When I look back at my time in SJSU’s iSchool program, I am most surprised by my renewed desire to connect students to their academic success through new concepts and techniques that I learned in my classes. At each and every step along this two-year trajectory, I can point to opportunities for building strong connections between the library and students:
- Project Management: Creating an online reserve service – an adaptive PMLC model
- Marketing: Bringing a therapy dog program to veteran students
- Grant Writing: Technology Lending Program grant proposal becomes a reality at my college
- Hyperlinked Library: Emerging technology planning to expand student access to digital creation tools
- Political Advocacy: Fundraising event for library reserve textbooks
- Financial Management: The argument for shifting collection budgets to new services
- Community Partnerships: Partnering with a local Artist in Residency program to bring new experiences to our students
The coursework has positively enhanced how I see my professional practice over the next ten years. I will focus on two long-term goals. The first will be working with faculty colleagues on transitioning some of their curriculum and assignments from being textually-based to being digitally-based as mentioned in my Introduction. The second will be my dedicated involvement in the renovation of my college library sometime in the 2019-2022 time frame.
Along the way, I will expand my professional connections within the library world and academia so that I can harness the collective wisdom of my colleagues as I pursue these goals. Through my iSchool classes, I have made some important connections with faculty and fellow students and it has given me a renewed sense of passion for my calling.
In closing, taking these classes has been incredibly rewarding as evidenced by my reflections on each of the courses. In a career that has spanned nearly 30 years, I have finally found myself at the cusp of a professional dream: to assist in the planning, design and creation of a new library. I am now ready for this challenge after completing this Post Master’s Certificate.