Falls End...

I’m baaaack!!! I haven’t blogged in quite awhile, so it feels better than ever to be back! This school semester was everything that I’d imagined it would be. There were times where I had so much work to complete. Times I sacrificed sleep. Times I stayed on campus for hours completing homework. Times I wanted to give up…Needless to say, I am very grateful for having successfully completed my fall courses.

Honestly, a lot has happened from September until now and a few things caught me by total surprise. I think the most shocking news came from learning that two of the African American librarians at the UGL were retiring. News of their retirement deeply saddened me because they were integral in my success as a Graduate Student Assistant. Plus, there aren’t too many Black Librarians roaming this campus, so having two leave at the same time was unfortunate to hear. Being able to identify with other librarians who shared my skin tone and perhaps could relate to my experiences in the library program was comforting. Still, I do wish Dee Callaway and Debbie Tucker the very best that life has to offer…they will surely be missed.

Since my fall courses required my attention in so many areas, I’ve decided to list this semester’s five most memorable moments.

Memorable Moment 1:
Back in September, I had to give a book talk on “A long way gone: Memoirs of a boy soldier,” by Ishmael Beah. The purpose of book talking is to present a book in such a way that people will walk away wanting to read it. I think mostly Teachers and/or School Library Media Specialists use book talks to especially appeal to young readers. What I decided to do for my book talk was rap to Naughty by Nature’s OPP; this was one of Beah’s favorite songs growing up. I can’t describe the exuberance felt while rapping to my Young Adult Literature class! That experience alone has to be one of the best moments in my graduate education.

Memorable Moment 2:
September was also the month that my Urban Libraries Seminar course met at the Arts League of Michigan’s Virgil H. Carr Cultural Arts Center. The Carr Center is located in Paradise Valley, which is in the Detroit, MI area. I didn’t expect to be left speechless by the building’s beautiful interior design or its overall ambience. As we toured the building, I was crying by the time we made it up to the theater. Despite the construction it desperately needed, I was mesmerized by the theater’s grandeur. The nostalgia throughout the building radiates this indescribable energy that played an essential part in my crying. Before it was the Carr Center, the building was known as the Harmonie Club. The Harmonie Club was constructed in 1895 and was a musical society for German immigrants. During that time, it was also known to offer fine dining, a tavern, card rooms, a bowling alley, lounges, and of course, musical events. (http://www.artsleague.com/carr_center.htm)

Memorable Moment 3:
In my seminar’s course, I was partnered with two other students at the Carr Center to complete a research assignment. The focus of my research centered on Detroit’s theater contributions by African Americans. Back when I was in Undergrad, I remember going to see a play at the Detroit Repertory Theater with a friend. The actors were amazing, but one definitely stood out to me, and his name was Council Cargle. It turns out that Mr. Cargle has been involved in the Detroit theater scene for years and is a highly respected veteran actor within the community. This assignment allowed me the opportunity to work with Mr. Cargle and he was an extremely humble and kind man. He even did some narration work for a video that I created, as part of my research assignment. I was beyond honored to finally make his acquaintance because I had heard such great things about him and really respected his work. I treasured the experience of meeting Mr. Cargle and deeply believe that from this experience a friendship blossomed.

Memorable Moment 4:
Presentation Day, Wednesday December 2, 2010! Presenting my research to my seminar’s class, and Mr. Ragsdale, the president of the Carr Center, was wonderful. There was a sense of pride and exhilaration in having the opportunity to share insightful information about the ten people I researched. As I spoke about each of them, I tried to convey the importance of their lives and the meaningful contributions they made to theaters primarily in Detroit or perhaps around the world. On that night, I stood as a proud person of color recalling the stories and contributions of accomplished African Americans. They did…so I can…meaning there’s no excuse why I cannot be as equally determined and unstoppable in achieving my dreams.

Memorable Moment 5:
After the realization that my courses were complete, an excitement rose within me because I am going into my final semester at WSU. In May of 2011, I will be a proud graduate of the School of Library & Information Science. I am five months away from completing my coursework and walking across the stage! Where did the time go?

