My Cuesta College internship has taken me to several elementary schools in Medford School District 549C in Jackson County in southern Oregon. According to the district website, its 14 elementary schools range in size from 150 to 630 students.
Each elementary school library media center is staffed by one classified media technician who is overseen by Elementary Media Specialist Karen Angiolet in the school district’s Instructional Media Center.
While on-site at the schools, I help the media technicians with whatever they need me to do. I might assist with checking items out to students or help with a weeding project: verifying that items are no longer in the catalog and removing the items’ barcode stickers.
There is always plenty to be done.
Each day I learn things that I am able to take back to a part-time job in a neighboring district. What intrigued me, for example, at Ruch Elementary School, was a display of books that are nominees for the Oregon Reader’s Choice Awards.
I am in the process of creating signs to put up in my own school library. I hope to make ballots available and coordinate voting in my school.
I feel as though I have been warmly welcomed by Angiolet and her staff. And to my delight, I discovered that we share an appreciation for graphic novels. During my most recent visit to the IMC, she showed me new additions to her collection.
Notables among them: Boxers and Saints, companion volumes telling two sides of a conflict. The author, Gene Luen Yang, created American Born Chinese, a featured reading in Cuesta College course LIBT 118, Connecting Adolescents with Literature and Libraries.
Another that stood out was a graphic adaptation by Hope Larson of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. The graphic adaptation is particularly relevant and timely in Jackson County, southern Oregon, given a decision by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to produce A Wrinkle in Time this year. Tracy Young adapted this world premiere production from L’Engle’s book.
Bottom line: I strongly believe that I will learn a lot during my internship this semester. It is so exciting to have nearly reached my goal of certification and an Associate’s degree in Library and Information Technology.
Cross-posted to a discussion forum for Cuesta College course LIBT 214, Library/Information Technology Internship
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