Last Post

I have been delaying writing this post to the very last moment.  I just hate to acknowledge that the practicum experience is over.  It was a tremendously valuable and enjoyable experience.  I had so much fun and learned a great deal from my practicum supervisor, Shawn Mauser.  Shawn was such a great model of how to be a deeply imbeded, beloved and essential staff member.  I got to practice so many wonderful new skills including weeding, re-arranging, shelving, collection development, reference work with students, library instruction and so much more.

My only comment for future improvement would be about the overall practicum project.  While I enjoyed working on the websites, they turned out to be much less integral to the overarching program.  I would have liked to have developed some technology or resource that could have been used by the students right away -- something that really filled a need.  I think future classes should either have the benefit of hearing about past successful practicum projects, or should be matched with a supervisor who has thought out a particular goal or project that they need assistance in completing.

Also, on a related note, I am not sure that the poster project is really the best product of all that I experienced and learned in my practicum.

Overall, however, I loved every minute of my time with Shawn and the Ann Richards students.  I learned so much and have a much better understanding of the essential duties of the school librarian and I am far more comfortable with the students after having spent so much time in their space and enjoying their library.