Final Thoughts:
I’d like to add that this will be my last blog for this year. It is hoped that once the New Year rolls around, I can once again dedicate time to writing a blog every week. It will be a year in January that I started working at the UGL, and a year that I began blogging. I look forward to what 2011 will bring, but currently I’m simply looking forward to my holiday break! Until next year…

-JSM

Stacks Adventure

Long time no write! It has been a busy few weeks for me, so much so that I have abandoned writing my weekly blog. My last blog briefly discussed my adventures in the stacks at U of D-Mercy’s library. I needed a book from their library to use for my philanthropy discussion. Initially, when I called to make certain they had the book I was informed that they don’t pull books for patrons. There, patrons are responsible for pulling books themselves which differs from WSU’s library policies and/or rules. Never did I imagine having to work so hard to obtain this book!

First, I arrive at U of D and realize that I’m a tad bit confused about gaining access onto their campus. Luckily, someone who worked at the University was kind enough to “let me in.” Once inside, I was impressed by the overall feel and presence of the college campus. Despite being located in Detroit, U of D successfully manages to separate itself from the urban community to ensure a safe and academic-spirited environment.

Next, it was easier to find their library than it was to get inside the University’s campus! The reference librarian told me I could find the book I needed in the basement. To my surprise, the University of Detroit-Mercy has crank shelving which enables stacks to be rolled open or closed and is ideal for small spaces. I’ve seen at least one library’s use of crank shelving and I was very impressed at its usefulness. However, I have never used crank shelving and found it to be very intimidating in this already unfamiliar library.

Unfortunately, my ignorance in properly using the crank may have lead to it bending. I kept turning and turning it so much that one of the pieces was bent and would not move. Eventually, once I tired of my failed attempts to open the shelves, common sense kicked in and told me to go ask for help! The circ student assistant, politely, came down to help me in obtaining my book. It should be mentioned that as she and I were walking back towards the stacks, I passed a pretty important sign. The sign was indicating how to use the crank shelving, and I completely bypassed it on my first trip down to the basement.

In about five minutes, she too couldn’t open the stacks and realized that one of the pieces was bent. She went upstairs to alert someone of the problem and I stood downstairs pondering what would happen next. Uncertain about whether or not she was going to return with someone who could get me the book, I took matters into my own hands! I began moving books around to determine if my book would be at the bottom or at the top of the shelves.

My hard work paid off because not only did I get the book I needed, but I got it before the student and her supervisor made it back to assist me. They were both amazed, especially her supervisor that I was able to obtain the book! Further self praise was needed as I quickly stated; “yes I just used my cell phone as a flashlight and was able to locate where the book would be on the shelves!” Ironically, what I failed to mention was that I probably broke their crank, how I uncaringly stood on their shelves, and re-arranged their books to get what I needed!

All in all, I’d say it was worth it! My philanthropy discussion went very well and that book was one of my main resources. Perhaps, the University of Detroit-Mercy should re-consider going to pull books for their patrons…This is no excuse for my alleged destruction of their property, only an observation…

Oh Bloggie...

In the words of Langston Hughes' Mother to Son, “life for me ain’t been no crystal stair!” The last couple of weeks have been so chaotic. These last two weeks have found me overwhelmed by work, school, and life! I had a great blog entry in mind that was going to give a detailed account of my stack experience at U of D Mercy. I had to borrow a book for them for my Urban Library Seminars course, and it ended up being quite the adventure. Although, I would really like to share my experience, I don’t have the time this week to properly write it. Hate to admit this, but I really need to dedicate time to my various school assignments as the deadlines are QUICKLY approaching! Not to worry though, I’ll be back to my usual detailed writing before you know it ;)

Class Highlight...

This week, for my Young Adult Literature class, some of us presented book talks. Book talks are presentations that briefly cover a book without giving away the ending. I have to do book talks for this class as well as my Children’s Literature class and I love them! What I most enjoy, is the variety of the types of book talks that I am required to do for both. My Children’s Lit class is online, so the professor has required us to create book talks using Power Point. However, my Young Adult Lit class meets every Tuesday, and I have many more options as to how I am allowed to present my book talks.

