What brought you to the MLIS program at Dal? My pursuit of an MLIS degree is the result of a roundabout fulfilment of a childhood dream. I was a permanent fixture at my public library growing up and formed meaningful relationships with several of the children’s librarians. Throughout middle school, high school, and even in university, I continued my involvement in libraries, while exploring other possible career paths. I volunteered to help the children’s librarians with their programming prep, working as a Summer Reading Club leader, and did circulation and acquisitions-related duties at my university library. After graduating, I felt I had gained knowledge but lacked the necessary skills to put it into action. Librarianship reemerged on the scene as a potential and practical application of my passions for learning, literacy, and languages, and as I had already been contemplating a move to the East Coast, Dal seemed like the perfect fit.

What drew you to the internship at the Dal Libraries? At orientation, several of the head librarians emphasized that having a background in a given subject area (i.e. architecture or engineering) isn’t necessary to work well in a library that serves those faculties. By the time the internship positions were posted, I was already enjoying the things we were learning in INFO 5530 Information Sources, Services, and Retrieval, so the idea of involving myself in those kinds of activities outside of the classroom was very appealing. While working as a barista, I often interacted with students from the Waterloo School of Architecture, and was deeply intrigued and inspired by their work. I had previous experience as a student worker in the circulation and acquisitions departments at my alma mater’s library, and wanted to become familiar with other sides of academic library operations, like reference.

 Your educational background: I have a BA in Spanish and intercultural studies from Houghton College (Houghton, NY) and a Concentration in TESOL, with a minor in education.

What you’ve been doing during your internship:

• Inventorying alternative coverage of journal titles for which coverage is currently provided by the Taylor & Francis package
• Posting announcements/updates to the Sexton Library Facebook page (i.e. launch of libraries website, new staff picks book display)
• Answering reference questions from students, faculty, and community members
• Reviewing the updated library website and providing feedback on content/design
• Learning new software programs (i.e. Microsoft Publisher, Adobe Illustrator, Camtasia)
• Revising the content and structure of our in-house print reference guides (i.e. how to use subject-specific databases, access library materials, like standards and theses, etc.)
• Designing and creating a new directional sign for the library lobby and descriptive signage for the stacks
• Helping staff members with shifting the physical book collection to free up space in the stacks
• Attending conferences and webinars
• Collaborating with the other Dal Libraries interns to conduct interviews with the Head librarians and AULs to produce an informational video to screen during the orientation for incoming MLIS students