SLO 4. The student designs services to meet the information needs of all users and communities.
Seeing the power that libraries have to transform the community is how my passion for library science began. As a Teen Services Specialist at ImaginOn Library, I spend everyday designing programs and services to meet the information and social needs of all our users and the community. The power Each week I facilitate 2-3 outreach programs at community sites and local schools getting young women that are at-risk excited to read, providing resources and support, and engaging them in popular library programs. I am so passionate about providing services to diverse groups because the young women that I serve are my biggest inspiration. The young women that I serve encouraged me to apply for Graduate school when I was initially hesitant, and after I became a YALSA Spectrum Scholar they told me that knowing how much I’ve gone through and how much I’ve accomplished makes them feel unstoppable.
Libraries have an immense responsibility in the community to encourage, inspire, and foster a desire for lifelong learning. This responsibility is truly what makes libraries valuable and why librarians globally are committed to providing information that serves the evolving and diverse needs of their community (American Library Association, 2007). And while my passion for serving the community has allowed me to connect with those that I serve the tools and strategies that I’ve gained during my Graduate studies transformed how I design services to meet the information needs of all users and communities.
One of my most popular programs is my outreach book club called the GREAT (Girlfriends Reading, Empowering, and Achieving Together) Literary Group. When I first began facilitating outreach visits, I was struggling to keep the young women engaged in the text that we were reading. One of the most valuable tips that I learned in LIS 662: Information Services for Diverse Client Groups is that when designing and developing services for groups we must keep their diverse needs in mind. And most importantly not to assume that we as library professionals know what the community truly needs. The community should be included in the planning process.
In LIS 662 I wrote a research paper on providing information services to at-risk youth. The research that I conducted while writing this paper opened my eyes to the struggles that the youth that visits my library are facing. This assignment inspired me to do more. For another assignment in that same class, I conducted focus groups in my library to find out more about the demographics and needs of the teens that my library serves. Most of the regular teens that visit my library live in at-risk communities and the insight that they gave me truly impacted the programs I facilitate. Even though the feedback that they gave me was for a homework assignment I have been able to use it to transform my programs and attract more participants.
During my studies, I applied for ALA's Great Stories Club and received a grant that awarded my GREAT Literary Group with books, resources, and a stipend to facilitate book club sessions on truth, racial healing, and transformation. The sessions were facilitated at Florence Crittenton Services which is a community site that serves young women and their babies who are in DSS custody. During the application process, I had to plan out each session and to aid me in the planning process I consulted with the young women that would be participating in the program. In the end, we designed the program together. Directly consulting the young women that I was going to be working with greatly impacted the overall success of my program. In our last session, the young women participated in a racial healing circle with The Beloved Community Center of Greensboro, NC. The entirety of this session was designed based on the feedback that I received and was the most meaningful program to date.
Another way that I've been able to design services to meet the information needs of my community is the creation and usage of lesson plans. The plans that I've created serve as a guide for all my programs, but also allow me to collaborate with other library professionals to strengthen the skills that I already have and to learn something new. I've included many of the lesson plans that I created in my artifacts which can be found below. I am most proud of the plans that focus on skill-building, are STEAM-related, and include confidence-building initiatives. Along with the lesson plans that I've created I've also been able to create LibGuides and Google sites that I have been able to share with the youth that I work within the community. In LIS 635: Media Production Services for Library Programs I was tasked with creating a digital curation, and I chose to focus on creating a guide that I felt would be beneficial to the at-risk that visits my library each day. I've been able to use the site that I created to share local resources with teens, and since taking this course I've completed each assignment to use what I've learned to positively impact my community. In LIS 635 I was also tasked with creating a flipped instruction. For my flipped instruction I focused on poetry, and this method has become a powerful tool for me to use during outreach visits. My outreach visits usually last thirty minutes to one hour. By sharing flipped instruction videos with the program participants I am able to save time by getting them prepared for upcoming programs, and ensuring that they will have a deep understanding of the content that will be covered.
To properly design services to meet the information needs of my community I have had to make a conscious effort to assess what is needed and how I can use what I've learned to meet those needs. My transparency as a library teen services programmer has allowed me to connect with my community by building trust, but the skills that I've gained through my studies have given me the tools that I needed to truly become an educator in my community.