Did I mention that having a Theatre degree rocks?! Okay, well having a Theatre degree rocks, and here’s why, I get to use my performance skills to creatively appeal to audiences. It should come as no surprise that for my book talk, I choose to rap and perform a skit that I wrote based on my book’s main character. The book I read was A long way gone: Memoirs of a boy soldier by Ishmael Beah.

The book tells the tragic and emotional story of Beah’s journey to becoming a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Most of the book’s pages are filled with the sadness and grief that aided me in writing my skit. One of the things Beah and his friends loved to do growing up was rap to American music. They loved Naughty by Nature and LL Cool J and would often get together to rap to their music.

Inspired by the book, I decided that I would rap to Naughty by Nature’s hit O.P.P. Before I knew it, I was on google.com searching for lyrics to that hit song. After locating the lyrics, I purchased the song from iTunes, and began learning the first verse of O.P.P. Learning that verse proved to be intimidating at first, but after much practice the melody and words began to stick.

It’s Showtime!! Tuesday rolls around and I am gearing up to perform my rap piece and skit to my Young Adult Lit class. I had a great time performing O.P.P. and I believe that performance outweighed the skit's performance. My classmates thought it was pretty cool too, and my professor Janet Bobak was also impressed. Once class was over, she playfully suggested having me come to her school to do that for her students.

Final Thoughts: When I began to think of ways in which to present this book talk, rapping didn’t exactly come to mind. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became to rap. Realistically, how cool would it be if more librarians, teachers, and/or media specialists would rap to capture the interest of their students? They may not read the book, but if you present it to them in a way that’s catchy, exciting and attention grabbing that may pique some interest. Hence, the reason I chose to rap…

My Utopia

Generally the material that I am required to read for my LIS classes is BORING!! I find the most interesting LIS articles either on the listerserv or from my own research. For my Urban Library Seminars course, which I absolutely positively love, we were assigned to do a lot of reading this past week. My favorite article was called The Public Library in Utopia by Kevin J. Hayes. Although, the article is filled with various viewpoints I chose the three that most appealed to me.

First, Edward Bellamy’s ideal public libraries were conveniently open twenty-four hours a day (Hayes, 2010). In Bellamy’s utopia “no public service or convenience is ever suspended at the present day, whether by day or night, the year round (Hayes, 2010). When my classmate discussed this idea, he posed the question, how accurate have the predictions from this article proven to be? Last week I learned that in October, the Undergraduate Library will be open twenty-four hours. There’s an extended study area in the UGL that is open twenty-four hours from Sunday-Thursday. Now, the entire library will be open all day everyday for students and/or faculty who would like to use it.

Next, the article makes mention of how libraries were designed in the past. The stacks were designed so that librarians were able to keep an eye on the patrons and supervise everyone using the stacks (Hayes, 2010). Is it me, or does that sound completely ridiculous? Granted, they’re some patrons I find it necessary to monitor but only because they exhibit inappropriate behavior. Really, who has the time to sit and watch a patron’s activity while he/she is in the library? A librarian once told me something that I never forgot, in reference to children using the unfiltered computers in the adult section. When I asked why she didn’t stop children from doing this she said “we’re not babysitters.” My point exactly…

Finally, the article concludes within a description of the ideal public library. In fact, the last sentence reads, in utopia everyone knew how to use a library (Hayes, 2010). It is believed with any library, that the librarian must at some point show patrons how to access and/or use the library resources. While I do appreciate when a patron approaches the desk with some idea as to how to use the library catalog, I thoroughly enjoy showing he/she how to use databases or find articles. The day when everyone will know how to use the library is a scary day for me because if everyone will know how to use it, what then becomes of the librarian?

References

Hayes, K.J. (2010). The public library in utopia. Libraries & the Cultural Record, 45 (3), 333-349.

Religious Search Engines For A Thousand, Please

This week in the School of Library & Information Science, a student emailed a link on the listserv for SLIS students to check-out. The link lead to an article on NPR titled Religious Search Engines Yield Tailored Results. You can imagine that this email got people within the school buzzing, but is it really that big of a deal? Based on the dialogue it generated I’d say so, which is partly why I decided to discuss it in my blog this week.

