Interim Report: First Month Reflections

• What does it take to be a great Library Learning Commons assistant? What are your strengths? Talk about the things you do well.

To be a great Library Learning Commons assistant, you need to be open to learning. I think being open and receptive to new information, and being willing to learn new things is essential to being a good assistant. After all, libraries are places of learning, so your mindset should reflect that atmosphere.

I like to think that I’m willing to learn, and I enjoy putting myself in new situations so that I can grow and develop. I also think that my volunteer and retail experience allows me to comfortably interact with the general public, and I am able to handle tasks in a quick and efficient manner, without getting overwhelmed or flustered.

• What are your weaknesses in this class and why? How can you improve?

For this class, I think my biggest weakness is my general lack of knowledge on the way a library is run. My previous teachers had never really taught a lot on the subject, so I always found myself somewhat overwhelmed when it came to finding and cataloguing books. I’ve been able to get by up until this point in my life, but I’m glad I decided to take this course.

Practice is honestly the best way for me to improve this skill, and I’m glad I had to opportunity to learn about the Dewey Decimal System and the library’s method of cataloging books, because I feel much more confident.

• What have you enjoyed doing? What have you found difficult/frustrating?What have you learned this far?

Looking back on it now, running the Library Boot Camp was actually quite entertaining. It was fun watching the Grade 8’s try to complete the tasks in time, and it was a welcome change from the rest of my academic courses. In addition to the Boot Camp, I also enjoy being on the desk, as it gives me the illusion of being in charge. When I’m not helping students or staff, it also forces me to be very productive, and I’m always able to get a lot of work done.

It’s a little frustrating when I’m not able to find the book that a student wants as quickly as I would like, because I feel guilty for not being able to do my task correctly. I also find it annoying when the library catalogue won’t load when I’m trying to check out a book!

I’ve actually learned more than I expected in this course, and I was pleasantly surprised. I’d never really known the process that teachers had to go through to check out the mobile labs/iPads, so it was interesting to see the other side of the situation. As I mentioned before, I also learned a lot about the way fiction and nonfiction books are organized and catalogued in the library.

• What are some ideas you have for making our Library Learning Commons even better? Provide at least three and explain them fully. Post to your blog.
• Have more available power outlets. Especially in this day and age, technology plays a huge role in students’ lives. Providing places for students to conveniently charge their various devices can prove to be very useful, and enables them to be productive and proactive.
• More computers that are able to print. When in the library, I often see many students waiting to print assignments before class. This can be quite inconvenient, and a crowd usually forms around the three printing computers. If printing was enabled on more computers, I think it would greatly reduce the congestion, and would make students happier!
• Different ways of engaging students (competitions, contests, etc). The library is often seen as a fairly boring place, and I know many of my peers haven’t read a book for leisure in years. Introducing more interactive and interesting contests or competitions with small rewards would likely attract more attention, and it may get students more interested in reading. Ex. raffles, guess the number of _____, creative writing contests, etc.