Reflections on an Experience

This post is going to be a little long and I apologize. I am required to reflect on my experiences of the semester and to sum up my internship experience as a whole.

I came into the internship with a series of expectations and over the course of the semester, have watched some of those expectations change and make me a better writer. I had never done an internship before and being the first intern for Rohrbach Library was definitely scary as I had to make a name for the position and uphold that name, giving the position potential and credentials.

Since I began my internship, I have truly learned so much more than I ever thought possible. I was coming into an organization that did not have a traditional PR strategy in place, therefore no brand, no true identity (other than the KU association) and watched as this identity grew and the PR strategies flourished. I became part of the team that is pushing the library out into the community and creating an image of the organization. Because of my background in Public Relations and writing, I was able to assist in this development using the skills I learned from my Professional Writing courses and the knowledge I gained from working as a Student Assistant for three years in the Electronic Resources & Periodicals department. I was given the ability to watch an organization grow and change, while learning its quirks, ins and outs. I now know more about Rohrbach Library and the way it works, than most students will ever know and I pride myself in that. I was given the chance to be out in the real world, without ever leaving the comfort of campus.

I had a number of unique experiences this semester but the one I will remember most: staff development. This project was a great undertaking as it merged many of my passions: the passion for writing, the passion for awareness, and the passion for education. It is through this project that I learned not only how to write copy for event literature, but I learned how to market an event and how to go about organizing it, making sure that I worked with a team to accomplish all of the steps. Over the course of several months, I had the opportunity to work closely with the Dean of Library Services on this project and she really got on board and saw the event's promise, even on those days when I was unsure if we could pull it off. It was a great success and much has come out of it including publication.

I received an e-mail a couple of weeks ago from our presenter who asked if she and her colleagues could use the handbook, that I created for the training session, in future training sessions hosted by the Bureau of Blindness & Visual Services. I was absolutely delighted and obviously gave her permission to do so.

There were more good experiences than poor ones but here's a list of the things I wish could have been completed this semester:

• Library's book
• Assistive Technology Plan
• More database fact sheets
• More work on the library's brand
• Completion of updated library borchures

Although these projects were not completed, I am lucky to have had the opportunity to be a part of their progress, to offer my suggestions, and to have a role in their design and implementation.

All in all, this internship has given me great experiences and hopes for my future; I'm excited to see where this takes me. Who knows? I may be hired to freelance some work for this organization in the future. That's one of the good things about writing: writers can freelance, get paid by the hour or project, have diversity in their work, and work when and where they want. This internship was given me great insight into the world of library PR and may one day lead to a freelance career in library PR. I wouldn't mind.

At Last

Tomorrow (Friday, April 24, 2009) is officially my last day but I figured I'd wrap things up today since my portfolio is due to my faculty supervisor tomorrow. Lately, it's just been tying up the loose ends and making sure everything is ready for the transition. After this semester, the library will have documents already made that they can use as templates for future projects and they also have an idea of where to go with them. I'm extremely organized and am ahead of schedule with the arrangement of my portfolio. So today is just another day down in the Curriculum Materials Center, though it's not too terribly busy.

Update!

I know it's been about two weeks since I last posted, but not much has been going on. Since the Workers Day Luncheon and National Library Week, my on-site work is pretty much completed and I'm spending the last week updating my site journal, job description and putting the finishing touches on my portfolio. The library was also visited by reviewers from the Association of American College and Research Libraries (ACRL) who met with various library faculty and staff members and my supervisor has been in and out of meetings for two days for this, so she hasn't been around.

I'm working on reproducing the database fact sheets for the Reference Department's summer bulletin board display but since our printer has not been working, I have been kind of stuck. But then today, I was invited to and attended a webinar for a new InterLibrary Loan system which should be up and running this summer and since I will be continuing to work for the library during graduate school, I needed the exposure and background for this system. I must say i got a lot out of it and am looking forward to working with the system as long as it's not a pain like some of the other systems we use.

The last week is going by very slowly but I am glad that I have this time to reflect on my experiences and to understand where I want this internship to take me!

Lots going on!

The last few days have been kind of busy, especially with National Library Week being April 12-19 and National Library Workers Day being today, April 14th. Yesterday was the calm before the storm, but when I arrived in the office this morning, it was absolute chaos. My supervisor's youngest daughter was hospitalized last night because of a seizure. Not knowing this, when I went upstairs for breakfast, I was pulled in a million different directions, since I was the only one who knew where all of our things were.

So, we began to set up the tables and chairs in the Periodicals area when I realized that the gifts for our attendees had not been put together yet; the pens and pads were ties together with the ribbon but the pen/pad combos were not placed in their mugs with name tags yet. So, I ran down to the office, grabbed the supplies and headed up to get started.

I spent some time getting them ready when our Graduate Assistant arrived and she started to help out. We got everything done when we needed to and the food soon arrived. The tables were set with maroon tablecloths topped with table tents featuring quotes from the library's book and pictures of our patrons.

The Dean of Library Services offered opening remarks, presented the Library Committee with certificates, and introduced the Provost and Vice provost, among the other administrators who were present. The Library Committee approved the minutes from the March meeting and everyone enjoyed the food catered by AVI. Students had the opportunity to have their pictrue taken with the President, and I took my chance, having my picture not only taken with the President, but the Provosts and Dean of Library Services as well. The luncheon was well-attended and a lot of fun; it's always nice to see the other library student assistants, faculty, staff and university administrators gathering to celebrate the library.

