"We live and breathe words. . ."-- That quote, which is said by Will Herondale and can be found in Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Prince, has stuck with me from the very moment I read it.
My name is Arielle Starzynski. I am 22 years old, have lived in Michigan my whole life, and have loved to read for as long as I can remember. After not knowing what professional career I wanted to follow for my two years in community college, a thought came to me out of the blue--Why can't I just be a librarian? I love books and have spent a great amount in my public library so I realized the fit would be perfect for me. So, here I am, in the LIS program at Wayne State University with all of you lovely people who I look forward to getting to know over the next couple of years.
My first assertion might surprise people--Books and libraries really are cool.
I know, I know, such a bold statement to make. I know you probably will all agree with me on this, even though many young people out there don't. Because I want to work in Youth Services in a public library setting, it is so important to be able to convey my love of books to young people and get them to understand how important and awesome knowledge is. Not only is knowledge a necessary key to success in our society, it also can be something good to have in your life. I am also fascinated in history so the fact that libraries and archives can hold the work of long dead pioneers of knowledge is so fascinating. I love books and history and I have plenty of friends so obviously my love for those two things haven't ruined my social life like some high school students may think.
My second assertion is that not all librarians are old, cranky women. I am so tired of movies and even some books portraying librarians as old, cranky women. First of all this stereotype probably scares a lot of people away from ever stepping foot in a library. Second of all, it can also discourage males from entering this profession because other people could be really judgmental. There has been so many people that, after asking what I am going to school for, respond to me like i'm crazy for doing so. One person actually recently told me he didn't know why librarians had to get their Master's degree because they didn't think the job was hard or complicated. I don't think people understand how many different aspects there are to being a librarian or even the number of different kinds of libraries in general. I am a young, passionate woman who can't wait to leave my mark on the world of books and I really hope I can change lives and persuade young people to fall in love with reading, just as I have.
The third assertion, and maybe the most important is that books and libraries will not become obsolete. The first year I went to Central and moved into my dorm, this guy told me that books would soon become obsolete and that I wouldn't ever be able to find a job as a librarian in the future. I was literally blown away. Needless to say, I am actually now friends with the guy and take very chance I am to prove his statement wrong. In one of the readings we had I remember seeing that libraries were ever-changing organisms, and I agree. Yes there might be Kindles and Nooks but libraries offer so much more than just books. They offer sources of information that people can't just get access to anywhere else and will continue to do so.
So there we go, my first post. I honestly thought it was going to be a lot more difficult than that but once I started I got on a roll talking about this stuff and was done in a snap. I hope everyone enjoys and I can't wait to see what everyone else has to say!
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