Shea Houdmann runs SeekFind, a Colorado Springs-based Christian search engine that only returns results from websites that are consistent with the Bible (Nosheen, 2010). He says SeekFind is designed “to promote what we believe to be biblical truth” and excludes sites that don’t meet that standard (Nosheen, 2010). But SeekFind isn’t the only search engine carving a niche market among religious Internet users (Nosheen, 2010). There is also Jewogle for Jews and I’mHalal a Muslim search engine that started in the Netherlands (Nosheen, 2010).

As a Christian, I have never used a Christian search engine and I don’t plan to start in the near future. Although, checking out SeekFind might not be such a bad idea! My searches take place primarily on library catalogs and databases due to the nature of my school work. In my spare time, I have no problem using Google, Yahoo, and/or other search engines because they have yet to compromise my faith or spiritual growth. If something should come up that I don’t agree with I may be tempted to select it for hilarity or curiosity sake without having damned my soul to Hell (Pun Intended).

According to Michael Gartenberg, a partner at technology research firm Altimeter Group, these religiously centered search engines are bringing new users to the web (Nosheen, 2010). But not everybody has been supportive of the idea. Some people call it censorship (Nosheen, 2010). Some who oppose such search engines argue that allowing people to only access material that they already agree with will lead to an intolerant society (Nosheen, 2010).

Final Thoughts: I greatly disagree with the comment about people accessing material through religious search engines leading to an intolerant society. Culturally, and faith wise I believe that religious search engines are cool! To see people pulling together and creating technology that they prefer is fascinating. That’s good news to me! Religious search engines are no different than an angry parent coming into a library and demanding that a controversial book be banned. In fact, couldn’t one argue that despite the book being controversial it’s a least promoting literary interest within her child and perhaps others? Faith-based or religious search engines can be viewed in the exact same light because while they may censor/filter results, they are drawing new users to the web.

References

Nosheen, H. (2010, September 13). Religious Search Engines Yield Tailored Results. National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129709336

What's The Point?

Dearest Blog,
I have gotten out of my system the frustrations and anger in regards to the recent changes at the UGL. I don’t want every blog entry from here on out that I write to drip with disdain. I also don’t want to ignore things that make little to no sense here at the Undergraduate Library. Perhaps every library has policies or procedures they follow if a tornado were to hit their building. Or if a group or high school students are repeatedly being disruptive and causing a disturbance in the library. My favorite policy or procedure at the moment is how to handle pornography.

Pornography isn’t always an issue that comes up at the UGL. I’ve only had a few encounters where it was discussed. Once a male patron came to the Information Desk to inform me that a man near him was watching porn. While he didn’t appear to be offended by what the man was watching, he wanted to alert staff. Thank you sir, I replied without being quite sure on how to handle this matter.

Up until that point, a couple of librarians told me that they were unaware of any policy that existed to prohibit patrons from watching porn at the UGL. Of course, if patrons were watching child pornography this had to be addressed and if it wasn’t child porn, the “porn watcher” was well within his/her rights.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, after the implementation of the Combined Service Desk. As I sat in the GSA lounge one afternoon, I noticed a row of files dedicated to different policies/procedures at the UGL. In a matter of minutes, I was flipping through the files when I noticed a policy/procedure dedicated to the issue of pornography. Immediately, I took out the sheet of paper and devoured every word from top to bottom.

To my surprise, there really isn’t a whole lot you can do if someone is actually watching porn at the UGL. If a patron comes to make a complaint about it because he/she is offended, the staff person holds the right to confront the accused person. The staff can ask the person viewing porn to move to a less visible computer, but the patron holds the right to refuse to move. Should he/she refuse to move, the employee can suggest to the person making the complaint to move to another area of the library.

