Short Papers Panel: “I Want YOUR Job”: Collaborative Approaches to Teaching Library School Students
Sponsored by: Bonhams
Moderator: Kristin Browning Leaman, Indiana University
Evangelizing for Reference: Teaching the Value of Public Services
Education for special collections library students has often focused on bibliography and/or curatorial duties; while MLS students often take a standard reference class as part of their program, such courses tend to focus on public library service models that do not apply to the special collections environment. Recognizing this gap, the speaker created and taught a course at the Palmer School that focused on reference and instruction in special collections. This hands-on class aimed to equip students with both specialized reference skills, the sense that reader services is vital to the profession, and the centrality of instruction in all aspects our work. The speaker will discuss the planning, creating and teaching of the class as well as future trajectories for the course.
Speaker: Melanie J. Meyers, The Center for Jewish History
“But I Want My Job”: Library School vs. the “Real World”
This final paper will focus on the speaker’s experiences as a host and visiting speaker for LIS classes; as a mentor to MLS students, and as a mid-career professional in a field different from that studied at library school. Drawing on interactions with mentees and other library school students, the speaker will consider the importance of exposing students to the ‘real world’ of special collections librarianship, and how close and collaborative relationships between New York City special collections colleagues gives students access to alternative professional narratives and experiences outside of the library school or classroom setting, widening their sense of the possibilities – and pitfalls – of the profession.
Speaker: Charlotte Priddle, Fales Library & Special Collections, New York University
Defining Wonder: Teaching Rare Books with Collections and Collaborations
The speaker will focus on the two courses he currently teaches at library schools in New York – ‘Rare Books’ at the Pratt Institute, and ‘Great Collections of New York’ at the Palmer School – to show the ways in which he relies on collaboration in order to best teach future rare book professionals. While Rare Book School particularly serves the function of education in our field as it relates to bibliography, many students have to rely on their library science program to gain knowledge of the work. These courses, therefore, incorporate the “how” of rare book librarianship, encouraging material experience and utilizing the knowledge of colleagues based in the myriad and diverse collections in New York.
Speaker: Kyle R. Triplett, New York Public Library