jabbathesutt

  I don’t think I needed to take a quiz to realize a personality trait that I possess that is surely to weigh me down in my endeavors with online education; procrastination.  I’m sure that this is one that most all other students share; it’s the idea that I have planted in my head that I do my best work when it’s down to the wire.  My only glimmer of hope seems to be that I do possess some of the other skills necessary to be successful in this environment: I’m very organized (I always get so excited when I see the new day planners Barnes & Noble has at the beginning of the year!), I am self motivated when it comes to most things (I mostly enjoy doing class readings; those I never put off), I am very comfortable with technology, and I do for the most part enjoy working independently.  Which brings me to the next topic: teamwork.

  In Dr. Haycock’s lecture he stressed the importance of a team leader; someone to hold everyone accountable and mitigate problems, or problem people should they arise.  He even went so far as to say that they could just play the role of orchestrator, rather than contributing in the traditional sense to a project.  I think this idea that there is someone controlling the way the group functions and setting ground rules and goals helps eliminate some of the lack of control that Enid Irwin talks about in her webcast.  I think my greatest fear going into group work is that I am going to work hard to do my part and another group member is going to sabotage that by not pulling their weight.   I think by establishing those ground rules and goals (in increments) a lot of my fear might be mitigated and lead to my ultimate success!

There are several reasons I chose to pursue a career in Library Science, some of which I think make me sound a little nobler than I actually am.  However, there is one, completely superficial reason that I would love to work in a library.  And not just any library, a public library.  Here goes: they are just so darn pretty!  My hometown of Redlands, California is home to not only me, but also my favorite library, AK Smiley Public Library. 



It is 117 years old, a national and state historic site, beautiful inside and out, and brimming with character.  There are arched ceilings, spiral staircases, REAL wood, and amazing brickwork everywhere you look in this place.  I love this library because you feel like you a part of history when you walk in the doors and I frequently find myself admiring the architecture more than doing what I went there intending to do.   Another great public library that I recently visited was the Seattle Public Library in downtown Seattle:

It is the opposite of my AK Smiley in terms of design, but it is still quite the sight for sore eyes.  It has art installations on the inside, red walls, escalators, and Mac computers everywhere you look.  It has a loading dock for book shipments, a coffee shop, and art deco seating. 

I have yet to choose a path in my Library Science endeavors, but libraries like AK Smiley and the Seattle Public Libraries make public librarianship look pretty good!