School Librarian In Training

[Brooke Layton]

I am open to any advice or knowledge that any of you might have. This is my first semester in FSU's MLIS program. I have volunteered at Gulf Breeze Middle School's Media Center with Mrs. Sharon Henderson and I have observed Mrs. Michelle Lingo at Hallmark Elementary. However, I still feel unprepared and vulnerable! I have emailed our local school system to try and obtain a paraprofessional position at a media center while in graduate school, but there is currently a budget crisis and they have gotten rid of most paraprofessionals in our district.

Any advice?

[Brooke Layton]

Thank you so much for all your tips and encouragement. :)

[Donna Forester]

If the librarians in your district have lost their clerical help, I would think they would be thrilled to have you come in and practice things--I know the elementary librarian would! Watch her do one lesson with a class and offer to do the same for one or more of the other classes of the same grade level that will be coming in for the same lesson--give him/her 30 minutes to have some planning/prep time while you practice and you should only be offered more "opportunities." Once you get the sense of how we teach a particular grade/age, ask if you could plan a lesson, have him/her critique/edit it if necessary and then teach it. Shelving books can give you an opportunity to see what the collection in a typical elementary or middle school library is like. If your district requires/allows some local processing of books, get a quick lesson on building a record, putting on a book jacket, etc. and that could also be a big help to a busy librarian. So much of what we learn in graduate school is theoretical, any practice can only be a benefit.