Thinking Ahead

I'm not going to lie, before going to orientation, or even to applying to Wayne State in general, I had a very skewed perception of the field of LIS.  Ever since I made the decision to go to school for this program, I have wanted to work in a public library. What I didn't know, however, was that there were so many different specializations and certificates that you could get to work in the different areas and positions that can be found in the different libraries. As of right now I want to continue on and get my certificate in the Children's and Young Adult Services in a public library setting.  This may or may not change depending on the different classes I take within the next few semesters after I find out more about the different libraries and positions that I hadn't had previous knowledge about.

That thought can then be a good segue into my personal goals for this program.  As I have mentioned already, I spend a good chunk of my time at libraries, mostly public but also academic as well.  Until reading some of these articles for class I guess I never even thought about what it would be like to work in a setting other than that of a public library.  The last semester I spent at Central I probably did more research than I did in my other two years there combined.  I found that while research can sometimes be a hassle, especially when having four different classes to do it for, it can also feel really rewarding in the end.  One of my professors talked about doing research on J. M. Barrie for an edition or Peter Pan she published and how she was able to visit a vault of his personal books and things.  I just thought that was so cool for her to be able to hold that kind of history in her very own hands and read his handwriting herself.  That being said, the thought of working in an academic library has sparked my interest in the past year a bit.

Overall though, having been a literature major with a specialization in Children's and Young Adult lit in particular, I have come to realize that there are so many young people out there that just don't like reading.  They are forced to read the classics in high school, which I personally do not like at all, and then their interest for reading just plummets from then on.  I want to make an impact on young adults' lives and show them the amazing worlds that I have grown to know an love through books.  I figure that if I stay with the public library that I am working with right now through the summer (they have a huge summer reading program) then I will get a better grip of if that is exactly what I want to spend my efforts on.  I just really want to make a difference in the library system and make sure that whatever library I work in, in the future, has a really great collection of young adult and children's books. I also want to make sure that I can develop a knowledge that will help me be a champion in the everlasting fight against censorship and banned books! I don't believe a book should be kept away from all children and young adults just because adults feel like they are too easily corrupted or are too young to "understand" the implications of a certain book.  Some kids are too young for certain things, but there are many others who could certainly benefit from a certain book about death or religion as it pertains to a certain event in their own life that they are having trouble coping with.