Journal Introduction/Entries/Conclusion

PFE Journal: Introduction, Entries, and Conclusion

“Librarianship in the Time of Corona”

Introduction:

I may not have physically been in the library during most of this internship experience, but I was definitely “in the trenches”- helping patrons with community resources and ways to stay safely connected. I was treated as a part of the team and like a part of the YPL community.

I knew I wanted to help parents who were finding themselves stretched to the limit with working remotely (or not at all), and in many cases either homeschooling or managing their child(ren)’s remote learning at home. This is where the idea for doing the STEM/STEAM related activities came from.

I also wanted to help find resources to start social justice conversations with kids and teens. York Public Library is in the midst of the “Read Woke Challenge” that encourages and promotes resources from #ownvoices authors with a different monthly theme. This reading challenge was a great way to promote social justice issues and further my own awareness.

What did I create?

I developed 23 STEAM related activities using household items. These activities are set to be distributed through the curbside pick-up procedure. For most of these, I gave extensions and told parents about the academic and intellectual value of the activity.

For 10 of them, I created tutorial videos set to be posted to the YPL YouTube Channel.

To accompany all these activities, I curated book lists on mathematics, science, and engineering, focusing on the books that are available through the YPL catalog.

I also generated a STEAM “teaser” video for the patrons to let them know what was coming.

I developed the November Read Woke Challenge Native American Voices Book Lists for Picture Books, Elementary Level Books, and YA Books.

For the Picture Book list, I also created a book talk video.

I helped the YPL develop a Fall Sensory Walk using the windows of the Children’s Room. I also found fall themed, sensory literature connections for the walk.

I helped YPL develop and promote their first YA Instagram Challenge.

How were these activities intended to advance my objectives?

By working on both the STEAM and the Read Woke Challenge activities, I accomplished the following:

I defended the principles of intellectual freedom and equitable access.

I located, retrieved, evaluated, and synthesized information from diverse sources to meet users’ information needs.

I developed and assessed programs and services designed to increase diverse individuals’ knowledge and skills in information, digital, media, and other literacies by offering further information on topics related to social justice and STEM/STEAM resources.

I demonstrated critical thinking skills through my research, evaluation, and application of social justice and STEM/STEAM resources for the community and patrons of York.

I identified, analyzed, and utilized technologies and applications in order to design and implement the activities I accomplished.

I continually developed my own digital media knowledge and skills through the creation of the “Read Woke” and STEM/STEAM activities.

I learned of new platforms to explore for my own future professional development through my interactions with the YPL staff.

I developed my understanding of real-time, practical, and feasible partnerships, outreach, and collaborations through my interactions with the YPL staff.

I communicated effectively to a range of audiences throughout my internship experience. Communication was written (mostly in the form of emails), oral, virtual (zoom meetings), in-person (rarely), and through digital content.

All of these are well and good, but I think the most important thing I helped to create is a place for the YPL community to feel like they are still a part of a community. That they still have a place to go to feel connected, supported, and valued. Building up a sense of community in a time of isolation and distancing is not an easy feat, but it’s one that libraries especially need to take on with pride and determination.

This journal will show the evolution of my thinking about this experience, the projects I wanted to undertake, and how I felt like truly a valued member of the team. What I eventually created and shared may bear little resemblance to what I thought I was going to do in my site agreement, but feels more right, needed, and absolutely valued.

Adams PFE Journal.docx

Conclusion:

Heading into this final experience of my master’s degree work through URI, I had no idea what to expect. What does “virtual internship’ even mean? How can this be a meaningful experience? How will I get to feel like I am working with actual people and not just at a screen? Will what I produce be helpful? Needed? Wanted?

There was so much uncertainty that had become a part of all our everyday lives: What new guidelines would be passed? What new mandates would be enforced? What states could I freely travel to and from? Would my son’s school be in-person? Virtual? Hybrid? Would he get the therapies he needs? How many new cases of COVID-19 would be reported today? How many deaths? What new discoveries would be made about treatment, transmission, or vaccination? What about those continuing to fight acts of racism and hatred and wishing to be heard as their hearts broke for another, preventable reason?

And what about the election?

How was I going to be able to make a difference in a library during this time?

How do we promote a sense of community when the community can’t be together? How do we support families, individuals, and teachers at home and at work with this new normal? How do we let the patrons know we are still here for them?

It was about two or three weeks into the actual internship experience when it struck me that a library is the BEST place to be to make a difference during this time. The library is an established, trusted resource in the community. It welcomes all. It guards against biases, discrimination, and censorship. As a student of URI, the sheer amount of technology I have been exposed to and had the opportunity to play around with presented me with several platforms that could easily be adapted to meaningfully help parents, teachers, and other patrons remotely.

My original goal as stated in my PFE Site Agreement was to complete “at least 3 book talks, 5 STEM activities, and 2 guided read alouds using Children’s Literature to highlight foundational math concepts”. While I didn’t fulfill these goals in exactly this format, I think what I did achieve was far more useful and in tune to the needs of the patrons of the York Public Library- especially during these strange and unprecedented times.