Final Thoughts: The fact that I just so happen to find this particular policy/procedure along with others in the GSA lounge indicates the ineffectiveness of communication within the UGL. I’ve been working here for well over 6 months and am just learning the policy/procedure for handling pornography. Here in lies my questions, what’s the point of creating various policies/procedures if they’re just going to be tucked away in a drawer never to be openly shared and/or discussed amongst staff? Who is benefitting from having topics of this nature stored away in a drawer?

Welcome to My Nightmare

Pissed, Bothered, and Angry. All of the mentioned words describe emotions felt during this week. This week marked the beginning of fall semester at WSU. My blog/thoughts leading up to the implementation of a combined service desk at the UGL beginning fall semester couldn’t have been more accurate.

Pissed: Let me elaborate as to why I was pissed. I worked Thursday morning and was busy from the time I got there until the time my shift at the desk ended. It’s the beginning of fall semester, which happens to be Wayne’s busiest semester so being busy was to be expected. What I didn’t expect was to run around like a chicken with my head cut-off trying to learn circulation terminology. I lost count of the number of times I went to find a circ supervisor to have he/she educate me on issues relating to circ. To me, all of this could have been avoided had there been some type of training and/or preparation prior to the start of fall semester. While you cannot plan for everything, you can at least prepare.

Bothered: I became bothered a few hours into my shift when I noticed a circ student assistant sitting on a computer browsing the latest fall fashions! Mind you, the desk would slow down periodically, but for the most part was busy throughout the morning. As she did this, two supervisors sat in cubicles behind her preoccupied with perhaps their own work-related interests? Anyway, she would take time between surfing the net for clothes to make her way to work the circ desk if she noticed a line. Later, I had to go upstairs and found this same staff person “shelving” books with a bag of potato chips in her hands!! I thought to myself, shouldn’t you be down at the desk working the long lines? I was also bothered by the fact that I never knew where my new supervisor was for most of my shift. There were times, he just happened to pop back up and then he’d pop right back out…

Angry: Towards the end of my shift I became very angry. A little back-story is necessary. Earlier this week, a circ employee felt it important to share with me that the Librarians were never going to come over to the desk to relieve us for breaks. Why? Some Librarians, specifically those employed at the UGL, are not for the whole “combined service desk,” and have no desire to support it. I embellished the last sentence from a personal belief, which I believe was later confirmed.

On Thursday, one of the Librarians came over to the desk. Of course, she asked how things were going, to which I responded, “There going.” Translation, she came to be nosey and get an update so she could go back laugh and/or gossip about things with her colleagues. Next, she asked if I had gotten a break and I said no. I should’ve kept my mouth shut because she went on this tangent about unions and them having to give us our breaks. Since she appeared to care so much about the travesty of my not getting a break, it appeared to be the perfect time to interject what I had been told by the circ employee. The Librarian had the nerve to act appalled in hearing this which prompted her to admit that the Librarians didn’t want to come over to the desk.

Before this whole combined service desk was implemented, a few Librarians at the UGL were responsible for relieving the Graduate Student Assistants for breaks. The minute we moved over to the circulation desk, they stopped relieving us. My guess is that they want to be exempt from doing circulation-related work because of their Master degrees in librarianship.

Excuse me, but aren’t the four GSA’s employed at the UGL working towards completing their Master’s degree in the same field? We may not have the actual degree yet, but it is hoped that after we earn those degrees we don’t become foolish enough to believe that a piece of paper eliminates us to participate and adapt to change. I can personally say, I didn’t do cartwheels up and down the halls at the announcement of a combined service desk, but the decision was made regardless of how I or any of the other GSA’s felt about it. Not coming over to the desk and not relieving us for breaks isn’t going to take away from the fact that there is a combined service desk at the UGL. I don’t understand how two groups of people, Librarians and Circulation/Access staff, at an academic institution can both refuse to work together and adjust to change. Until that’s understood, welcome to my nightmare…

Summer Moments

The summer is quickly coming to an end! Next week marks the beginning of fall semester and I am patiently awaiting its arrival. My schedule for the fall will be pretty intense as I will now be expected to work four days out of the week while taking three courses. Enough about fall for now, I’m sure I’ll be able to dedicate many blog topics to that term once it officially kicks off. Since summer semester is practically over, I’d like to spend some time discussing its most memorable moments.

