UCM, LIS 5900 : Introductions

For spring 2025, I am enrolled in LIS 5900, Action Research in Libraries, as part of my studies in librarianship, University of Central Missouri.
https://youtu.be/Hh-gPbPEF-Q

To tell classmates a little bit about myself: I began attending classes in Spring 2022 (taking one class each semester) and am now roughly halfway toward earning my MLIS. One area where I’ve really invested my interest and passion is in forming our SOLIS book club. This semester, we are reading I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys.

I also submitted a pre-recorded video for UCM’s Scholars Symposium, which is taking place in April. The video discusses my recent experience co-presenting with Professor Harrison at Library Research Seminar 8, which took place this past September in Lexington, Ky. The focus of our presentation was how autistic people are portrayed in children’s and young adult literature: specifically in books that are voted on by readers in state “readers-choice” awards.

In my video submission for UCM’s Scholars Symposium, I compiled several themes that stood out for me when I was reading books with an autistic main character. And in my abstract that I submitted with my video, I argued that it’s important to discuss these themes, because “the way that autistic characters are portrayed can have direct bearing on how autistic people are perceived in real life” (Parkhill, 2024, para. 1).

In my professional life, as of 2025, I will have worked 15 years in libraries: first as a volunteer and then later in a paid capacity. I currently work as a Library Technician at a school in Santa Rosa, California: serving a TK-to-eighth-grade student population.

And finally, as part of my research “positionality,” I am autistic and identify as nonbinary. I appreciate bell hooks’ statement, that “when [she made] time for everyone to get acquainted, the classroom energy was more positive and more conducive to learning” (2010, p. 20).

References:
hooks, b. (2010). Teaching critical thinking: Practical wisdom. Routledge.

Parkhill, C.M. (2024). UCM Scholars Symposium, April 3, 2025: Presentor’s recap, Library Research Seminar 8 [Abstract for video presentation]. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I6LShoZMbYUtImneYaWD9GBIh6sZcM4rBcw7u89jf40/edit?usp=sharing