Libraries have an immense responsibility in the community to encourage, inspire, and foster a desire for lifelong learning. This responsibility is truly what makes libraries valuable and why librarians globally are committed to providing information that serves the evolving and diverse needs of their community (American Library Association, 2007). And while my passion for serving the community has allowed me to connect with those that I serve the tools and strategies that I’ve gained during my Graduate studies transformed how I design services to meet the information needs of all users and communities.
One of my most popular programs is my outreach book club called the GREAT (Girlfriends Reading, Empowering, and Achieving Together) Literary Group. When I first began facilitating outreach visits, I was struggling to keep the young women engaged in the text that we were reading. One of the most valuable tips that I learned in LIS 662: Information Services for Diverse Client Groups is that when designing and developing services for groups we must keep their diverse needs in mind. And most importantly not to assume that we as library professionals know what the community truly needs. The community should be included in the planning process.
In LIS 662 I wrote a research paper on providing information services to at-risk youth. The research that I conducted while writing this paper opened my eyes to the struggles that the youth that visits my library are facing. This assignment inspired me to do more. For another assignment in that same class, I conducted focus groups in my library to find out more about the demographics and needs of the teens that my library serves. Most of the regular teens that visit my library live in at-risk communities and the insight that they gave me truly impacted the programs I facilitate. Even though the feedback that they gave me was for a homework assignment I have been able to use it to transform my programs and attract more participants.
During my studies, I applied for ALA's Great Stories Club and received a grant that awarded my GREAT Literary Group with books, resources, and a stipend to facilitate book club sessions on truth, racial healing, and transformation. The sessions were facilitated at Florence Crittenton Services which is a community site that serves young women and their babies who are in DSS custody. During the application process, I had to plan out each session and to aid me in the planning process I consulted with the young women that would be participating in the program. In the end, we designed the program together. Directly consulting the young women that I was going to be working with greatly impacted the overall success of my program. In our last session, the young women participated in a racial healing circle with The Beloved Community Center of Greensboro, NC. The entirety of this session was designed based on the feedback that I received and was the most meaningful program to date.
Another way that I've been able to design services to meet the information needs of my community is the creation and usage of lesson plans. The plans that I've created serve as a guide for all my programs, but also allow me to collaborate with other library professionals to strengthen the skills that I already have and to learn something new. I've included many of the lesson plans that I created in my artifacts which can be found below. I am most proud of the plans that focus on skill-building, are STEAM-related, and include confidence-building initiatives. Along with the lesson plans that I've created I've also been able to create LibGuides and Google sites that I have been able to share with the youth that I work within the community. In LIS 635: Media Production Services for Library Programs I was tasked with creating a digital curation, and I chose to focus on creating a guide that I felt would be beneficial to the at-risk that visits my library each day. I've been able to use the site that I created to share local resources with teens, and since taking this course I've completed each assignment to use what I've learned to positively impact my community. In LIS 635 I was also tasked with creating a flipped instruction. For my flipped instruction I focused on poetry, and this method has become a powerful tool for me to use during outreach visits. My outreach visits usually last thirty minutes to one hour. By sharing flipped instruction videos with the program participants I am able to save time by getting them prepared for upcoming programs, and ensuring that they will have a deep understanding of the content that will be covered.
To properly design services to meet the information needs of my community I have had to make a conscious effort to assess what is needed and how I can use what I've learned to meet those needs. My transparency as a library teen services programmer has allowed me to connect with my community by building trust, but the skills that I've gained through my studies have given me the tools that I needed to truly become an educator in my community.
Artifacts
Lesson Plan: GREAT Literary Group | |
File Size: | 50 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Lesson Plan: Measure Up! Cupcake Wars | |
File Size: | 629 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Lesson Plan: Reading Outside The Box (Poetry and Self-Expression) | |
File Size: | 55 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Lesson Plan: Reading Outside The Box (Poetry and Art) | |
File Size: | 55 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Lesson Plan: Reading Outside The Box (Poetry and Food) | |
File Size: | 55 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Lesson Plan: Reading Outside The Box (Poetry and Technology) | |
File Size: | 55 kb |
File Type: | docx |
LIS 662 Research Paper on a Diverse Group | |
File Size: | 31 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Cearra Harris: Professional Outreach Snapshot | |
File Size: | 31 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
References
American Library Association. (2007, April 19). Diversity. Retrieved from American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/aboutala/diversit