While completing this assessment, I’ve been surprised at how relevant the activities and topics have been to my current role as a librarian for young adults at a regional public library.
The first task I embarked on was related to digital
resources. Although I work as a youth librarian, part of my role is to run
programs for a local disability support group. Struggling to find something
enjoyable for the higher functioning members of the group, I asked if they were
interested in learning 3D modelling given that they had an interest in 3D
printing. I learned how to use Tinkercad as one of my professional development
activities and just last week, I finally had the opportunity to share my
newfound 3D modelling skills. I felt intimidated as I had forgotten a lot of
what I had learned, but I took heart in knowing that I need not be an expert at
every program I run, it is appropriate to say that you don’t know and assure
your participant that you will work it out together (Mitchell et al., 2020, p. 8). In fact, this type of
learning by discovery can actually stimulate learning more efficiently as we
need to engage and interact with a topic in order to process information (Mitchell et al., 2020, p. 7). I suspect that might
actually be the entire point of this particular assessment…
My second professional development task was writing a book
review while considering the topic of children’s book awards. Completing this
task made me consider what makes a good book and what I should be considering when
selecting books for my workplace. Is supposed literary merit the best indicator
of what young people want to read? Research indicates that teenagers choose
books for a variety of reasons, including peer inclusion, relaxation and escapism
(Wilkinson et al., 2020, p. 160). Doing this task has inspired
me to find out why the young people in my community read to help guide my selections
in future.
The third task became relevant at work as I was asked to
participate in a discussion on diversity in the workplace. I was able to use
several of the ideas that I got from the webinar that I watched for the topic
of diversity on queer affirming programs in the library, such as recommending
gender neutral signage for toilets and queer signifiers such as pride flags to indicate
that the library and, more broadly, Council is a safe place for queer people (cslpreads, 2022).
The final task I completed related to censorship. While I
was undertaking research for the blog post, the news broke of the Cumberland
City Council same-sex parent book ban (Cassidy & Rose, 2024). Having started research, I definitely
felt better equipped to understand why censorship is harmful, and that in fact,
a lack of representation of diverse perspectives leads to a lack of empathy
within society (Pickering, 2023, p. 38).
In closing, all of the topics that I’ve considered for this
blog and the professional development activities that I have undertaken have
had relevance to my role within the timeframe of this unit. This reiterates to
me how important continuing my studies is to help me to become a better youth
librarian. Onward and upward!
References
Cassidy, C., &
Rose, T. (2024, May 7). Sydney council bans same-sex parenting books from
libraries for ‘safety of our children’.
The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/07/sydney-council-bans-same-sex-parenting-books-from-libraries-for-safety-of-our-children
cslpreads. (2022,
December 8). Inclusive and affirming
library programs for LGBGTQIA+ youth [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2B8t4imCgI&ab_channel=cslpreads
Mitchell, B.,
Ratcliffe, C., & LaConte, K. (2020). STEAM learning in public libraries: a
“guide on the side” approach for inclusive learning. Children & Libraries, 18(3),
7-10. https://doi.org/10.5860/cal.18.3.7
Pickering, G. (2023). "Harmful to minors": How book bans hurt adolescent development. The Serials Librarian, 84(1-4), 32-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2023.2245843
Wilkinson, K., Andries, V., Howarth, D., Bonsall, J., Sabeti, S., & McGeown, S. (2020). Reading during adolescence: why adolescents choose (or do not choose) books. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 64(2), 157-166. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1065
No comments:
Post a Comment