tour of the branch. I didn’t need much, as I am fairly familiar with the building, so we focused on meeting the librarians in the branch. I met more in-depth with a business librarian who also operates scheduling, a teen services librarian, and an early childhood librarian. These conversations were organic, helpful, and wonderful! I managed to learn the background of each of these librarians, understand the work that they do, and garner an appreciation for the often-overlooked aspects of library life. So many behind the scenes work is so valuable to the success of the library. The day was successful, and I left the branch feeling hopeful, wiser, and excited for the rest of the summer.

What Did I Learn?

Flexibility is key. I touched on this last week, but I truly believe that I am learning its importance more and more the longer I work here. Things aren’t always going to go as planned, and that’s okay as long as I can adapt and stay on track. I’m so used to beating myself up about things not going perfectly that its about time I let myself really take flexibility into my life and let myself be guided. It will all be okay! (:

I also learned I’ll need to have patience with the kiddos I work with in the coming weeks and months. The storytime I attended on Wednesday showed me that each group of kids will be different, and I must keep a level head this summer as I work with them.

Links: 

Project Proposal Drafts (pre-meeting): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RNcUP6d0AARNPcNep3iiIhkVJFHeKJ8YZoIngnazsKw/edit?usp=sharing

[plintern]

Week 2

Wednesday, June 20 to Friday, June 22

Wednesday: Meetings, meetings, and meetings! I accompanied my mentor on excursions in the city to attend several meetings. The two that we attended were long and heated, but important to the development of the city and the library. In the morning, the Community Equity Consortium met at the Vice President for Diversity on the campus of Colorado State University. The meeting consisted of two primary discussion points: 1) the advancement and integration of the CEC in the Northern Colorado community, and 2) the necessary actions to improve the NoCo community, per their mission. The first point included a nomination for a new co-lead for the group as well as a discussion regarding how the group will execute their summer meet-up to educate community members regarding their work. In addition, the CEC discussed how they would reform their equity map to organize their members positions and points of impact in the city. A guest speaker from a neighbouring city came to speak to the group regarding his desire to have a higher presence of people of color (POC) in city boards and commissions. His talk came from a place of love and passion--he truly desires to see the Northern Colorado community bettered through the lens of POC. Yet, he did not address the systemic factors that may impact the rate at which these individuals are accepted for these positions. Some members of the CEC voiced this regard in different ways; one member of color had applied many times and been rejected each time, and another had served on a commission yet felt unsupported and unvalued by other members. While the perspective of POC on boards and commissions is important, perhaps the systemic factors must be addressed first to allow a pathway for such representation to be safe, visible, and valued.

The second point was addressed through a conversation on incarcerated youth and families being torn apart at the southern border. Information was presented regarding how incarcerated youth of color, particularly Latinx youth, are disproportionately affected by the system. Not only are they incarcerated at a higher rate than their white counterparts (as evidenced by a particular story regarding a Latino and white boy who committed the same crime at the same time in the same way, yet the white boy received a warning while the Latino boy was incarcerated) but the system creates a sense of fear when these youth do not see themselves represented in the administrative population that governs themselves and when their Spanish-speaking families are not accurately supported during proceedings and legal matters. The discussion of the second point also included activism for the issues at the border, where members discussed the possibility of making a city-wide statement denouncing the horrific acts. This did, however, occur before the President made an executive order to halt the continuation of such acts.

After the CEC meeting, I returned to my office and began work relating to my project and the activities I will complete throughout the summer. This respite was short-lived as I soon accompanied my mentor to her meeting with the United Way. This meeting focused more on the fiscal aspects of supporting the library system. The United Way provides funding for non-profits that support educational goals, and these non-profits are joined in groups to advance specific educational goals. The meeting consisted of the specific group my mentor was representing attempting to understand the reformed process for the allocation of funds from the United Way. I found the talk to be confusing and heated to my mortal mind, who is unnaccustomed to financial dealings, but my mentor assured me that the group is focused towards their educational goals more than their financial ones. That meeting concluded my day of work.

Thursday: Only one meeting today! I started off my day at the office and set myself up for the day, including the tasks I wished to complete, such as the presentation regarding my initial travel to DC, as requested by my superiors. After about an hour, I headed over to a hospital in town for a Health Literacy training alongside one of my coworkers. At this meeting, two presenters from the UC Health system advocated for an understanding that patients often are unable to comprehend the information given to them by doctors and nurses. My colleague and I attending this training to see if the information aimed at the health system could be applicable in a library setting. What was most interesting to me was the disparagement between those who were giving the training and those in the health system. To the two women presenting the information, it was very clear to that the issues that patients were having came from systemic roots. As hospitals refuse to simplify jargon or ensure that health officials are verifying that their patients understand information given to them, they are the ones that are harming the patients. However, those who are ‘higher up’ in the health-chain prefer to simply use their own elevated language because they understand it. They prefer to have the system be easier for them rather than their patients, and do not understand the importance of shifting that narrative. After the training, I returned to my office and worked on the presentation I will give the following day.

Friday: Another day, another meeting! Again, I started in the office finalizing the finer points of my presentation, and checking in with my mentor. After a few hours I headed to another room in the same building for a meeting with my department, or ‘team.’ At this team meeting, I presented the information I learned in Washington D.C. with my mentor to my team and to a director of one of the library’s branches. Following this presentation, my colleague and I presented the information we acquired at the Health Literacy training to the rest of the team. Afterwards, my mentor trained the team on updates regarding the library’s policy towards program development, introduced through an activity of pairing systemic definitions of their terms to understand the difference between programs, events, services, and partners. While much of this information was useful to permanent staff, such as the other members of my team, and was not aimed at an intern such as myself, I did find it valuable to have the resources for developing a program, so that I may include such information in the development of my summer project. After the team meeting, I began work on scheduling and project planning for the rest of the summer, which occupied my time until my day was over.

What Did I Learn? These first three days of post-kickoff work have been eye-opening in regards to the complications inherent to the systems the library interacts with. The United Way meeting as well as learning the processes of the administrative side of the library showed me how many things occur behind the scenes for a library to be successful. My team meeting brought me closer to my department (I did bring them chocolate…) and the CEC and Health Literacy meetings demonstrated the need of catering to our communities. All of these meetings were proof that high-level jobs--like my mentor’s--necessitate many, many, many meetings. Overall, I learned to be flexible with the information I will learn this summer and to take individual things I learn in specified settings to later apply in my own life.

Links:

CEC Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CckMIuSHwq9bFgFoqjCC-gRFo72wYYsk6-L_dOQVv2Y/edit?usp=sharing

UW Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ArGeVyrdbpAHYZPvATYAzkONRiQOV0rxNpWS-8fIG58/edit?usp=sharing

HL Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ywzmCV9NAzfy9WU1pgH1R3E-aMlH8Wmbi09kedZqfMY/edit?usp=sharing

HL Videos: (watch them, they’re fun!)

This Is Bad Enough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3tJ-MXqPmk

Health and the City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_711192&feature=iv&src_vid=ux6c3wYzRJM&v=iFCbIxW4db0

What the Heck is Teach Back?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cllXBnHBiD4

AMA Health Literacy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubPkdpGHWAQ