{"id":85815,"date":"2014-12-15T08:00:56","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=85815"},"modified":"2014-12-14T21:35:37","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T03:35:37","slug":"library-school-redux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=85815","title":{"rendered":"Library School Redux"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Amelia Zavala Vander Heide ,Senior Editor, INALJ Massachusetts<\/a>, Maryland<\/a>, and Virtual Work<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Library School Redux<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have done some things\u00a0differently, including taking a different course load in library school. This article is\u00a0for those INALJ readers who are either currently in library school or are thinking\u00a0about starting library school. I asked some of my fellow INALJ editors, \u201cWhat are some courses they wish they had taken during their MLS?\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant Writing<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was in library school, I was sure that I wanted to be an academic\u00a0librarian. On top of being an academic librarian, I was sure that I wanted to work\u00a0as a digital or e-resources librarian. However, life did not turn out that way. Now,\u00a0I am a very happy public librarian. Because I was so sure what I wanted to do,\u00a0I did not take many classes outside my path. If I could go back and do it again,\u00a0I would definitely have taken a course in grant writing. Now, as a public librarian\u00a0trying to apply for various grants, it seems like such a great skill I wish I had.<\/p>\n

Management\/Marketing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being a successful and fair manager is difficult, and they are not skills that\u00a0necessarily come naturally, thus taking a course in management can offer\u00a0a wealth of information for future career moves. Knowing the basic tools of\u00a0successful management styles can help even before you enter a position of\u00a0authority. Marketing and management go hand in hand– they are non-library\u00a0skills that can help immensely in a library environment.<\/p>\n

Instruction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever thought about being an academic or instructional librarian?\u00a0Awesome. More than likely you have either taken a class or you are thinking\u00a0of taking a class in instruction\/instructional design. Still, there are many in\u00a0library school who have no interest in instruction, and they do not take these\u00a0courses. When you enter your career, it can take many twists and turns, and\u00a0suddenly you are asked to teach some kind of class or program. Having a\u00a0course in instruction in your repertoire can be a great asset to your future\u00a0career. Many INALJ Editors who answered my request stated they wished they\u00a0had taken an instruction course during library school.<\/p>\n

Storytelling\/Programming<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is another course I personally wish I had taken. I was suddenly a public\u00a0librarian with no storytelling experience. It took me a month to work up the courage to go in front of that crowd of kindergarteners. (Seriously those little\u00a0faces can be super intimidating.) Now I feel like an old pro. I can whip together\u00a0a storytime in little to no time. Still, there are times when I wish that I had taken\u00a0a course in great and effective storytelling, and it seems that some of my fellow\u00a0editors agree.<\/p>\n

I hope that this gives all those future librarians out there some inspiration when\u00a0they pick their electives. You never know where your career is going to take you,\u00a0and you never know which skills you wish you had. Please add any advise for\u00a0future and current MLS students in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Amelia Zavala Vander Heide ,Senior Editor, INALJ Massachusetts, Maryland, and Virtual Work Library School Redux If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have done some things\u00a0differently, including taking a different course load in library school. This article is\u00a0for those INALJ readers who are either currently in library school or are…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":84700,"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":[5910,69,3592,3659,3660,6600,3911,6716,5951],"class_list":["post-85815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-amelia-zavala-vander-heide","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-maryland","tag-inalj-massachusetts","tag-inalj-virtual-work","tag-library-school","tag-library-school-redux","tag-tips-for-library-school-students"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Amelia.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-mk7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85815","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=85815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}