Takeaways from ALA MW 11 Emerging Leaders Session

ALA Midwinter 2011... wow. This was my second ALA conference, the first being an Annual while I was still a student. What a huge difference. My main impetus for going was that I was accepted to the 2011 Emerging Leaders class this year; I  feel like it's a great experience so far.

Before starting the program, I read some of the criticism out there to get an idea of what I'd be in for and what to be cautious of. Kim Leeder wrote a great article at In the Library with the Lead Pipe: All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Go: A Survey of ALA Emerging Leaders , where much of the problem sounded like unmet expectations of the day-long program itself, as well as the reach and scope of the projects. I have to say those involved in the program really listened to former EL class concerns, because some of these issues were addressed, and some changes were clearly made. And I am very excited about the project I am working on, which is creating a collection development policy for videogames in libraries. I think this project will not only be interesting and even fun, but have a lot of reach, too.

We got some fantastic information on leadership from Maureen Sullivan, Peter Bromberg, Leslie Burger, and Keith Fiels. Andromeda Yelton, another Emerging Leader, has a great write up of what we learned on her blog:

The main takeaways, as Andromeda notes, are:

1. Be scared everyday (and have a drink in your hand)
2. Be generous
3. There is no spoon
4. Relationships

This all really relates back to all the brainstorming we did on good leadership qualities. What works well for us, and what positive attributes we find in those at the top. A big theme that stood out for me is creating buy in. You have to foster relationships with those around you to get anything done; we were told at the session that the reason we were all meeting face-to-face early on was so we could be friends first to be better able to work together in our groups. On creating buy-in, you must also trust in others, which includes being generous enough to offer others opportunities and not micromanage. Working to make ALA yours (or any situation yours) takes effort, and it's true: there is no spoon. As my EL groupmate, Abby Johnson, says in her blog, "ALA is not your mom." If you're not scared everyday (or even almost everyday), what's the point? Trusting in others is a leap, as is trusting in yourself in new, uncomfortable situations. As I commented in Andromeda's blog, I'll often say yes to things before I even have a chance to be nervous. You can always be nervous, but you won't always have a chance to say yes to some of these amazing opportunities.

A couple people were asking me at the conference what I think of the program so far since they were considering applying next year -- at this point in time, I say two thumbs up.

Using zines as an introduction to library research

I've used my zine lesson plan with 5 humanities classes now and posted the information (including handouts) to my portfolio. This is at an urban community college with many typically under-served students that may have low literacy skills and are pretty brand new to research and libraries.


The purpose from the instructor's perspective is to offer another option for the students to complete a final project; this arts appreciation class is one of the first courses a new student might take at this college. From the librarian's perspective, this is a way to introduce students to how publishing works, give them an opportunity for informal research and creativity. By allowing students to choose any topic relating to art that is of interest to them, it takes some of the pressure off potentially intimidating library resources being explored for the first time. This also falls under critical instruction by talking about whose voices get heard in which platforms and why. Who gets published in a magazine or journal, of course, differs from who might publish a blog or zine.


Many of our students are not familiar with zines, nor blogs. One of their other options for an assignment is to create an autobiographical entry in a blog, so I introduce that mini-lesson first and we talk about what blogs are and how they have evolved (most students have never had their own).

After getting an introduction to electronic self-publishing, I introduce zines but only minimally; I don't want to impose my view of zines before the students get a chance to form their own opinions. I break them up into groups and give each 1 zine, 1 magazine, and a Venn diagram worksheet to compare those items and blogs. After explaining how a Venn diagram works, I allow about 10 minutes for groupwork. After they compare and contrast, we discuss as a class and will look at things like appearance, cost, required knowledge/background, subjects covered, credibility, and publishing processes for differentiation. An interesting point that Jenna Freedman discusses in Zines Are Not Blogs is the digital divide. Students will say that blogs are free as opposed to zines and magazines, but that's not necessarily the case. One must have computer and internet access to read a blog, as well as at least *some* computer literacy to create a blog. If there is not a school or library nearby, an individual would be required to pay for computer/internet at home, and that is not free. This is an interesting perspective on where zines and blogs differ; there are people who believe zines are dead and why make a zine when you could just make a blog, but there are still people out there who don't have access to the tools required to read/create the electronic version of self-publishing.

After the discussion, I explain they will be making a mini-zine (1 piece of paper turned into an 8 page zine). They can choose any topic (as I mention above) as long as it relates somehow to the arts. It can be any style they want: typed, drawn, comic, collage, handwritten; they just need to include at least 2 sources in a citation from any library database. I demonstrate how to use one of our most user-friendly databases (Student Research Center) and then show them how to cite a source in the citation management software our library uses, NoodleTools.

I tell the students if they are going to make a zine, it's only fair if I make one too, in exchange (I am looking to collect student zines after grading to display in the library). After using sample search terms for yarn bombing (knit graffiti), I show them my final product so they can get a sense of the assignment from start to finish.

This has been a successful IL session so far and I am in the process of collecting zines from Fall semester and will be getting more from Winter term students! You can have access to learning objectives, the lesson plan, and handouts from my portfolio.

Librarian Wardrobe

I had an idea awhile back before I moved about starting a blog about what librarians wear to work. After mentioning it to a few people on Facebook, I decided to not bother since no one really seemed interested in participating; but then recently saw A View From Your Desk, which is a user-submitted blog about the view from a librarian's desk (and even contributed) and it reminded me of my blog idea. 