The afternoon was a quiet one, especially after the hustle and bustle of the morning chaos. But the luncheon was done well and over before we knew it. Now, what am I going to do for the rest of the semester now that the luncheon is done, staff development is completed, and there's only a week left before finals? We shall see. I have a lot of catching up to do on paperwork and getting tickets for graduation but it's all coming together so nicely.

Tuesday, Thursday, and everything in between

Well, this week has been really kind of slow. I received a card from my O&M instructor, thanking me for the gifts we gave her for coming to present; she really knows how to make me cry. I've been working on wrapping up all of the loose ends here and there, making sure all of my projects are finished, or are semi-done. Some of them, like the book and Assistive Technology Plan, will not be completed this semester, but I have gotten a lot done on them, so they won't be so difficult to finish later on. Today,Thursday, was a very slow day. Everything is ready for National Library Week, which officially begins this Sunday; the only things that need to be put together are the gifts for the luncheon but those won't be done until next Tuesday, the day of the luncheon. This is because they won't fit in the boxes in which they came when we are finished with them and my supervisor doesn't want them lying around her office all done, but taking up more space than they need to. So I spent the majority of the day today getting things organized for my end of the semester and presentation which I have to give tomorrow. So, it's winding down and I never thought I'd say this but I'm ready for the next phase of my life called grad school. I want to be busy again; I miss the hustle and bustle but have enjoyed the calmness that is Rohrbach Library, at times. The future is upon me!

Friday and Monday

For some reason, Friday and Monday were not very busy, at least Friday wasn't. I had time to work on my portfolio, to make it everything it had the potential to be. I designed the dividers and got them printed up on heavier paper, to make them more professional-looking. I began working on my presentation of my internship, realizing that there's so much to present and I could spend all of my time talking about staff development, which will be a large part of my presentation since it was the biggest project, but it can't make up all of it. I have to give the other projects their time in the limelight, after all, I didn't spend ALL of my hours on Staff Dev.

Monday, today, was pretty busy. The library has an external reviewer coming in from the Association of College and research Libraries (ACRL) in a while so the invitations to meet with this person (or persons, I'm not quite sure) had to go out today. Since Campus Mail takes forever to get delivered, I went on a walk around the campus, in the rain, to deliver these invitations. Although I enjoyed getting out of my cinder-block box of an office, it was a lot of walking, in heels, in the rain with a long white cane. By the time I got back, it was time to go to lunch and get ready for my graduate school admissions interview. After the interview, I spent the afternoon updating my portfolio, making sure I had everything within that needed to be included, and began to brainstorm about the presentation. I also worked on converting the fact sheets into poster-sized documents for the Reference department's bulletin boards. They'll go up after National Library Week 2009, which is next week!

It's hard to believe I have worked so many hours on this internship but it has all been a good experience, something I know I will take with me into my future; well, that and I will always and forever be the first PR intern for Rohrbach Library. If/when someone else comes along, they'll have some large shoes to fill, which makes me happy; it means I have done an exceptional job and that I have excelled in what I set out to do. Let's see what tomorrow brings!

April 2nd

My site supervisor was out of the office at a SSHELCO (State System of Higher Education Library Cooperative) conference, so I decided to spend the day working on my portfolio in the Periodicals office. The office is a lot more open up there, and a lot brighter, too. I looked through the report from the staff development workshop and got a phone call from the copy center stating that my project was ready to be picked up. So after lunch, I stopped by and picked up my bound report and headed on my way. The afternoon went by quickly as I was busy calculating hours worked and projects completed. It's amazing how much work one can get done in a single semester, if given the chance to put in a lot of time. I will be moving on tomorrow to creating larger displays for the new databases ( large versions of the database fact sheets) but for now, I'm taking it easy.

Catch Up

It's been a long week since the last post and I apologize for the lapse in detail. Lots has happened since last Tuesday. With the invention of digital photography, I have spent the last week putting together a report on the workshop, complete with photos, captions, and a scanned image of the attendance sign in sheet. After days upon days of editing, re-formatting, and all the other design- and writing-related steps to producing a report, I finally submitted the final copy to the Dean of Library Services, and sent it off to the Copy Center to have it professionally printed and bound. It should be ready to go tomorrow...if I'm lucky. I purchased two copies of the report: one for my own records and portfolio, and one for Shelly, so she has a clean, professional-looking copy.

Looking through the photos, and putting the session in writing, as really shown me how much work truly goes in to creating a successful, interesting event and I am all the better for having taken these steps. I understand that I have had help along the way, but i couldn't have done all that i have without some assistance.

Also, the Student Brief has been published and my database list has been published within; so it's very exciting.

Now that the major project of the semester is complete, we are moving toward final preparations for National Library Week, a time where the library celebrates its impact on the community. Every year, Rohrbach Library hosts the National Library Workers Day Luncheon on the Tuesday of NLW. This year, however, planning was much simpler, as we kept thorough records of the steps we took to create last year's event. So, the posters, flyers, information, and signage will all be the same as last year, except the theme. The theme this year is "Worlds Connect @ Your Library."

The book has been a slow-moving process. With the transition from an Information Commons concept of library service to a Learning Commons concept, many of our departments are changing, so it is not likely that the book will be published this semester, unfortunately. Although the histoey, up to this point, is complete, our patron profiles need to be finished, the department descriptions need editing, while two of the departments need to be removed from the listing, as they no longer exist under the Library.

In my free time, I have been compiling my internship portfolio, reflecting on all the work that I have done this semester, wondering how it could have all gone by so fast. It's hard to believe graduation is one month from tomorrow and that I will be finished with my internship in three weeks!