Practical Experience and Service


| Resume | Leadership | Practical Experience and Service | Teaching and Training |
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Contents


Work, Play, Learn

          My entire reason for pursuing a masters degree in library and information science is embodied in these three words: Work, Play, Learn.

  • Work: Work shouldn't be something that you have to do, it should be something that you want to do. Everyone should be in a position where they love to go to work.

  • Play: The work that you do, and the people you work with should be fun. Why need recess when you work in a great place with great people?

  • Learn: When you work in a career where you are constantly learning, your career gives back to you. The best kind of work is work that is mentally challenging, forcing you to think in new directions and face new challenges every day.
          A truly awesome career is one where work and play are nearly indistinguishable and you never have to stop learning.

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Three Important Experiences in Libraries

          During my time at the University of Washington Information School I was able to work in three different capacities in three different library environments. Each of which provided valuable and unique insights into the necessary work in libraries, as well as developing a deeper understanding of my contribution to the profession.

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University of Washington Libraries: Gift Section

          My first position was as a student specialist in the gift section of Suzzallo Library. All non-cash gifts and donations processed for the University Libraries had to pass through the gift section, and someone had to do the inventory. That someone was me. Each day I would go down the auxiliary stacks in basement and unload the days receipt of gifts. Once a full account was made, the books would be placed on a holding shelf until someone (myself or one of the few other student employees) was able to search the library catalog to determine holdings. So, my time was divided between counting items into the collection, and then searching to see if we had copies currently available.

          This position not only showed the levels of job specificity and distribution of labor necessary in a large institution, but also introduced me to the massive amount of documentation needed to record and maintain public records and public relations in a gifts and donations program.

My Private Joy: Listening to donated tapes of karnatic classic music while doing OPAC searching in my hidden office in the basement of the library.

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Seattle Central Community College: Reference Desk

          My experience being on the reference desk at Seattle Central was a night and day shift from being the man behind the curtain to being the face of the library. Getting my mind into the situation wasn't as difficult as getting to know the collection, but that's what catalogs are for. During my time at Seattle Central I've been able to provide academic and general reference services to a diverse learning community including ESL students, deaf students, students from different age groups as well as the general public. I've also been able to teach library instruction workshops where I collaborated with faculty on learning objectives, developed original content and handouts, as well being evaluated by the students and a library staff member.

          This position reintroduced me to public services work in academic libraries and gave me opportunities unavailable to me as an undergraduate library worker. During my time at SCCC I was able to participate fully in staff meetings, propose changes in official cataloging practice, and teach information literacy courses.

My Public Joy: Getting applause from the students after teaching my first library workshop on reference books.

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Washington Center for the Book: Reading Group Fieldwork

          My time spent working for the Washington Center for the Book was my first foray into public library work and hopefully not my last. This fieldwork opportunity stemmed from a course in reader's advisory services taught by Nancy Pearl. To get ramped up I was put on a battery of milestones in fiction, writing annotations, book reviews, appeal analyses, and suggested further reading lists. Then during my actual fieldwork I observed and participated in reading groups in public libraries around Seattle, as well as helping to develop reading group guides for The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

          This was a very different combination of public and private work. All my time spent reading was either in different coffee houses and restaurants around the city or at home in bed. So, I was fairly isolated, save for the time spent working with the groups and talking with them about their reading and what they could do to have a more enjoyable book club. Need I say that every new novel is a new learning experience? Getting to know a new author, or a new type of literature, or a new area of the world... You have to love this job.

My Private/Public Joy: Reading my first novel by Dorothy Allison and discussing it with the Reader's of Gay and Lesbian Fiction group at the Columbia City branch of Seattle Public Library.

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What I've Learned from my Service Experiences

  • Positions that by their location and nature isolate individuals can be difficult on an employee. Managers should consider ways to give these individuals opportunities to work with other people so that they can feel like a valuable part of the organization.

  • Positions that are a blend of public time and private time give an employee the best of both worlds. He has time for himself and time for everyone else, and, if successful, give the employee a sense of balance.

  • I prefer positions where the workload is high, diverse, and intellectually challenging, that allow for moments of human interaction as well as the opportunity to develop personal interests.

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© 2002, Eric S. Riley
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