Memorable Moment #1:
For months when asked about a Graduate Library, I would inform patrons that there was no such library. Shockingly, a couple of months ago, I learned that Purdy-Kresge is indeed considered to be Wayne State University’s Graduate Library. I let out a few giggles after learning the truth to mask my overall embarrassment.

Memorable Moment #2:
I took a Children’s Literature course in the spring semester of this year, which went from May 10 until June 19. I didn’t receive my grade for this course until a few days ago. Basically, I received a letter grade from the course a full two months after the class had ended. To say that I was bothered and/or pissed off about the entire ordeal would be an understatement…

Memorable Moment #3:
News of the Undergraduate’s Library implementation of a combined service desk freaked me out! The announcement was made to the GSA’s a few weeks before the fall semester is to begin. When my co-worker made me aware of the changes, I sat baffled at the reference desk and was unable to shut my mouth for the remainder of that shift.

Memorable Moment #4:
One afternoon, working the reference desk was a lot more brutal than usual. I encountered a patron, who I felt had prejudice issues. I ended up referring him to one of the Librarians, but was still subjected to the patron’s insensitive probing about GSA hiring and etc., all which appeared to be racially motivated. By the time he walked away from the desk, I was relieved and also offended and hurt. Another patron approached the desk and I was able to assist him with his research assignment. He was so appreciative of the help I was able to offer him that he went and purchased me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Shortly thereafter, I cried at the patron’s kind gesture and I appreciated his thoughtfulness.

Memorable Moment #5:
Earlier this month, I was selected to be featured in the School of Library & Information Science’s Spring/Summer Newsletter. In the newsletter, I received the Student Spotlight which allowed me to answer a series of ten questions accompanied by my photograph. I was extremely honored and humbled to have been afforded that opportunity!! Although I imagine that the full responses to my answers won’t make the cut, I did give a shot out to my blog! Hey, folks just might be a little more interested to read it now! Whatever the case, being the student selected for the Student Spotlight was definitely a major highlight of my summer!!

Combined Service Desk

Apparently, there are going to be some big changes at the Undergraduate Library. The changes are effective September 1^st, 2010 which also marks the beginning of fall semester at WSU. To say that I am thrilled about the changes would be a lie, but change is a part of life. It’s funny because almost two weeks ago Mike Hawthorne, the Manager of Access Services, approached me about the Info Fair. He asked me to help work the Info Fair and I eagerly accepted, without fully understanding what I would be discussing and/or doing.

I didn’t learn until the week of the Info Fair what I would be discussing. After I arrived to work last Monday, a co-worker made me aware of the changes taking place at the UGL. The information and the circulation desks will be combined into a one-stop service desk. Meaning, Graduate Student Assistants and/or Librarians will soon be fulfilling their reference duties at the circ desk. In the fall, the library will also setup self-look up systems at the old information desk. These look up systems will serve as options for viewing the University Libraries catalog.

Hence, the topic I was assigned at the Fair centered on the combined service desk at the UGL. I was partnered with Lori Lemanski from the circulation department and together we braved this presentation. The word “braved” was used because when some Wayne State employees learned of the combined service desk, they didn’t hesitate to voice their dismay. Personally, it got to a point where I could do nothing but chuckle at some of the attitudes/comments expressed. Towards the middle/end of our presentation the overall announcement of the UGL's combined service desk seemed to be better received.

My Thoughts: Again, I am not completely sold on the one-stop service desk. A change of this nature will require some adjustments for not just the circ staff but also the GSA’s. A big concern for me lies in the preparation of this change, or the lack of time to prepare. The combined desk goes into affect September 1^st and that date is just a couple of weeks away. While I’ve had some circulation experience from my old job, a refresher on checking in/out books wouldn’t hurt. My fear is that a lot of things will be learned not from a training session, but once fall semester kicks off into full gear! Someone today said it best; we’re going to be the guinea pigs used for the implementation of this combined service desk. Knowing that I’m going to be a “guinea pig” doesn’t excite me, but without change how can there be progress?