[Well, this isn't quite a Texas Forums announcement, but I don't have a personal blog so I'll just stick it in here. I won't even try to figure out the connection...]
The UPS man just delivered the long-delayed book “Public Library Internships: Advice from the Field” edited by Cindy Mediavilla.
In Chapter 14, “Literacy Internships: Take a Plunge into the Deep End,” I got the opportunity to brag about the importance of library literacy programs in helping library students develop high level skills comparable to those required of library directors. I also got to brag about some dynamic library interns who worked for me when I directed a library-based adult literacy program with services to jails, immigrants, and recovering substance abusers. It was great fun to go back and read quotes from and citations relating to my old library literacy pals in California and their innovative work.
In this chapter, I propose (and believe so even more strongly today) that literacy programs have always been on the cutting edge of the kind of role that public libraries are increasingly being called to do: fund-raising, community development, collaboration, education, innovation, accountability, social entrepreneurship, leadership, outreach, public relations, and highly customized services for hard to reach populations.I had many more praises to sing, but the editor had to rein me in. Hopefully, I still made the point that library students who really want to jump start their library career should be crawling over each other to get an internship with the local library literacy program! Literacy programs really are the best training ground for lots of different roles in public librarianship, particularly positions of leadership.
This is my fourth book chapter. If the chapters had ANYTHING in common, I could put them together and have a whole book to myself, but I’ve never had the attention span required to publish a full book. As long as my interests are so eclectic, I guess I’ll have to settle for chapters, not books! (or maybe blogs are an even better option for me.
