I’m inquisitive by nature; I imagine a lot of librarians have this innate quality since we are hunters of information. As a result, I’ve always had an interest in academic librarianship. Teaching as an adjunct at William Paterson University and observing a literacy class became the catalyst for my interest in academia. But I vividly remember saying to myself upon completion of the literacy lesson, “I would love to do this!” Plus I thought it was great way to translate my skills as a news researcher to that of the world of academia. So I made it my goal to learn all that I could by getting an internship at a university library.
This semester I’m interning at Montclair State University and the experience has been enlightening and energizing. I have several projects lined up for the semester:
- Creating a LibGuide to Visual Literacy
- Revising the current Reference LibGuide
- Producing an online tutorial
- Meeting face to face with students at the reference desk
The nice thing about this internship is that I am getting the opportunity to delve deeper into academic librarianship, more than I could in any class. I’ve always felt that “experience” is one of the greatest teachers and this internship is proving that sentiment true.
I have to say the “leap” to the reference desk seems very organic for me. Perhaps it’s due to my present job as a researcher at a news organization; the only difference is I communicate with producers instead of students (or professors) and search for video instead of books or articles.
I’ve just finishing up my first month at MSU and so far I’ve been exposed to more than I could have hoped for! Thus far, all has been challenging, but I’ve only dipped my toe in the pool of academic librarianship. Now I’m ready to dive in.
~ Maria Russo, mar454@scarletmail.rutgers.edu