{"id":80937,"date":"2014-09-10T05:30:55","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T10:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=80937"},"modified":"2014-09-12T09:35:43","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T14:35:43","slug":"lifelong-learners-make-great-librarians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=80937","title":{"rendered":"Lifelong learners make great librarians"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Kristin Charles-Scaringi, Senior Assistant, INALJ CT<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Lifelong learners make great librarians<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"kristincharlesscaringi\"<\/a>Librarians are usually by nature curious, smart, and eager to help others. These qualities are\u00a0important as we staff libraries in the 21st century. The library is a cultural hub where people go\u00a0to learn and find new information.<\/p>\n

In my three years as a professional public librarian, I have determined that the most important\u00a0trait for librarians and library staff to possess is the desire to learn. We as librarians do not need\u00a0to know everything (and we should not be expected to), but we need to be able to provide our\u00a0patrons with the tools and resources they need to gain and discover new information.<\/p>\n

The world is always changing and people are in need of guidance more than ever. Many\u00a0people have a soft spot in the hearts and minds for librarians and they turn to us for advice.\u00a0I have been contacted countless times by patrons who tell me that when they could not\u00a0figure something out they thought of the library. By being a lifelong learner, we are already\u00a0inquisitive about the world around us and are willing to search around for something to meet\u00a0our information needs. We need to rely on that passion for pursuing knowledge when helping\u00a0others. The last thing a confused patron needs to see are the people they were hoping could\u00a0help them, scared and ready to hide their heads in the stacks.<\/p>\n

I have a lot of interests from photography to fiction writing to American Sign Language. I have\u00a0found that my job as a librarian not only allows me to purse these interests, as least in a small\u00a0way, but it also provides me with ways to further explore these interests by introducing me\u00a0to databases, books, and other learning tools that might be useful. I have also found that by\u00a0working in a library that I have access to a lot of smart and talented people. I recently learned\u00a0from a coworker that there is a website that allows amateur photographers to rent camera\u00a0equipment for cheap. I also discovered an artistic side of myself by taking part in a diorama\u00a0contest with a coworker (I make a mean set of giant feet climbing down a beanstalk).<\/p>\n

I have discovered more about myself by being a librarian than I have in any other field. I love to\u00a0learn. And I love to teach.<\/p>\n

I always thought about becoming a teacher, but for whatever reason could never commit to\u00a0standing in the front of a classroom. I believe I found my place in the education world as a\u00a0librarian. It is no surprise to me that in many states, the library system falls under the education\u00a0department. I have been able to explore my inner teacher without having to stand in front of\u00a0a classroom. Not only am I curious, but I want to share what I\u2019ve learned with others. To me, it\u00a0doesn\u2019t matter if just I know something. I want everyone around me to know it as well.<\/p>\n

It is also not surprising that many states require that public librarians have to participate in\u00a0continuing education or professional development in order to keep their certification. In my\u00a0home state of New York, the requirement is 60 hours every five (5) years. I already like to keep\u00a0my mind active, but this provides me with a schedule to keep. We as librarians need to adapt\u00a0to the new tools and resources that become available to us. We are lucky to have professional\u00a0development built into the job.<\/p>\n

If we embrace our curiosity and share our knowledge, it will not only improve the lives of our\u00a0patrons, but we will grow in our own lives.<\/p>\n

Kristin Charles-Scaringi is a public librarian specializing in adult and teen services. She lives\u00a0and works in Ulster County, New York. At the Kingston Library<\/a>\u2014which is part of the New\u00a0York\u2019s Mid-Hudson Library System\u2014she is responsible for reference, collection development,\u00a0programming, publicity, and social media<\/a>. She has found her background in journalism\u00a0and public relations to be invaluable as a reference librarian. The experience she gained\u00a0interviewing people taught her to listen and work well with the public; digging for information\u00a0for articles provided her with solid research skills; and creating print and online publicity\u00a0materials gave her the tools to produce solid-looking informative materials for programs and\u00a0publicity. Kristin has a passion for literacy instruction that she is pursuing by participating in the\u00a0Library Instruction Leadership Academy (LILAC)<\/a> Across New York program in fall 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kristin Charles-Scaringi, Senior Assistant, INALJ CT Lifelong learners make great librarians Librarians are usually by nature curious, smart, and eager to help others. These qualities are\u00a0important as we staff libraries in the 21st century. The library is a cultural hub where people go\u00a0to learn and find new information. In my three years as a…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":81010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,3604,6554,6553,6552,3953,5504,727,6555],"class_list":["post-80937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-connecticut","tag-instruction-leadership-academy","tag-kingston-library","tag-kristin-charles-scaringi","tag-learning","tag-lifelong-learning","tag-new-york-state","tag-ulster-county-new-york"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Kristin-Charles-Scaringi.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-l3r","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}