I learned a lot from this practicum. I enjoyed getting to learn more about library operations beyond what I do everyday as a Library Assistant. I learned a lot more about the kinds of tasks that my coworkers do everyday to keep our library running. This included how ILL requests are responded to and input, how to catalog books in Apollo Biblionix, and how to create a book display. Also, going out with Jackie on the bookmobile stops  and getting to see more of the community, and getting to converse with new patrons was lovely. 

I learned that I got a lot of satisfaction from utilizing my creative skills in my work. I loved the parts of my job that let me come up with new ideas, draw, paint, and craft. Putting together my book displays was great, and in addition to being fun, making the displays expanded my knowledge of the Library’s collection and allowed me to make more knowledgeable recommendations to our patrons.  

I felt that I learned the most from the experience of planning and executing my own library program. I have never taught a class before, and found the process both more complicated and time consuming than I would have thought, but also more rewarding. It was difficult for me to keep on the timeline I wrote for myself, and for me to find time to do research in between my other job duties and school work. I found it really satisfying though, upon my completion of this project. I also really loved that a coworker who attended the class told me later that they used the information to get farther in their family tree research. It made me so happy that I was able to help them learn more about their own history. 

I also felt like the interview I had with Jessica Kannan was very productive and I learned a lot from it. In particular I found how she related our work at the Celina Public Library to archive work, very helpful in helping me consider how I could work with Public libraries and other local institutions in my future archival work. I was also happy to hear that she valued the customer service of me and my colleagues, since I know all of us care deeply about our patrons. 

Generally I enjoy my work at the library. I find that helping patrons find what they need is rewarding, and my tasks were overall enjoyable. While I don’t always enjoy tasks like cleaning or shelf reading, they can be satisfactory in their own ways upon completion, as it is nice to have the library neat and tidy. While I don’t consider my overall goal to work in a Public Library setting, I would not mind doing further public library work, and I do think that the skills I learned here will serve me well in my future archival work. In particular, I think the skills I learned about how cataloging works, customer service skills, organization, and creating programs will help me a lot in my future endeavors. 

Thank you to everyone who made this practicum possible! Thank you to Jessica Kannan, my direct supervisor for giving me so much time and answering my questions, and Andrea Ortiz, our library director, for making this possible. Thank you as well to my instructor Tricia Kuon, for always answering my questions so quickly. Thank you also to all my coworkers who helped with this. Thanks to Jamaica Okech and Diana Pleites for helping me set up my class. Thank you to Moncé Robledo and Kathy Martin for taking the time to teach me about your jobs, and to Jackie Schwier for bringing me along to your Bookmobile stops. Thanks to Sarah Hazlett for decorating with me and always giving great advice for the book displays, and to Bay Henderson for always being such a considerate and hardworking coworker and bringing treats!