I think I’ll be able to swim?
I have noticed more and more that when you are a graduate student your supervisors, professors, and bosses tend to like the method of throwing you in the deep end and knowing that you will swim, even if you yourself are not sure if you will be able to. I am still slightly shocked at this method, but it has worked every time, and I have learned a lot every time I was thrown in. This week Claire & I were thrown into planning the summer reading program and working the circulation desk at the LCO library. We knew the basics, were given some ideas, and left to plan the program and watch the desk.
We spent the first day and a-half planning out the summer reading program. Advice and ideas were given from Caryl and she also had some great resources on had for us to use as well. She showed us what was done in the past and let us build from there. We then broke down each day deciding on a craft, a story, a snack, and an activity. The overall theme is: Every Hero has a Story, which was decided on by the American Library Association (ALA), but for each day we decided on a specific theme that incorporated heroes: Monday – Generic Superheroes, Tuesday – DC Comics, Wednesday – Animal Heroes, Thursday – Side Kicks & Teams, Friday – Marvel Comics.
Over the next couple of days the program consumed us, and was our primary focus. The traveling exhibit was temporarily forgotten amongst the construction paper and markers. We worked on making examples of crafts, figuring out a schedule, trying to incorporated Ojibwe language and tribal traditions, and finalizing our shopping list. Making examples of the crafts was very fun, and forced us to use our imagination and remember our painting skills.
Amongst the crafting we also managed the desk and learned some ins and outs of a small library. We learned how to work the system, check books in and out, and even sign someone up for a new library card, including ourselves! With the small library comes learning about the patrons as well. I was very glad that we had done our research on the tribe because it came in handy just knowing the basics. The story about the damn flooding and knowing the tribal government was especially important and useful to know because those topics and names tend to be mentioned frequently. While we did not get to talk about the traveling exhibit with the tribal government, we did get to bring it up with Caryl, and we talked about it on the radio!
When you dive right in you get to experience so much more, and while I may not have been super comfortable starting in the deep end this week I am glad that all around me knew I could swim and hold my own. Much was learned this week, and I am looking forward to continue learning about the culture and people, and getting to implement the summer reading program!
-Sammy Jackson