So, I've now created a new blog about what librarians wear to work: Librarian Wardrobe. Anyone can submit an image, and it could be the submitter wearing the outfit, parts of the outfit on a hanger, or whatever combination works.


It will be interesting to see how dress codes vary at different kinds of libraries and for different kinds of positions. When I was starting my job search during/after library school, I was wondering myself what exactly is appropriate since there seems to be a lot of variation, so maybe this will be useful to new librarians as well.

Taught to teach

Credit: melodi2 from morguefile.com

Last month, myself and another recent graduate from my program were invited to a favorite instructor's academic libraries class to talk about our experiences as new librarians. The class being in Arizona, my friend in Mississippi, and myself in Texas made it a virtual session in Elluminate.

I'm still exploring my instruction style as I get used to my position, the college, and the programs, but after 6 months now, I do feel much more comfortable. One of the students in the SIRLS class asked a question probably on many soon-to-be and new librarians' minds: how do you learn how to teach?

I personally tried to get as much experience as possible at least just making presentations while in library school. For my internship, I took initiative and worked with my supervisor to get instruction into my responsibilities. This did not bring me anywhere near a pro, but I was able to do some library orientations for a summer internship program.

After that, I just read. Read, read, read. Anything I could find that talked about instruction methods or library instruction. Books, magazines, blogs, you name it. I'm still working through the reading list I keep for myself. When I started my job, I asked for reading suggestions from my supervisor and even had the chance to read through all her collected teaching materials from over the years. I asked to watch other librarians teach and am hoping to get in some classes to watch experienced instructors as well. Of course I remember what I liked and didn't like while a student myself, but seeing the classes from a different perspective will be really useful.

I'm still figuring out assessment and outcomes, as well as tailoring instruction to our students specifically. Being a community college, we have a wide range of demographics, skill levels, and interests.

I've found I am the most successful with teaching when I do doubt myself a little because I feel like it puts me on the same wavelength as the students: I'm a little unsure about teaching and they're a little unsure about research, but we can connect there. I try to just have a conversation with them as much as possible; at the same time, I try to say in the mindset of hey I'm going to show you some neat technology and tricks.

Anyhow, here is my (work in progress) list for figuring out how to teach. If there are more suggestions out there, please leave them in the comments; I do have to say much of the library literature on teaching ignores showing how to write an actual lesson plan, which is frustrating, but nonetheless:

Books

• Made to Stick (Chip and Dan Heath) - How to make ideas stick in presentations/ads, and of course in teaching. They give many real-world examples and offer a handy acronym to aid in composing these sticky messages using their suggestions.
• Critical Library Instruction (Emily Drabinski, Alana Kumbier, and Maria Accardi, eds.) - Essays on the "banking model of education" described by Freire, and finding other, progressive methods to teach students using involvement, real world scenarios, and teacher as student/student as teacher. Many of these were inspiring and made me excited to work some of the ideas into my teaching.
• Library Instruction Cookbook (Ryan Sittler and Douglas Cook) - Cookbook-themed ideas on instruction activities (mostly for one-shot classes); many really applied to 4yr academic institutions so weren't as helpful for me, but certainly have a list of about 10 ideas I might be able to use or tweak
• Teaching Information Literacy: 35 Practical, Standards-Based Exercises for College Students (Joanna M. Burkhardt, Mary C. Macdonald, and Andre J. Rathemacher) - A little dry, but does help in better understanding the ACRL Standards and how to apply those to teaching
• Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. (Esther S. Grassian) - New edition of textbook, have not gotten to yet
• Mckeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategy, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers (Wilbert McKeachie and Marilla Svinicki) - Seems to be a standard for college instructors, most not receiving formal education on exactly *how* to teach. A good amount of the book felt irrelevant to libraries, unfortunately, but did pick up some good tips by skipping around.
• Teaching Librarians to Teach: On the Job Training for Bibliographic Instruction Librarians (Clark and Jones) - This book is old, like 1980s old. I read it the month I was graduating library school and can't remember much... I think I did find parts of it helpful for a start in learning library instruction, but might not be the best one out there...
• Motivating Students in Information Literacy Classes (Trudi Jacobson and Lijuan Xu) - Good overview in getting students engaged through assessment.
• The Invisible Web in Learning and Teaching (Jane Devine and Francine Egger-Sider) - This book wasn't really specifically about teaching, but had some good ideas for helping students grasp the deep web.
• New Librarian, New Job: Practical Advice for Managing the Transition (Tucker Cory and Reeta Sinha) - Again, not specifically geared to teaching, but did help understand the role of library instruction and information literacy within a position description and general expectations.
• Ideas for Librarians Who Teach: With Ideas for Teachers and Business Presenters (Naomi Lederer) - Perfect for skimming; sound bites of ideas.
• Public Speaking Handbook for Librarians and Information Professionals (Sarah R. Statz) - Helpful tips for public speaking and presenting (of course can directly help with teaching), and finally a book on public speaking geared to librarians who, let's be honest, aren't always the most outgoing bunch.

Blogs/Magazines/Journals/Specific Articles
I'm just going to post a link to my del.icio.us -- I have over 60 pages and articles tagged as instruction. Some are from librarians and library organizations, some from other educators. I add to this list regularly.