my • internship
For the past two years, I have participated in an internship with the Worthen Library in South Hero, and before that the Folsom School Library. My mentor, local librarian and superhero Keagan Calkins, taught me about the inner workings of community building, library management, and working in a workplace in general. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wasn't able to complete my internship in 2019, but I hope to continue working with Keagan Calkins into my college years. Displayed below is documentation of my time working with Keagan and the library.
My amazing mentor, Keagan Calkins
Click on this image to see my LTI Anthropology
Click on this image to see my 2019-2020 midpoint feedback from Keagan Calkins
Click here to see my internship page on my process-focused portfolio
MENTOR PROFILE (Keagan Calkins)
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1. How did you get where you are today?
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My undergrad was in arts administration (business side of being an artist) I thought I wanted to work in a museum. Lots of people in my family were librarians. I thought librarians were really great community people and they worked in the community well and helped a lot of people. I worked while I was at school. I Worked at school library, then decided that I liked community library work better. Here (South Hero) they had to switch to evening hours, so I applied and got the job. I graduated grad school in 2010 and got the job in 2016, so it was a pretty quick turnaround from graduating to becoming library director.
2. What qualities do you look for in the people you hire?
Good customer service, friendly, kind. Patient. Willing to try and learn.
Computer skills.
For programming, you have to be a good networker and maybe have an artistic sensibility and know other artists.
That you like to read! (Even if you don’t read all the books, that's okay. Just anything in one genre.)
3. What do you see are upcoming trends in the industry?
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Libraries are an industries- even though were in the government, we are still competing. Voters might not approve your budget.
Bigger libraries are in trend.
Cali’s doing really cool stuff, though it might not work here, but it might!
Trends is moving away from being a quiet book space. Think more community.
STEM is being popular
House, work, being the third place where you don’t have to spend money to go there. A lot of stuff in consumerism, but not here.
Libraries are helping people get jobs, and learn computer skills and other skills.
Expanding on what a library and a library space can be used for.
4. I am looking to _____ (e.g. go to school for or find a career in_______) If you were me, what would you place your attention on and what are some pitfalls you would avoid?
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Librarianship is awesome. .
Lots of options on what type of librarian you want to be.
Librarianship skills can move you in a lot of different directions
Get your MILS. (Master degree in library science) Get it for as cheap as possible.
When in school, get as many different internships as possible to see the different types of libraries.
Even if you don’t end up in a library, an MILS can help you A TON.
You can get your undergrad degree in anything- get your degree in something you find SUPER interesting. You can jump off from your undergrad to libraries.
Don’t spend a ton of money on grad school. It’s expensive to get an MILS.
Get a degree!
Take extra classes to be tech savvy.
5. What do you like most about your career?
Probably getting to build the new library, and getting able to build from the ground up. Research was fun. It’s been most exciting. I can’t wait to see the end product. And it’s not something every librarian gets to experience.
6. What characteristics or skills set you apart from your peers and enabled you to be so successful so quickly?
Luck and timing. I happened to not have a job, and live 20 min away when I was offered this job. ALWAYS work hard, otherwise what’s the point? I was a server for a long time, and I know what it’s like for your pay to be based on how nice you are. I’m always thinking about the customer service aspect. You want people to leave with a happy feeling. Just having a positive bubbly personality has helped a lot for me.
7. How do you manage work/life balance?
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I’m forced to, cause I have little kids. I can’t check my phone at work, and I can’t do work when I’m home. I work nonstop when I’m here, and then check my phone at home but I don’t get work done because I can’t. I try not to work when I’m not at work. I get everything done here and I get everything done at home. Phones=bad. I’m kinda forced to balance.
8. How was your weekend?
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My weekends are Sunday to Monday. My husband and I are going out with my friends tonight. Last weekend was my husband’s birthday. I bought him a HUGE bag of Doritos. We had like 25 people at our house (DISCLAIMER: THIS WAS BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC). I went to a library summit yesterday, and that was super fun.
These are my LTI (Learning Through Internship) hour logs from 2018-2019